Library of Clean Reads: Aurora Whittet

Showing posts with label Aurora Whittet. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

How to Turn Your Mom into a Monster by Aurora Whittet (Review & Giveaway!)

Aurora Whittet is back with another children's book! I loved this one. I mean, look at that cover. It's hilarious, eye-catching and speaks volumes. And that catchy title...even now as teens my kids can turn me into a monster! Check out my review and then enter to win a copy too!

Book Details:

Book Title: How to Turn Your Mom into a Monster by Aurora Whittet
Category: Children's Fiction, 40 pages
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Wise Ink Publishing
Release date: Oct 2, 2017
Tour dates: Oct 16 to 27, 2017
Content Rating: G

Book Description:

Do you like smearing your lunch all over yourself? Do you fight with your sister just because she's there? Do you find yourself unable to go to bed because mysterious ninjas keep stealing your pajamas? Then you're a little monster! Guess what: Mom can be a monster too! It's up to you to make your mom's monster come out to play . . .

My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

I've been reading kidlit for years, first with my kids, who are now teens, and then just for the pleasure of rediscovering the joy of seeing the world through young eyes. I can spot a good children's book right away, from the cover to the title, it begs to be picked up. That's so true for How to Turn Your Mom Into a Monster. I mean, look at that cover. It's hilarious, eye-catching and speaks volumes. And that catchy title...even now my kids can turn me into a monster!

This book highlights normal kid behavior as children learn to explore and navigate their world as a means to get a mother's attention and turn her into a monster. Such as smearing lunch all over themselves and running around laughing rather than putting on their jammies and getting ready for bedtime! This book made me nostalgic. It made me laugh. It brought back wonderful memories.

Although it can be frustrating to clean up the mess of our little ones, the message to parents is clear. Be patient with your child and laugh it off. Look beyond the messes and embarrassing behaviors to the joy children experience when learning about life. It is evident that Whittet is a mom who understands children and the crazy side of parenting. Like Robert Munsch and Shel Silverstein, Whittet brings out that wild, silly and hilarious side of parenting to offset the stresses.

I also love the layout of the book. It is so appealing to the eye. From the adorable colorful monsters to the variations in font, this book stands out. It's perfect to read at bedtime. Little ones are sure to love this one, and moms will rejoice in the knowledge that even after we turn into monsters, we can cuddle, kiss and tell our children we love them, and all will be well. Highly recommended!

To read more reviews, please visit Aurora Whittet's page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Add to Goodreads

Meet the Author:

Aurora Whittet started out as a wild red-haired girl in Minnesota dreaming up stories for her friends to read. Today, she has completed Bloodmark, Bloodrealms, and Bloodmoon of the Bloodmark Saga trilogy, Mama's Knight: A Cancer Story of Love, and How to Turn Your Mom into a Monster. She's a national award-winning graphic designer in her day job. Aurora lives with her family in Minnesota.

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends Nov 4

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, April 3, 2017

Mama's Knight: A Cancer Story of Love by Aurora Whittet (Book Spotlight and Giveaway!)

Once again, I am featuring Aurora Whittet and her children's book Mama's Knight, which my son and I found to be a loving way to help a young child understand what is happening to a parent who is fighting cancer. (Read our review.) The author is giving away 5 signed copies so enter to win a copy of this very useful book!

Book Details:

Book Title: Mama's Knight: A Cancer Story of Love by Aurora Whittet
Category: Children's fiction, 40 pages
Genre: Children's book, Self help, Cancer
Publisher: Wise Ink Publishing
Release date: Oct 2016
Tour dates: Aoril 3 to 21, 2017
Content Rating: G

Book Description:

Once upon a time . . . It’s how all heroes begin their story, and you’re a hero, too! Your mama has cancer, and it’s a scary journey, but you can help your mama just by being you—special, wonderful, YOU. Your mama loves you just the way you are. You are your mama’s knight.

Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love is an emotional toolbox that can help kids and parents communicate about what it means for Mama to have cancer. The book is filled with tools and activities designed to make coping with illness easier on both parent and child, and can be personalized for each child.

Buy the Book:

Author's Website ~ Amazon

Add to Goodreads

About the Author:

Aurora Whittet started out as a wild red-haired girl in Minnesota dreaming up stories for her friends to read. Today, she has completed Bloodmark, Bloodrealms, and Bloodmoon of the Bloodmark Saga trilogy and started her journey into children’s books with Mama’s Knight in honor of her own mother who lost her battle with cancer. She’s a national award-winning graphic designer and birth doula in her day jobs. Aurora lives with her family in Minnesota.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends April 29

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Mama's Knight: A Cancer Story of Love by Aurora Whittet (Review, Interview and Giveaway)

This book is a loving way to help a young child understand what is happening to a parent who is fighting cancer. It's written by a mother (with a young child) who has suffered the loss of her own mother through cancer. Please help me welcome Aurora Whittet on Library of Clean Reads. Learn more about her through my interview and enter to win a copy of this very useful book!

Book Details:

Book Title: Mama's Knight: A Cancer Story of Love by Aurora Whittet
Category: Children's fiction, 40 pages
Genre: Children's book, Self help, Cancer
Publisher: Wise Ink Publishing
Release date: Oct 2016
Tour dates: Nov 7 to 18, 2016
Content Rating: G

Book Description:

Once upon a time . . . It’s how all heroes begin their story, and you’re a hero, too! Your mama has cancer, and it’s a scary journey, but you can help your mama just by being you—special, wonderful, YOU. Your mama loves you just the way you are. You are your mama’s knight.

Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love is an emotional toolbox that can help kids and parents communicate about what it means for Mama to have cancer. The book is filled with tools and activities designed to make coping with illness easier on both parent and child, and can be personalized for each child.

Buy the Book: Author's Website

Our Review

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani & Son

Mama's Knight is a beautiful book. It provides a loving way to help a young child understand what is happening to a parent who is fighting cancer. Written by a mother (with a young child) who has suffered the loss of her own mother through cancer, this book fulfils a need for those families who are fighting cancer and want to empower their children during this difficult time.

Mama's Knight is an interactive book that will later become a book of memories. My 12 year-old son and I looked through every page carefully. I told him to imagine he was a little younger and I was fighting cancer. Would this book help? After turning the last page I could see my son was touched. "This is a really good book, Mom," he said. We both agreed we had never read anything like it.

We discussed how the information about cancer that the author included was appropriate for young children. We loved the clever expressions included to help children (or anyone) understand the symptoms and emotions this illness could bring out, such as "mad as a wet hen" or irritated as a goat". The activities included were fun and easy to do. And we could see how doing them together would make parent and child bond in a special way during this time.

My son and I thought the illustrations were perfect: simple and colorful pictures of people and families from different nationalities. The book is honest in the way it deals with all aspects of what it means to fight cancer, from the treatment plan to feeling scared. But it reinforces and boldly expresses a mother's love for her child and how that child is a shining knight that helps her fight strong.

This book should be known by Cancer Associations so that they can recommend it as a toolkit for mothers of young children who are fighting cancer. However, if a person is fighting cancer without the conventional methods (radiation, chemo) but is using integrative medicine, this book may still be adapted. Actually, I can see this book's format being used to create a series of books using Whittet's toolkit method written for various illnesses, including diabetes, AIDS, depression and stroke.

Kudos to Aurora Whittet for providing this beautiful tool for mothers and their children! My son and I were impressed and we highly recommend it for families who would benefit from it.

To read more reviews, please visit Aurora Whittet's page on iRead Book Tours.

Disclosure: Thanks to the author for sending us this book for review. We were not told how to rate or review this product.

Our Interview with Aurora Whittet

LCR: How would you describe your book in 20 words or less?

AW: Mama’s Knight is an emotional toolbox that helps kids and parents communicate about mama having cancer.

LCR: What is your hope in publishing this emotional toolbox for kids and parents dealing with cancer?

AW: I want to help connect moms back to their children even when they can't get out of bed. I want to give them ways to spend time together and talk about the emotions that go along with this journey and give a tiny bit of hope back to a very serious and stressful situation.

LCR: I found your book to be very empowering both for the child and the parent. How important do you feel it is for children to be aware of what is happening when a parent has cancer and why?

AW: Children of every age need some sort of communication about what is happening. Younger children obviously need less details, older children crave more. If you don't tell them anything, they still feel and see the stress and changes, but they may blame themselves for mom not wanting to play that day, instead of understanding why and being able to express that they are frustrated or sad about it. The Angel Foundation has some amazing resources on what to say at each age group.

LCR: You've written a successful YA trilogy and a children's book. What's next for you?

AW: I'm working on a new YA book that I'm utterly loving, and I'm working on the daddy version of Mama's Knight, because daddies get cancer too.

LCR: If you could travel back in time, where would you go?

AW: I lost my mom in 2013, so I would go back to the moment when my mom was diagnosed for the second time with uterine cancer and I would say pack your bags, lets go somewhere amazing. And I would have taken her on a fun trip before she became to weak to travel. We kept saying we'd go when she felt better, but that day never came for us. So live in the now, because tomorrow isn't a promise.

About the Author:

Aurora Whittet started out as a wild red-haired girl in Minnesota dreaming up stories for her friends to read. Today, she has completed Bloodmark, Bloodrealms, and Bloodmoon of the Bloodmark Saga trilogy and started her journey into children’s books with Mama’s Knight in honor of her own mother who lost her battle with cancer. She’s a national award-winning graphic designer and birth doula in her day jobs. Aurora lives with her family in Minnesota.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

Enter the Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway