Prince Iggy and the Kingdom of Naysayer

About the Book

Title: Prince Iggy and the Kingdom of Naysayer | Author: Aldo Fynn | Illustrator: Richie Vicencio | Publication Date: November 5,2013 | Publisher: Boa Press, LLC. | Pages: 156 | Recommended Ages: 8 to 12 Summary: All Iggy Rose wants is for the kids at the Naysayer Academy to like him, and one special girl in particular. But instead, he gets teased and taunted. Every day, he eats alone in the cafeteria and gets beaten up after school on the playground. But when a cruel prank leads to Iggy's escape from the academy, a wild, unimaginable adventure begins. Why is King Naysayer offering a hefty reward for Iggy's capture? When Iggy joins forces with an eclectic cast of characters, he discovers the answer. But before he can escape from the kingdom of Naysayer, Iggy must first reclaim what is rightfully his. Does this sad, lonely boy have the courage to battle the biggest school bully, a mean headmistress, and a greedy, cruel king? Will Iggy finally believe in himself and discover his true destiny?  

Purchase

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Print)

 

The Buzz

“An entertaining fantasy with a quirky, inventive storyline that shows how things invariably turn out badly for bullies.” Kirkus Reviews

“The book is going to be devoured by readers of any type, whether they're looking for some fun fiction, a comical read, or a page-turner.” 5 Star Review, San Francisco Book Review

"Fynn's book reminded me a bit of Harry Potter, but he adds his own cast of characters and a boy (Iggy), fun dialogue, and an amazing story that you can't help but root for. If you are looking for a great book to get your kids hooked on, then I recommend the Prince Iggy series." 5 Star Review, The Pen and Muse Book Reviews, Amazon

“Has the flavor of a Dickens and a Harry Potter story while remaining wholly original. It just shares those characteristics that make it such an enjoyable read. This book should be on every child's must read list and if I'm to be perfectly honest it should be on every adults list too. It has enough subtle adult humor well within its boundaries to make it an entertaining read for the parents too. It certainly has a modern message. It shows just how heartbreaking bullying can be by children as well as adults. It's a story about losing yourself and finding yourself. It shows being a bully doesn't pay off but believing in yourself does." 5 Star Review, April S., Amazon

 

About the Author: Aldo Fynn

Aldo Fynn enjoys writing wacky, fantastical stories. Prince Iggy and the Kingdom of Naysayer is his debut novel. It's the first book in the Adventures of Prince Iggy Series. He's also written two wacky, laugh-out-loud picture books. He lives under his desk and promises he won't come out until Book 3 in the series is complete. Which is a shame because his desk is based in Los Angeles, where it's sunny and 70 degrees most of the year.

Book Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

   

* $50 Book Blast Giveaway

Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest ends: June 4, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the publisher, Boa Press, LLC. and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.
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The Change Your Name Store (and a GIVEAWAY!)

Wilma Lee Wu likes many things. She likes to read. She likes puzzles. She likes to cook. She even likes to pester her brother. One thing she does not like: her name. It's too boring. She sets off on a mission—to find The Change Your Name Store. 

Once there, Ms. Zeena McFouz, the store's proprietor, helps her find many lovely new names. She tries several on for size. She soon discovers that when you take a new name, you must also take the culture of that name. When she chooses Dominga Delfino, she lands in Belize; adopting Nuru N'zinga drops her in Kenya. Which will Wilma choose?

There are several things that struck me upon reading The Change Your Name Store. I enjoyed the ethnic diversity portrayed throughout the story. I loved the variety of names sprinkled across each page. Each list or wall littered with names included not only common Caucasian names like Jennifer and Michael, but Ishmael, Sadiq, Olga, Ashanti, Demetrius, Dao, and even names in Chinese and Arabic characters. *love* The embrace of many ethnicities and cultures is the true gem found here. That the rhyming text flows beautifully and the whimsical illustration makes you smile is simply icing on the cake.

Illustrator Tina Kügler is so generously offering an illustrator-signed copy of The Change Your Name Store to a reader here at The Book Children. You can enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below. A winner will be drawn at 9 am EST on Thursday, 6/5.

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Only a few more hours to enter the giveaway!

Today's the day!

The giveaway to celebrate the opening of the new Book Children Store ends today at 4 pm EST. If you haven't entered yet, you have a few more hours!

I've had a few questions about The Book Children's Store. I'll do my best to answer a few of them right now. The Book Children's new Store is an "astore" run by Amazon.com. What this means is that when you add items to your cart, they are marked as being added through The Book Children. When you check out, it will add the items from your Book Children cart to your Amazon cart. You pay through Amazon; the items are shipped through Amazon. If you have a Prime membership, it will still apply to the items you purchased at The Book Children. I get a small percentage of the sales for any book you purchase through the store or the links posted here at The Book Children, even if they link directly to Amazon.

I've tried to add as many books as I could think of that we have recommended or enjoyed. If you can't find something, let me know here or on The Book Children's Facebook page. I'm happy to help!

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Good luck in the giveaway!! I'll announce the winner here and in the original giveaway post this afternoon.

The Book Children Store! And a giveaway!

We're thrilled to announce the opening of The Book Children's Store. Every book in our store has been enjoyed by a member (or five) of our family, and we're happy to now be able to help deliver those books to you! Every book you purchase from our little store will help us bring you more reviews and even better...more giveaways! Additionally, if you purchase books that are linked in our posts, we will similarly benefit from those purchases. Thank you so much for your support!

To kick things off the right way at The Book Children's Store, we are excited to announce a giveaway of the book of your choice from our Featured This Month page. All of the books that are Featured This Month have been recently reviewed by The Book Children. Simply check out our store by clicking on the logo or one of the Store links above, and let us know in the comments which book would be your choice from the Featured This Month page. You can earn additional chances to win by liking The Book Children's Facebook page or following The Book Children on Twitter. The giveaway ends Friday, 5/9 at 4 pm, and we will announce the winner then! Good luck!

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a tomten double giveaway!

A long-loved tale in our home, The Tomten is such a rich story of the quiet of a winter night and the tomten who trails through the farm aiding and comforting all the animals and children therein.

I've written of this book before, on my other blog, but when a gently used copy appeared at our favorite local bookstore, I couldn't resist bring it home as well.

My inability to resist this gentle, comforting winter tale is your gain as I am offering it, as well as a little wooden tomten to match, in a double giveaway!

After all, "winters come and winters go" but generosity lasts forever and is what this season is truly about. I hope there is a little one in your life who needs a tomten story!

Enter here by leaving a comment. Double your chances of winning both the book and the wooden tomten by leaving another comment on An Art Family tomten giveaway! Become a new follower of either An Art Family or The Book Children for an additional entry. The winner of both items will be drawn next Thursday, 12/9, at 9 am EST.

The winner of the wooden tomten and The Tomten book is Carolyn!

Carolyn said...

I just became a follower. Would love this for my grandson, Arlo.

Carolyn, please contact me at joy[at]anartfamily[dot]com with your information so I can get the tomten items to you right away! Thanks everyone for participating!

spreadin' the Bobbsey love (through a giveaway!)

I've mentioned a few times in the past (including the intro to this blog!) of my childhood love of the Bobbsey Twins. Through an unfortunate circumstance, I lost all of my childhood volumes that I spent many Christmases and birthdays collecting. Since then, I've always checked used bookstores and thrift shops hoping to catch someone offloading a Bobbsey Twin book or two but have been mostly unsuccessful. Even on eBay, most of the auctions I've seen would cost upwards to $200 to replace my entire collection.

Recently however, my luck in finding Bobbsey Twins books turned around in a big way. I found someone's old collection of about 20 Bobbsey Twins books at one of my favorite local used bookstores and within days found an auction on eBay that also had 20 books that were selling Buy It Now at less than $2/book. I now have something close to two-thirds of my original collection for less than $60. Of course, I realized that I would end up with a couple of duplicates. My duplicates are your gain! I'm offering a double giveaway of the following Bobbsey Twins books: The Bobbsey Twins' Adventure in Washington and The Bobbsey Twins The Secret At The Seashore.

The Secret At The Seashore is #3 in the series, although the books in this series can be read independently without needing context from previous books. Each chapter has a sketch of a main event. I can remember as a child how the pictures of the stories in my head were shaped by these sketches.

And in typical Bobbsey fashion, each book begins with the same description of the twins. Tall, slender dark-haired Bert and Nan and short, chubby blond Freddie and Flossie.

Adventure in Washington is #12. I remember feeling so much more informed about Washington, it's city, monuments, government buildings and even the political process after reading this book. What a joy it is to take the trip back to my childhood each time I read these. My own kids have really enjoyed them too. They were almost as excited as I was with our recent acquisition of so many volumes!

This giveaway will run from now through Friday at noon. At that time, I will draw 2 numbers to each win a book. To enter, simply leave me a comment (if you want to tell me about your favorite childhood book, that would be special too). To double your chances, become a follower of The Book Children (or be a current follower) and let me know in the comments. To gain another entry, blog about this giveaway and leave me a link in the comments. I'd love for another Bobbsey-lover to be born through this giveaway! :)

The winners are Bending Birches and Janice! Congrats. Email me with your address and I'll mail these out right away!

Make Way For Ducklings giveaway!

You knew it was coming, didn't you? After all, you can hardly have a proper children's book blog without one of Robert McCloskey's books coming up at some point. I'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite between Make Way For Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal, but for today, let's just discuss Make Way for Ducklings, shall we?

I can't even remember the first time I read Make Way For Ducklings, but it's safe to say that this charismatic brood of feathered friends have been with me for a long time. I remember being slightly disappointed as a child that the book wasn't "colorized", but now I feel that it lends a bit of charm.

The story first grabbed me as a small look into the parental mind when the duck parents were searching out a home for their ducklings. Having settled on an island in the middle of Boston Public Garden, the duck family embarks on a harrowing journey to the safety of their new home. (If we ever make a family trip to Boston, this will be on my must-see list.)

Finn's favorite page is the spread with the near accident between the cars and the duck family. No surprise, since my boy loves cars. But he always laughs out loud at all the honking and quacking going on here, a bit of levity in a scene that could seem harrowing to a preschooler.

Of course, a friendly policeman is nearby to help the duck family safely across the dangerous road.

And they eventually make their way to the promised land.

I happen to have an extra new copy of this wonderful book, although I'm sure many households already hold a copy of this jewel. No matter, it could be a lovely gift for a niece or nephew or simply the next child's birthday party you attend. Everyone should make way for these ducklings. ;) Just leave me a comment, become a follower, and/or leave me a comment letting me know you referred to this giveaway from your blog and you'll be entered up to 3 times for the giveaway. I'll draw a winner on Friday morning at noon.

According to the random number generator, Charlotte is the winner! Please email me your address so I can mail Make Way For Ducklings to you!

Caps For Sale and a giveaway!

One of the books I remember most fondly from my childhood (outside of the previously mentioned Bobbsey Twins) is the ever-popular Caps for Sale. Caps for Sale was a book from my mother's own childhood that she introduced to me. I was immediately captivated by the simple illustrations, bold colors and storyline with which any child could personally identify. I mean, what little kid doesn't appreciate the foot-stamping, fist-raising frustration those monkeys cause?!

When I first purchased this book for Elizabeth, I probably hadn't seen my childhood copy in 15 years. The picture below is the one that really took me on a trip down memory lane. I remember how impressive it was that the peddler could carry all those hats on his head at one time, and I remember thinking the foremost building was a church. I'm not really sure what gave me that impression except that the top of the building resembles a belfry.

And then there are the monkeys, those mischievous rascals!

One thing I appreciate about this book is the easily identifiable beginning, middle and end to the story. We occasionally ask the kids various questions about the books we've read aloud, and this one is great for a 5-7 year old to begin to understand the structure of a story.

As a way to get the ball rolling on this new blog, I've decided to giveaway a copy of Caps For Sale to one lucky commenter. You can also gain a second entry by following The Book Children blog and a third by mentioning this giveaway on your own blog. The giveaway will end on Monday (6/14) at 8 pm and a winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

The winner of the first giveaway by The Book Children is Ginny! Congrats Ginny!

Welcome to The Book Children!