25 August 2008

Children's Book Review: Sunny's Adventures

I love to find children's books with a baking tie-in. It gives me such joy to expose children to the wonderful warmth and quiet passion that is following a recipe. In todays world, not as much time is spent watching the skilled rhythms of well versed hands whipping up tasty baked goods in the well used kitchens of our homes, at least not as much as in my childhood or those before me.

...Kid Mystery?

Sunny's Adventures
will intrigue
your budding Sleuths...


Sunny's Adventures delivers that warmth that only
whispers of childhood could bring forth. The words
upon the page awaken the innocent ramblings and
romping we all shared with our neighborhood
friends on bright sunny days. When our back-
yards were jungles. And time spent with
family baking was a special treat.

Book Specs:
  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Paperback: 52 pages
  • Publisher: Jabberwocky Books (June 13, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0980245605
  • ISBN-13: 978-0980245608
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.2 inches
  • Author : Leketha Marie Johnson
  • Author website: http://www.sunnysadventures.com/
  • Author's blog entry: New Book - Sunny's Adventures
Contents:

Sunny's Adventures has 5 chapters, or 5 mystery stories within the main story. Even though the reading level claims to be for 9-12 year olds, I was able to read this to my 5 yr old and it held her attention - with a bit of enthusiasm and voice play on my part.

The main character Sunny, is a young girl, determined to get to the bottom of every mystery that unfolds around her. From missing puppies, to turtles to diamond rings and dolls - she gets the clues and leads her friends to the scene of the crime. And once solved she finds herself a big helping of her grandmother's cake, a tribute to her grandmother's seeming tireless baking.

I especially liked the 3rd chapter "The Mystery of The Cooking Contest", where Sunny and her grandmother enter a pie contest, and the pie ends up missing!

My daughter loved the animals and the fact that this girl was solving mysteries by putting the clues together and baking too.

There are quizzes at the end of the 5 chapters to encourage critical thinking, and my 5 yr old was pretty excited to come up with the answers.

There are black and white illustrations throughout the book that are very whimsical and kid friendly. My daughter couldn't get enough viewing them and connecting them with the words being read in parts of the story.

Summary:

Sunny's Adventures is a wonderful children's mystery which celebrates the joys of baking with family and the value of friendships. Your children from ages 5yrs+ will delight in following Sunny on her journey to find clues and solve each mystery, all aided with whimsical illustrations, and chapter specific quizzes which will stimulate your child's critical thinking and problems solving abilities.











The view expressed here are mine & mone alone. I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Parent Reviewers on behalf of Leketha Marie Johnson. In addition, I received copy of Sunny's Adventured in exchange for my honest feedback.Please read more about Renaissance Culinaire's Disclosure Policy

57  Comments
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57 comments

Anonymous
5:45 PM, August 26, 2008 Reply  

I must say one thing...this is the best blog hosted on blogspot domain I have ever seen in last 2 years. I mean just watch the header...the posting style...the side bar...the top menu...

if you switch to wordpress then believe me your readership will sky rocket

Anonymous
3:25 PM, August 27, 2008 Reply  

That sounds like a great book! My daughter would love it. I'll have to see if I can find it for her. Thanks!

Anonymous
9:38 AM, August 28, 2008 Reply  

I will have to read this to my daughter. Always looking for new books and I like the idea of her having to remember what I read by answering the questions.

12:24 AM, August 30, 2008 Reply  

Nice one. Thumbs up !! :-)

Anonymous
5:35 AM, August 31, 2008 Reply  

This is something our children will read and enjoy, thank you for sharing. They'll love the problem solving section!

Anonymous
8:01 AM, August 31, 2008 Reply  

Super blog - thanks. I'm always on the hunt for great children's books and have recently discovered Bayard and their series of StoryBoxBooks, AdventureBoxBooks and DiscoveryBoxBooks (which has a special focus on teeth!) They have work by acclaimed children's books illustrator Helen Oxenbury appearing in the Storybox series for September. In addition to this, they also have some great activities for rainy days: http://www.storyboxbooks.com/potatoprinting.php, http://www.adventureboxbooks.com/macaroni-picture-frames.php, http://www.discoveryboxbooks.com/skittles.php Enjoy!

M
2:38 AM, September 04, 2008 Reply  

That sounds like a really cute book. When I was a child I love mystery books and I loved cooking, so this would have been great for me.

Melanie
http://www.an-american-in-france.com

Anonymous
5:07 PM, September 05, 2008 Reply  

Great love your post thumbs up buddy

Anonymous
4:55 AM, September 07, 2008 Reply  

Thanks for posting this review! I love this website and I've subscribed to it. I look forward to seeing your future posts. :)

Anonymous
4:56 AM, September 07, 2008 Reply  

Thank you for posting this! I would just like to point out to other readers that you can get this book for $10.48 at Barnes and Nobles. I know it's not much difference but you still save something!

Anonymous
8:03 PM, September 07, 2008 Reply  

Great to see some books encouraging kids to be creative in the kitchen. This generation seems to be losing simple baking skills yet nothing can beat the smell and taste of fresh baking!

Thanks for the post.

Anonymous
1:38 AM, September 08, 2008 Reply  

Great to see some books encouraging kids to be creative in the kitchen. This generation seems to be losing simple baking skills yet nothing can beat the smell and taste of fresh baking!

Thanks for the post.

Anonymous
6:44 AM, September 08, 2008 Reply  

I have 2 nephews who are always bored and just messing up. This book may help to keep them busy reading and having fun.

Anonymous
7:33 AM, September 08, 2008 Reply  

Thanks, Very interesting read, you should be proud of your blog.

Your website is very nicely designed, I have already bookmarked it.

3:05 PM, September 08, 2008 Reply  

What a lovely review! Have you considered if you might take a look at "The 39 Clues" books? The first in the series launches tomorrow (Sept. 9). Check out my blog about it: http://39clues.blogspot.com/

Anonymous
8:40 PM, September 08, 2008 Reply  

It seems to be a pretty good book. Whats the preice of it?

Anonymous
10:42 PM, September 09, 2008 Reply  

hi I'm Laura SAHM. I followed your link from another website and I'm glad I did. this the first entry that I read and thanks for sharing this. I also have a daughter and baking together is what we usually do during weekends. I think we will enjoy reading this. thanks again

Anonymous
8:53 AM, September 10, 2008 Reply  

It is nice that someone worries about what children learn so this book can help kids to develop the interest for reading and at the same time they lern something useful for them.

Anonymous
10:11 PM, September 10, 2008 Reply  

hey, love the blog - i will try and keep up with it!! please keep more coming :)I wish I could start a blog but I don’t have much time :(Thanks, nick

Anonymous
10:48 AM, September 11, 2008 Reply  

i havent seen such a good blog on books for a long time

Anonymous
3:14 AM, September 12, 2008 Reply  

I TOO LOVE THESE CHILDREN BOOKS. Particularly the quizzes part excites me a lot.

Anonymous
5:34 AM, September 12, 2008 Reply  

nice one, great sounds from blogspot.

Anonymous
7:41 PM, September 13, 2008 Reply  

My cousin actually read this book.

Anonymous
8:37 PM, September 13, 2008 Reply  

Thanks for sharing. Maybe I'll get one for my son. He's just getting to that stage where he's really loving reading, so I think this will help.

Anonymous
2:18 AM, September 17, 2008 Reply  

This is great! Kids would love it.

Anonymous
3:09 AM, September 17, 2008 Reply  

Hey this book sounds good. Will try to get one for my niece.. thanks for sharing it....

Anonymous
3:13 AM, September 18, 2008 Reply  

You should check out Bayard and their series of StoryBoxBooks, AdventureBoxBooks and DiscoveryBoxBooks.
There's lots going on too:
This Month Storybox has guest illustrator Helen Oxenbury fetured ( http://storyboxbooks.com/helen-oxenbury.php ).
There's a Readathon happening in Uk and Ireland - http://discoveryboxbooks.com/readathon.php
There's a Ghost Drawing competition in AdventureBoxBooks assiciated with the Polka Theatre ( http://www.adventureboxbooks.com/competition.php )

Anonymous
7:40 AM, September 23, 2008 Reply  

This is nice. Kids would enjoy reading this kind of books, especially the quizzes portion.

Anonymous
4:33 AM, September 24, 2008 Reply  

My daughter will surely love this book. I better buy her one asap.

Anonymous
7:38 AM, September 25, 2008 Reply  

It sounds like a really great book. My daughter will definitely love it.

Anonymous
8:18 PM, October 03, 2008 Reply  

This kind of books can really help children be interested in reading. The quiz parts would also be challenging for them as well.

-M for Mexico

Anonymous
7:20 AM, October 12, 2008 Reply  

I really praise this work since reading is someting we are loosing and kids are not interested anymore. Books like this help to keep alive this useful activity.

Anonymous
1:36 PM, November 22, 2008 Reply  

This sounds like a book all 3 of my kids would love. My daughter (9 years old ) is a dedicated reader, so this might fit the bill for her, My 12 year old may be a little advanced for it, but he could read it to my 6 year old.

Thanks for a great find and letting us in on it a little, it is so hard to find good books for kids these days!

Anonymous
1:47 PM, February 16, 2009 Reply  

thanks i gone buy it for my kinds, i will let you konw what they said about them
keep up with those post.

10:12 PM, April 11, 2009 Reply  

I have two doughters, that sounds like a great book! i'll have to see if i can find it for them. Thanks alot for your kind information.

9:28 AM, December 21, 2009 Reply  

This sound like a wonderful children's book. My niece and nephew love baking and reading so I think this will be a good Christmas gift for them.

8:53 PM, February 22, 2010 Reply  

My daughter who is eight, absolutely loved Sunny's Adventures. Her favorite story was the one about the missing doll. She is always losing her dolls and stuffed animals so she could relate to the way the characters in the story were feeling.

4:01 PM, March 11, 2010 Reply  

Yes, well children stories are sometime very entertaining and they help even more when your kids are younger. The description of this story seems attractive to me. And I think kids will enjoy it because it contains so much curiosity and mystery for them.

12:07 AM, April 12, 2010 Reply  

I like this!

11:58 PM, April 14, 2010 Reply  

children actually love to know about new things so curiosity like store and stuff will more love by children

10:28 AM, April 24, 2010 Reply  

I followed your link from another website and I'm glad I did. this the first entry that I read and thanks for sharing this. I also have a daughter and baking together is what we usually do during weekends. I think we will enjoy reading this. thanks again

10:56 AM, June 26, 2010 Reply  

I love the fact that the book comes complete with quizzes art the end. What a great way to be interactive with your child!

5:31 AM, January 25, 2011 Reply  

You have given a nice information and think it will be useful to everyone. I was looking for something like this only and I am sure that it will surely help me. I will share your tips with my friends. So they can also take advantages of it.

10:42 PM, February 23, 2011 Reply  

Children love to read adventures books.

3:17 AM, March 17, 2011 Reply  

Funny and informative book for children with a twist towards cooking.

3:07 AM, April 18, 2011 Reply  

That sounds like a great book! My daughter would love it. I'll have to see if I can find it for her. Thanks!

11:03 PM, May 29, 2011 Reply  

Very cool post. I just recently started following your blog, but I look forward to contributing more in the future..thanks for giving us nice info.Fantastic walk-through. I appreciate this post.

5:23 AM, June 22, 2011 Reply  

I feel like you could probably teach a class on how to make a great blog. This is fantastic! I have to say, what really got me was your design. You certainly know how to make your blog more than just a rant about an issue. Youve made it possible for people to connect. Good for you, because not that many people know what theyre doing.

12:08 PM, September 21, 2011 Reply  

Just A Mom’s Take On Things – I was curious, after I finished reading the first story, as to whether either of my older girls would have picked up on the clues and figured out the solution to the mystery themselves. When I asked them if they knew how Sunny had solved the case, my oldest easily listed two of the main clues given within the story.

10:34 PM, September 28, 2011 Reply  

Great to see some books encouraging kids to be creative in the kitchen. This generation seems to be losing simple baking skills yet nothing can beat the smell and taste of fresh baking.

8:58 AM, October 07, 2011 Reply  

There are quizzes at the end of the 5 chapters to encourage critical thinking, and my 5 yr old was pretty excited to come up with the answers.

6:21 AM, October 13, 2011 Reply  

That sounds like a great book. My daughter would love it. I'll have to see if I can find it for her.

11:08 PM, January 04, 2012 Reply  

That sounds like a really cute book. When I was a child I love mystery books and I loved cooking, so this would have been great for me.

8:38 PM, January 05, 2012 Reply  

This is something our children will read and enjoy, thank you for sharing.

8:59 PM, January 09, 2012 Reply  

It gives me such joy to expose children to the wonderful warmth and quiet passion that is following a recipe.

4:29 AM, February 15, 2012 Reply  

Books are always there for you, especially when friends aren't. You can completely disappear into a world of your choosing. You can curl up with a book in bed on a cold, winter's night. Compared to other activities, books don't cost very much. Even kids can afford second-hand books, and the library is free! You can read non-fiction books and learn so much about your favourite subjects.

3:51 AM, February 16, 2012 Reply  

Thank you for posting this! I would just like to point out to other readers that you can get this book for $10.48 at Barnes and Nobles. I know it's not much difference but you still save something!

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