non fiction

Non Fiction Review: Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils

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The Beginner's Guide to Essential Oils by Christina Anthis
The Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
by Christina Anthis

4 out of 5 stars

This book begins with an explanation of what essential oils are, how they are manufactured, and safety precautions for their use. There are lists of basic equipment, types of applications, blends and dilutions that can be used.

The next sections detail types of carrier oils and essential oils with all their properties, uses, and precautions. There are even suggested substitutes for each oil in case you don’t have it.

The last section is divided into recipes and blends for physical and mental health, for the home and family, and for personal care. The recipes include soaps, salves, compresses, throat gargle, deodorant, lip balm, facial cleanser, moisturizer.
Their uses include relief from pain, stress, cough, congestion, nausea, eczema, headache, insomnia, and dozens more. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Grateful Together

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Grateful Together by Vicky Perreault
Grateful Together: A Gratitude Journal for Kids and Their Parents
by Vicky Perreault
4 out of 5 stars

This guided journal is for parents and children to write in together as a reminder to be grateful for something each day. The prompts include things like being grateful for friends, laughter, favorite books, pets, acts of kindness, and teachers.

A guided entry might ask the writer to do an act of kindness or generosity and then journal about it and how it made them feel to help someone. Another entry will ask the writer to write about a time when someone helped them, and how grateful they are for the generosity of others. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Figure Drawing for Kids

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Figure Drawing for Kids by Angela Rizza
Figure Drawing for Kids: A Step-By-Step Guide to Drawing People
by Angela Rizza

4 out of 5 stars


This book gives step-by-step instructions for sketching and drawing the human figure, beginning with basic shapes, proportions, and teaching how to draw movement and add shading. All the example drawings and instructions are appropriate for this age level, and full of fun and useful information!
I like that there is not a ton of fancy equipment required to do the drawings and sketches in this book. Simple pencils, fine-point ink pens, nice colored pencils, and a basic sketchpad are all you need.
Continue reading →

Cookbook Review: Truly Healthy Vegan Cookbook

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The Truly Healthy Vegan Cookbook by Dianne Wenz
The Truly Healthy Vegan Cookbook: 90 Whole Food Recipes with Deliciously Simple Ingredients
by Dianne Wenz

4 out of 5 stars


This book begins with advice on being vegan and common mistakes that can put your health at risk.
There are very good instructions about including vitamins and supplements in your vegetable diet, as well as an entire section about getting enough protein.

The recipes include sections for Basics, Breakfast, Salad, Soups and Stews, Burgers, Wraps, and Sandwiches, Sides, Dinner Mains, Pasta and Rice, and Sweets. Each recipe includes labels for Nut-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Low-Carb, and Oil-Free options.
The recipes have wonderful tips for substituting ingredients, as well at nutrition labels. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Too Pregnant to Move Journal

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Too Pregnant to Move by Conz Preti
Too Pregnant to Move: A Pregnancy Journal
by Conz Preti

2 out of 5 stars


I was shocked and unhappy to see the F-word and the S-word within the first pages. There are five quotes throughout the book that include profanity, and I think it’s very out of place in this type of book.

This journal has mostly blank-lined pages with funny quotes about parenting. There are quotes from famous people about being pregnant, and journaling prompts that ask questions like who was the first person you told that you were pregnant, and what weird food cravings you are having.
There is a place to paste in your sonogram, write in questions you want to ask your doctor, and of course chronicle your thoughts and feelings. Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: I Brushed My Hair Today: A Mom Journal

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I Brushed My Hair Today by Karen Johnson
I Brushed My Hair Today: A Mom Journal for Mostly Together Moms
by Karen Johnson

1 star

I was shocked and unhappy to see the F-word and the S-word on the very first page. You would think that a journal about parenting would at least be PG. There is profanity found in many other places as well. I think I counted over 25 nasty words in the whole book. I did not appreciate that, and I think it’s very out of place in this type of book.

This journal has mostly blank-lined pages with funny quotes about parenting. There are quotes from famous people about being a mother, as well as funny stories about parenting mishaps. There are also journaling prompts that ask questions about your favorite thing your child does to make you laugh, or the worst mess your child has made. Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: An Introduction to Crystal Grids

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An Introduction to Crystal Grids by Karen Frazier
An Introduction to Crystal Grids: Daily Rituals for Your Heart, Health, and Happiness
by Karen Frazier (Goodreads Author)

2 out of 5 stars

This book is not what I was looking for. I wanted a more scientific book about how different minerals and crystals have chemical properties that can change the flow of air, remove impurities, react with other stones to improve energy, or react with electrons in healing ways.
But this book is more spiritual and wishy-washy that I wanted.

The author says in the introduction, “I believe crystals are conscious entities that come from the planet…”
Okay, that just sounds ridiculous. Rocks are not conscious. That is idiotic. Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: Spies, Code Breakers, and Secret Agents

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Spies, Code Breakers, and Secret Agents by Carole P. Roman
Spies, Code Breakers, and Secret Agents: A World War II Book for Kids
by Carole P. Roman (Goodreads Author)

5 stars

This book begins with an overview of WWII and which countries were at war at that time. It details the names of different government spy agencies like the Soviet’s NKVD, Germany’s Abwehr, and Polish Intelligence, Britain’s MI6, and gives a general idea of how British and French Resistance would work behind the scenes to confuse the enemy.

Chapter 2 talks about various requirements for being a spy, where and how agencies would recruit their spies, and the ordinary jobs that spies would use as their cover.
Chapter 3 is all about spy gear and special gadgets! There are pistols hidden in gloves, maps hidden in playing cards, grenades disguised to look like lumps of coal, radio transmitters, invisible ink, and even the classic ring with poison hidden in a secret compartment. Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: Herbalism at Home

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Herbalism at Home by Kristine Brown
Herbalism at Home: 125 Recipes for Everyday Health
by Kristine Brown

4 out of 5 stars


Part One of this book talks about the history and benefits of herbalism, equipment and basic ingredients that you need to make the herbal recipes, and an encyclopedia of common herbs and their uses. This includes instructions for drying your own herbs, and types of poultices, syrups, powders, and massage oils. There is an entire chapter with advice on making your own herbal teas, tinctures, tonics, elixirs, salves, ointments, and baths.

Part Two is the actual recipes for herbal mixtures, including remedies for cough, asthma, digestive troubles, nausea, eczema, bug bites, cuts and scrapes, acne, earache, lice, warts, chickenpox, bladder infections, menstrual cramps, hair loss, acid reflux, diabetes, tinnitus, and dozens more. There are also blends for emotional relief from anxiety, insomnia, stress, depression, and PTSD. Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: 50 Fearless Women

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50 Fearless Women Who Made History by Jenifer Bazzit
50 Fearless Women Who Made History: An American History Book for Kids
by Jenifer Bazzit

4 out of 5 stars

This book gives short 3-page biographies of famous women who changed American history. The bios range from Pocahontas all the way to modern-day women. Along with each biography there is a timeline at the bottom of each page showing major events of their era in history. There are also beautiful illustrations depicting each woman doing something that made her famous,whether it’s writing, nursing, giving speeches, flying a plane, dancing, traveling, reporting, painting, or protesting.

I really loved the timeline at the bottom of the pages. It adds something special to be able to see what was going on in history at that time. There is also a separate text box along with each bio, showcasing one of their major accomplishments. Continue reading →