Vooks - Kid-Safe Streaming Library (Review and Giveaway)

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What if you could entertain and educate your child with animated storybooks? Sounds good, but of course you'd want to make sure it was safe, and you'd want to encourage reading and learning too. I've recently been introduced to Vooks and it ticks all the boxes for safe and fun storybook learning for kids. Read on - and be sure to enter the giveaway of a one-year subscription to Vooks at the end of this post!

Vooks is a streaming library, of ad-free, kid-safe animated storybooks. An entire library of positive themed storybooks, brought to life with quality narration and sounds. The site is trusted by teachers and enjoyed by millions of children around the world. The interactive reading system helps encourage the love of reading, and I'm certainly on board with that! Vooks strengthens literacy and vocabulary, promotes independent learning, and develops strong values like kindness and friendship.

Vooks offers more than just the storybooks. There are also free, fun, printable lesson plans. Vooks lesson plans offer discussion topics, activities, and more. 

100% kid-friendly and parent-approved!

Here are a couple of the titles for elementary and preschool aged kids that I thought were really cute:

But First, We Nap by David Miles and Darya Dremova

Unicorn (and Horse) by David Miles

A page from Luis and Tabitha by Stephanie Campisi:

And there are so many more titles to choose from! These stories should keep my four-year-old granddaughter entertained for quite awhile!

There are lesson plans to go with the stories, and some themed lesson plans as well. Perfect for homeschoolers!

For example, the fifteen-page pdf of suggested lesson plans around the theme Caring for Others/Kindness includes coloring pages, discussion questions (along with the time stamps) to go along with a book, worksheets, a lesson on rhyming, and more. The Lesson plan to go along with individual books like But First, We Nap include questions about the story, suggested activities and lessons, and a story summary. These are perfect for elementary age students, and some of the activities would be fun and educational for preschoolers as well.

My thoughts: It didn't take me long to fall in love with this charming resource and even though I don't have little children at home any more, I do have a granddaughter who loves books and also loves videos. Since she loves having people read to her, I'm sure she'll like this site where she can follow along with the book as it's being read to her, and she won't get frustrated by ads popping up in the middle of the videos. And bonus, the grown-ups won't have to worry about the ads or that she'll see something inappropriate. 

The narrators of these stories do a great job too. The voices are expressive, and they read slowly enough for beginning readers to be able to follow the printed words on the "page". I also love that there are visual cues to help kids follow the words - they darken or are bolded as the narrator reads them. The narrators do different voices for the different characters in the stories, and there are subtle sound effects and background music.

Try it free for 30 days! Go to www.vooks.com to sign up.

Membership: Purchase or gift a membership at www.vooks.com. 

Follow Vooks on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest, on Instagram, and on YouTube.

Vooks is generously allowing me to host this giveaway of a one-year subscription to Vooks. (The same giveaway form appears here and on Homeschool Coffee Break)

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Hashtags: #VooksMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork #vooks #betterscreentime #vookspartner

Disclosure: Many thanks to Vooks for providing this product/product information for review. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

©2008-2021 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

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Tuesday's Treasures - The High House - The False House

This post is copied from my main blog, Homeschool Coffee Break, but because this link-up is about books, my contributions will appear here too!

This week for Tuesday's Treasures, I am sharing a pair of books that have become favorites of mine - The High House and The False House by James Stoddard. A number of years ago, on a discussion forum, there was an informal poll question about what was a favorite work of fiction. Among the responses was one lady who mentioned The High House as her very favorite book, and one she had read over and over. Her description of it intrigued me and I hunted down a copy of it through an inter-library loan (I think there was ONE copy in our entire state library system!) and absolutely loved it. Of course I needed my own copy, and  was fortunate enough to find these used paperbacks (probably on half.com although I don't remember for sure).


The High House could be described as fantasy or allegorical fiction, and reads almost like a fairy tale. It tells the story of Carter Anderson, who is introduced as a young boy. He lives in an extraordinary house full of mysteries, secret passageways, and unusual guests. His beloved father is the Master of the house and maintains not only the house, but the universe as well. When young Carter unwittingly becomes the target of the enemy - a faceless anarchist known as The Bobby - his father sends him away from Evenmere to keep him safe. Years later, Carter must return to Evenmere and become Master himself, because his father has disappeared and is presumed dead. The story is Carter's journey to find out what happened to his father, and begin to understand the mysterious workings and kingdoms of the house and his own responsibility for keeping Chaos and Entropy from overtaking Evenmere and the world.

In the sequel, The False House, Evenmere has come under a new threat when the anarchists kidnap a young girl and use her powers along with a stolen cornerstone to start raising a new, false house. Carter and his younger brother must search for the girl and for the stolen keys so they can restore Order to the house and universe. To complicate matters, there seems to be a traitor among them.

Both stories are loaded with adventure and fantasy elements, and make for exciting reading. I have read them both several times, and made The High House a family read-aloud some years ago. In fact, as I was pulling out the books in preparation to share this post, Spencer and Landon saw them and remembered that, and I suggested in passing that maybe they would like to read them again on their own. And this suggestion didn't meet with any resistance. Now I'm not saying that they will fight over who gets to read first, but neither of them are particularly fond of reading, so for them to receive my comment and actually consider it means that they probably enjoyed the book the first time around. (I'll let you know what happens. They're both going away for a few days, so I'll let it simmer in the back of their minds till they get back and then see what's what.)
    
I highly recommend these books to young adult and adult readers alike, especially those who enjoy fantasy and allegory reminiscent of C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.

You may be able to find these at the library, and they are both available on Amazon: The High House; The False House. I found the author's website here: James Stoddard

The original post is linked at Every Bed of Roses for Tuesday's Treasures. Blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading, or one you found at the library.

©2008-2013 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Tuesday's Treasures - The Cuckoo Clock

This post is copied from my main blog, Homeschool Coffee Break, but because this link-up is about books, my contributions will appear here too!

This is one of those link-ups that I keep meaning to do and somehow don't get to it. This week I'm getting to it! Which doesn't necessarily guarantee that I'll do it regularly, but at least I'm starting.
Tuesdays Treasures is a weekly link-up at Every Bed of Roses, started as a way of sharing great books. There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so this is a chance to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to the link-up.
That's the introduction - now let's go to my bookshelf! Well, actually... Kennady's bookshelf.

The Cuckoo Clock by Mrs Molesworth - I found this book when I was a young girl, maybe 9 or 10 years old. It was in a bookshelf at my Grandma's house, and I'm not sure where she got it.  It's possible that my Aunt Linda (who loves second-hand bookstores and old books) picked it up at a sale. I remember reading it through every time I visited Grandma until I eventually took it home with me.  Of course I didn't read it any more once I was a 'mature' teenager! Several years ago I found it among my things stored at Mom's and brought it home with me, wondering if maybe Kennady would like it.  We spent a number of enjoyable evenings together with this delightful vintage book, taking turns reading aloud to each other.

The story is about a little girl who must go live with two elderly spinster aunts. She is lonely and bored (apparently the complaint of boredom from children is not new!), but the cuckoo in the clock becomes her friend and teacher, and takes her to visit inside some of the intriguing objects in the aunts' house. The cuckoo also guides her in courteous behavior and diligent attention to her studies.

The illustrations are charming too.

Mrs Molesworth's books are rather difficult to find in libraries or bookstores, but they are out there. I did find an edition of The Cuckoo Clock available on Amazon, and a number of her books are available for free at Project Gutenberg. The Cuckoo Clock is apparently one of her lesser-known works, yet it is the only one of her books that I have read! Perhaps I should change that.

I first wrote about this book a few years ago.

The original post is linked at Every Bed of Roses for Tuesday's Treasures. Blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading, or one you found at the library.

©2008-2013 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads {Read For the Heart}

Read For the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families by Sarah Clarkson - Sarah Clarkson is the adult daughter of well-known homeschool author Sally Clarkson.  In this book, she shares her own love of books which was fostered by her family's priority on reading and enjoying books.  Clarkson begins by sharing how important good books are to a well-rounded education and a well-lived life, through stories from her own experience as well as research that highlights the value of reading quality books.  She then shares book recommendations in many different categories and genres, with brief summaries of the books along with age guidelines.  I found this to be a great resource, with ideas for read-alouds and for companions to our science and history studies, and full of encouragement and inspiration to keep providing opportunities for my children to get familiar with good literature and uplifting stories.

Recent Reads {The Cat of Bubastes}

The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt by G.A. Henty - Confession: this is the first G.A. Henty book I have ever read.  It was on the reading list for Spencer's WorldLit and since the younger kids were studying ancient Egypt, I thought it would make a good read-aloud.  We started our schooldays by reading from this classic over the past few weeks.  At first Landon and Kennady were very reluctant, but I think their attitudes improved as we got further along in the story.  Kennady made several inquiries as to when the Cat would finally appear in the story, and indeed the title character doesn't make an appearance till about halfway through and (spoiler alert!) is dead within a chapter of her first appearance.  However, the circumstances surrounding the cat's death are pivotal in the outcome of the story so perhaps the title Henty chose isn't so odd after all.  Overall, we enjoyed the book and while no one has asked about other Henty books, I suspect there wouldn't be too much objection should another of his titles appear on our reading list.

Recent Reads {The False House}

I am behind on all kinds of blogging, message board, and email-related things, and my Bookcase is no exception.  I finished this book weeks ago!

The False House by James Stoddard is the sequel to The High House, which has become one of my favorite books.  In this one, the house is under great threat by a new plot of the Anarchists.  A young girl is kidnapped and held captive, and the anarchists are using her to change the house.  As in the first book, there are fairy tale and allegorical elements to the story, and lots of fantastic adventure as Lord Anderson and his brother search for the missing girl and for the key to unravelling the plot against the house.  And it appears there are traitors in their midst!

I'm so glad I found these books, and purchased them - they are on my list of books to read over and over again.  Perhaps they will become read-alouds as well.  I will certainly encourage my kids to read them!

Recent Reads {The High House - second time!}

I just read this book again.  I love it.  I recently purchased my own copy, along with a copy of the sequel, The False House.  It had been only a couple of months since I read The High House, but since I was about to read the continuation of the story and because I loved the book so much, I decided to read it again so it was fresh in my mind.  I enjoyed it just as much the second time through, and was more attuned to some of the allegorical elements. 

This time I read the entire book in one day - that day being the travel day as we came home from our Honduras mission trip.  This small book fit easily into my purse and I was able to read it as we traveled from San Pedro Sula to Miami, during our long (otherwise boring) layover in Miami, and then from Miami to Baltimore.  And I still had time to visit, nap, browse a magazine or two, and do a couple of Sudoku puzzles.  That's more a commentary on how LONG the travel day was, not on how fast I read.   

My first "review" of this book can be read here.

Recent Reads {The High House}

This fantasy novel, the first by James Stoddard, was recommended to me by someone at The Homeschool Lounge, is one of my new favorite books!! I'm so glad I decided to read it.  It's a wonderful story, with fairy tale and allegorical qualities, and I found it very hard to put down any time I was reading it.  If I hadn't felt the need to turn out the light so my DH could sleep, I probably would have finished this in two nights.  But there were other things to read (book club deadlines!) and so I limited myself a little bit.

The book introduces Carter Anderson as a young boy, living in a very unusual house.  When his life is threatened, his father sends him to live with friends.  Carter is summoned back to the house as a young man, his father having been missing for some time and assumed to be dead.  Carter and some faithful servants and friends have the responsibility of saving the house and the kingdoms within it.  The story takes many twists and turns as Carter seeks to restore balance between Chaos and Order, defeat the Anarchists, and become the Master of the House.

I did find one copy in our inter-library loan system, and of course will now have to return it, but I do plan on buying myself a copy of this book and its sequel, The False House, as soon as I can find them.  This is a book I highly recommend! And I would like to have my own copy so that I can offer it to my boys to read.