Little Red Reads

Defenders of the Family Blog Tour

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I received this book for free from Cedar Fort in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Defenders of the Family by Benjamin Hyrum White, Jay Fontano
Published by Cedar Fort on October 1, 2016
Genres: Children's, Picture book
Pages: 34
Format: Hardcover
Source: Cedar Fort
Buy the Book • Goodreads
five-stars
Defenders of the Family, assemble! God’s magnificent plan for us rests upon the strength of the family. In this engaging children’s book, discover the roles and teachings needed to unite your family, from devoted parents to extended members, all centered on the power of the gospel. Help your children see their families as they can be: incredible, empowered, eternal followers of Jesus.

 

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A picture book with comic book style illustrations, Defenders of the Family takes Family: A Proclamation to the World and breaks it into understandable verse for even the youngest reader. We used the hardback as a read aloud to reinforce principles such as enjoying activities together, work as a family, strong marriage and the eternal nature of gender. The target audience are children of the LDS faith, but all readers would enjoy the vibrant colors and timely message.

unnamedAbout the Author

Benjamin Hyrum White began an epic comic book collection as a boy and always cheered for the good guys like Spider-man. He developed his superpower of dancing and met his beautiful wife Keenan at BYU while part of the International Folk Dance Ensemble. They now live in Utah Valley with their five children where he teaches seminary. Ben enjoys dates with his wife, cheering on sports teams with his sons, and having dance parties in the driveway with his girls.

About the Illustrator

As a young boy, Jay Fontano loved to watch cartoons on TV and read comic strips in the newspaper. Now he works as an illustrator drawing funny pictures for t-shirts and illustrations for books. Jay and his wife have six children and a dog named Nacho. They live near the mountains in Utah and love to go camping and have fun together. He still watches cartoons and reads comic strips whenever he can.

Blessing the Nephite Children/ The Holy Ghost Spotlight

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Published by Cedar Fort Genres: Children's, Picture book
Format: Hardcover
Source: Cedar Fort

About the books


“Blessing the Nephite Children”:
Snuggle up with your kids and learn about Jesus’s visit to the Nephites. This colorful board book is perfectly designed for little fingers and small attention spans. Experience the beauty of Christ’s personal love in the Book of Mormon with your little ones and come to see the ways the Savior reaches out to them today.

“The Holy Ghost”:
Get to know the Holy Ghost, from baptism on! This engaging book provides fill-in-the-blank stories, coloring pages, and other fun activities for your kids to help get them ready to receive the Holy Ghost and rely on Him for the rest of their lives. Come to understand and feel the Spirit, one of the greatest gifts from God.

About the author

Catherine Christensen graduated magna cum laude from BYU with a degree in English and editing. She worked in her dream job acquiring and editing books before switching to her other dream job of full-time mother. She is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom and has lived most of her life in England. She currently resides in Springville, Utah, with her husband and daughter. Catherine is the author of “I Can Pray Everyday” and “Emily’s Perfect Christmas Tree.”

About the illustrators

Jane Delve has been painting her whole life, starting out small with jobs as an illustrator for a local newspaper and as a muralist for a local children’s nursery. She studied art, design, and animation at a college in London and later at the University of Wales. Since then, Jane has mostly painted on commission, specializing in stylised family portraits on large canvases. She has also illustrated the children’s book Emily’s Perfect Christmas Tree and teaches local art workshops. Jane and her husband Ben have three children and live in Bridgend, Wales.
As a young boy, Jay Fontano loved to watch cartoons on TV and read comic strips in the newspaper. Now he works as an illustrator drawing funny pictures for T-shirts and illustrations for books. Jay and his wife have six children and a dog named Nacho. They live near the mountains in Utah and love to go camping and have fun together. He still watches cartoons and reads comic strips whenever he can.

“Blessing the Nephite Children”/”The Holy Ghost” blog tour schedule
 September 12: LDS and Lovin’ It
September 13: Read for Your Future
September 14: Singing Librarian Books
September 15: Making Life a Bliss Complete
September 16: My Book a Day
September 17: A.L. Sowards
September 18: Brookie Cowles
September 19: Reidhead Random-ness
September 24: Heidi Reads | Inklings and Notions
September 25: Jorie Loves a Story
September 26: Mel’s Shelves
September 27: Jorie Loves a Story
September 28: The Things I Love Most
September 29: Jorie Loves a Story
September 30: Rockin’ Book Reviews
October 1: Brooklyn Berry Designs
October 2: Little Red Reads
October 3: Wishful Endings | Eccentric Eclectic Woman

Baptism and Boomerangs Blog Tour

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I received this book for free from Cedar Fort in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Baptism and Boomerangs Blog TourBaptism and Boomerangs by Sherrie Gavin, Tatiana Lawton
Published by Cedar Fort on August 11, 2015
Genres: Children's, Picture book
Pages: 36
Format: Hardcover
Source: Cedar Fort
Buy the Book • five-stars
Baptism brings us soaring back—just like a boomerang—into the arms of our loving Heavenly Father! With colorful artwork, a fun story, and insightful analogies, this book helps parents and children discuss the importance of our first crucial covenant in God’s plan of happiness. Entertaining and uplifting, it makes a great gift for all your favorite eight-year-olds.

Baptism-and-Boomerangs-blog-tour
Baptism and Boomerangs is the story of a girl named Amara who is preparing for baptism. In the story, Amara learns that baptism is the first step to return to our Heavenly Parents. Using the flight path of a boomerang as an analogy for how each of us can return when we “throw” ourselves in the right direction, the story clearly teaches core gospel principles with an Australian flare. Resplendent and bright illustrations make the book feel both vibrant and happy.
This is the latest children’s book being published by Cedar Fort for an LDS (Mormon) audience, but is the first time an LDS children’s book has been written and illustrated by Australian Mormon women. “It is so important to me to be able to share my love of the gospel and my love of Australia in this book,” said the author, Sherrie Gavin. “Australia is such a beautiful, outdoorsy place, it was important for me to tell a story that means so much to me, and have the story matched with illustrations that were as bright and happy as the lifestyle here.”
The illustrator, Tatiana Larkin agrees. “Capturing the simplicity and beauty of the moments shared by Amara with her parents and grandparents was significant to me. For me, it is not just an analogy about baptism and Heavenly Father’s plan, but a collection of beautiful family pictures.”
As far as being the first team of Australians to create an LDS children’s book says Sherrie, “This is really exciting! It feels like more than a simple children’s book: It feels like an invitation for church members all around the world to create and share gospel stories that are culturally different, important and sacred in their own ways. I hope even more international Mormon contributions are inspired by this book, and come from this!”

About the author

Sherrie Gavin was born and raised in upstate New York, USA. Always looking for romance, adventure, and with a love of writing, she travelled to Australia and fell in love with a true Aussie bloke named Bruce. ‘Sruth! They married and began adventuring together, joined by two beautiful daughters who are the loves of their lives. Sherrie has been lucky enough to have contributed to Linda Hoffman Kimball’s Relief Society anthologies and The Exponent II. She also thinks that everyone should try throwing a boomerang at least once.

About the Illustrator

Tatiana Lawton was born in Brisbane, Australia, but was raised up north on the sunny beaches of the Sunshine Coast. She was born with a love for life, art, and storytelling, and her pusuit to study a degree of film and animation came as no surprise to family and friends. Moving back to Brisbane, Tatiana completed her four-year degree. Since finishing her degree, she has been freelancing as an artist, contributing to short films as a concept artist, character designer, and storyboard artist. Tatiana has drawn her inspiration for this book from her Australian heritage and her appreciation for eternal families.

“Baptism and Boomerangs” blog tour schedule:

August 18: Reidhead Random-ness
August 19: A Casual Reader’s Blog
August 20:
August 21: The Exponent
August 22:
August 23: Wishful Endings
August 24: Bridget of Arabia • My Book a Day
August 25: Mel’s Shelves
August 26: I love to Read and Review Books
August 27: The Polka Dot Umbrella
August 28: JoAnn Arnold
August 29:
August 30:
August 31:
September 1: ‘TLE REDreads…..

Giveaway

Send in a photo of themselves reading the Baptism and Boomerangs book at home. Post the photo to facebook (www.facebook.com/baptismandboomerangs), pintrest (#AmaraLDS) and/or twitter (@BaptismandBoom). Each “tag” gets an entry! This means that for each image, there can be up to 5 entries- 5 chances to win! The grand prize is a caricature of the winner, drawn by our book’s illustrator, Tatiana Larkin, with runner up prizes of personalized, hand-painted boomerangs.