In the midst of the craziness that we all live in right now, reading has been a highlight for my boys. Sure, they have had their fair share of time playing Minecraft and we take daily bike rides to the lake nearby, but we have done a LOT of reading over the last month. It's been wonderful!

Well, timing couldn't have been better...A publisher contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I'd be willing to help spread the word about one of their brand new children's books. Due to the pandemic, they decided to release the digital copy earlier than expected and want to get the word out about it. (The print copy will be available later this summer.) Since we're always up for new educational activities, I was happy to do so!

I've got to say...my youngest and I LOVED Jiema and Friends! The story is fun, but to top that, the artwork is beautiful! It's hard to keep the attention of my 5 year old at times unless the book draws him in. Not only was he glued to it, but the book created a great conversation about culture, geography, and friendship. My kinder enjoyed a fun story while learning some new vocabulary in the process -- always a win-win!

Here's a little summary of the story...

After reading Jiemba and Friends, my kinder and I had fun talking about who our favorite characters were -- he especially loved Darwin, the dingo, because he LOVES dogs. Mine was Hetta, the koala bear, because well...koala bears are adorable!


I highly encourage you to check it out! If you're like me -- sad that libraries are closed for the time being -- new digital books are a great option to mix things up a little with our daily reading. Plus, they're offering *free* educational resources (coloring sheets, activity pages, art lessons with the illustrator, etc.) to go along with the book! This is offered as a weekly email -- you just need to sign up on their website -  https://hiddenshelfpublishinghouse.com/jiemba-and-friends/.