BenSpark Family Adventures

  I received and advanced copy of A Perfect Mistake by Melanie Conklin (Little Brown and Company) which goes on sale today. These are my honest opinions on the book. I get pitches to check out books all the time. I read things from kids picture books to YA fantasy and Graphic Novels and everything in between. I got the pitch for A Perfect Mistake and reading the quick synopsis of the book made me very interested in reading it. The book deals with family ties, ADHD, toxic masculinity, responsibility and friendship. It was one of those books that when I began reading it I wanted to read the entire thing right away to get to the resolution of the mystery within the book. We have our main character, Max, he’s 11 years old but has the height and size of a kid in high school. So a lot of responsibility and unfair expectations get put upon him because of that. Max is also dealing with ADHD, he is seeing a therapist and this is helping him come up with strategies to manage his experiences....

  I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha San Miguel about her book, Spineless, is being released out today. I received an advanced copy of the book to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book is about a young boy named Algie Emsworth who dreams of becoming a recognized naturalist. He does have a few things stacked against him, though. He has asthma in the early 19th Century. This can be severely limiting to his activities. However, Algie find that he has more strength than he ever imagined. His adventures take him to Florida where he meets new friends and confidantes who challenge him and help him. I don’t want to give too much away but here is the official synopsis of the book. Dive into the beautiful, surprising, adventure-filled world of The Grand Hotel of Gilded Age South Florida with Samantha San Miguel’s debut middle grade, SPINELESS (On Sale June 7, 2022 | Union Square Kids), where twelve-year-old aspiring naturalist Algie Emsworth stumbles upon a brand-new species. D...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01072 I received a free copy of the book 100 Things I Love About Dad. Opinions are my own. My friend Jeff Bogle recently published the book 100 Things I Love About Dad which is a book filled with so many prompts for kids to write about what they love about their dad. Jeff is a great dad and he is also a very insightful person. The book’s prompts are varied and will provide dad with so many great moments to relive based on what the kids enter. Jeff also includes additional pages called Extra Love. These are blank pages where kids can write up even more memories that they have of their dad.

We received a couple of free books from National Geographic to check out and review. Opinions are my own. Andy loves animals and he loves learning all about animals. While he is mostly into Axolotls now he likes so many other animals. He has a great time looking through the National Geographic books to find out all about some amazing animals. Ultimate Book of African Animals by Emmy Award-Winning Filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert (ages 8-12, hardcover, 192 pages) Ready for an adventure of a lifetime? With National Geographic photographer-filmmaker duo Beverly and Dereck Joubert as their guides, readers are transported to the plains of the Serengeti, the sands of the Sahara and the shaded nooks of the rainforest. Dereck and Beverly are eight-time Emmy award-winning filmmakers, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence and wildlife conservationists who have been filming, researching and exploring Africa for over 35 years. By sharing their stories of life on safari and Beverly’s jaw-...

We received a review copy of Cranky Chicken for free. Opinions are our own. Cranky Chicken is a super cute graphic novel for younger kids in the vein of Narwhal and Jelly and The Bad Guys. You have Cranky, the chicken, she’s cranky. She’s cranky over so many things. One day she is cranky at a leaf and kicks it freeing Speedy the worm from under the evil leaf’s terrible embrace. Speedy immediately befriends, or rather attempts to befriend, Cranky. Cranky is having nothing of it but eventually gets worn down by Speedy’s enthusiasm and persistence. What follows are three fun stories that kids will enjoy. The artwork is clean and simple with a watercolor feel. The book is for ages 6-9 and is available now. More about the book. A Downright Hilarious Graphic Novel Chapter Book about an Unlikely Friendship CRANKY CHICKEN Written and Illustrated by Katherine Battersby Narwhal and Jelly meet The Bad Guys in CRANKY CHICKEN (On Sale 9/7/21) by critically acclaimed author-illustrator Katherine Bat...

I received a digital and a physical copy of this graphic novel for free from DC Comics to read and review. Opinions are my own. Unearthed: A Jessica Cruz Story is a super hero story of a different sort. Jessica is not off fighting aliens and super villains in this one. This is a much more grounded story that is so relevant to today. Jessica is finding her life turned upside down and pulled in many directions at once. She is working hard at a special fellowship. she studies hard and gets good grades, she takes care of her parents and her home by cooking and cleaning. She’s even preparing to apply for college. However, forces outside of herself are in motion to turn her world upside-down. I’m not talking Darkseid or Grail here either. These forces are racism, nationalism and fear. the official description of the comic is this: “Unearthed is the first graphic novel from acclaimed YA author Lilliam Rivera (Never Look Back) and rising illustrator Steph C., featuring a reimagined origin ...

I am running a giveaway for the book series, The Startup Squad. The prize is being provided by my sponsor and will be sent to the winner. Open to the US only. I just recently learned about The Startup Squad series of books. I think they would have been pretty awesome for my daughter Eva to read when she was a bit younger. They may be perfect for my niece, Kylie and I think I might be getting her a set of them to inspire her girlpreneur-ship. The Startup Squad has a pretty extensive website to help inspire girls of all ages to start businesses. Girls ages 6 to 16 who run their own business can sign up at The Startup Squad website to be featured in the Girls Mean Business Gallery, plus check out resources such as The Ultimate Business Plan for Kids and the Entrepreneurship Activity Kit! What is in the giveaway prize packet? One (1) winner will receive a boxed paperback set of all 3 books in the series, an exclusive Startup Squad tote bag, earrings, bookmark, stickers, and temporary tatto...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00872 We received an advanced Reader’s copy of the upcoming book, Pizazz by Sophy Henn from Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. Opinions are our own.This middle grade book is about a 9 year old reluctant superhero. Andy loved it and he is hard to find books for. The book is heavy on illustrations and is a really fun read. I let Andy read the book first and he did it in less than two days. That is a big win and endorsement by Andy. Then we talked about it together. He did give away the big reveal but that was because I asked what Pizazz had as a super power. The reveal is fun. I reviewed the book in today’s vlog. The book will be released on June 1, 2021 along with the second book in the series, Pizazz vs. The New Kid.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00868 Disney Hyperion often sends me books for free so that I can review them. Opinions are my own. One series that I love for the kids is the Bruce series. Bruce is a big grumpy bear that hates everything except for eggs, that is until he ends up letting some eggs hatch and becomes an adoptive parent to a gaggle of geese. Through the series of books Bruce also shares his home with three mice and it has done nothing to improve Bruce’s mood. He’s still a total grump. In the Bruce Swap we are introduced to Bruce’s cousin Kevin. Kevin is a very fun bear. He loves to have an incredible amount of fun. However, his fun tends to get completely out of control. While the geese and mice want to have a lot of fun they realize that this new fun “Bruce” is more than they bargained for and they are quite happy to have the real Bruce back after a time. I did a video review as well.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00780 We received a free review copy of the book Flora and Ulysses from Candlewick Press. Flora & Ulysses is being turned into a movie for Disney + and debuts tomorrow. Opinions are our own. So, I asked for this book so that Andy could read it. I figured that there were some illustrations inside that he would enjoy and he might also like the story since the book was being made into a movie for Disney Plus. He did not read the book. I read the book. It was a quick read filled with interesting characters. The character of Flora is the most interesting character of the book. She is described as a natural born cynic. How she got to be this way is sort of subtly explained. Flora lives with her mother who is a romance writer. She observes a squirrel being sucked up into a vacuum and saves him. The squirrel she names Ulysses after the vacuum hat has changed his life. Ulysses is now a Superhero. Ulysses ends up doing many fantastical things like write poetry and fly....

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00646 Tonight we attended a special virtual event for Eva’s Birthday. We bought tickets earlier this week to see Rick Riordan speak about this most recently released book. The Trials of Apollo: The Tower of Nero. This is the 5th and final book in the series and is the 15th book in the Percy Jackson world. Fifteen years of this story coming together in this last book. Eva is so excited to finally read it. she has read everything that Rick Riordan, or Uncle Rick as fans call him, has written.  The funny thing is, she had no interest whatsoever in this series when I attempted to introduce her to it a few years ago. Then we went to the Lightning Thief musical in Boston and she came out of that a huge fan. She read all the books and has re-read them and listened to each one on Audible. We have not only the entire Percy Jackson series on Audible but also Rick’s two other series which he also wrote in that 15 year span since the release of The Lightning Thief. We h...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00581 I had the pleasure of interviewing Max Brallier this morning as part of my Read to Me, Dad Reviews! series on YouTube. This is a series where I talk to authors or review books that would be great for other dads to share with their kids. I’ve been wanting to chat with Max for a while now and we were finally able to nail down a date and time. We spoke this morning after work and then I went to bed, got up and edited the video. Max Brallier is the author of the series, The Last Kids on Earth. This is a fun series about four kids in the Monster Apocalypse. The first two books have been turned into a series on Netflix with the first book as a longer full length special and the second book as a 10 episode season. I cannot wait for more seasons to drop and also for Max’s next book, The Last Kids on Earth and the Skeleton Road. I’ve read through the six books that have been published. We discussed how June’s Wild Flight, the most recent book started as a shorter bo...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00531 We received a copy of The Way to Rio Luna for free to read and review. Opinions are our own. I am a fan of fantasy books. I’ve read all of the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter and the like. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that approaches magic quite like this one. Our main character, Danny Monteverde appears to have read these books as well and he believes that magic is real. It is his belief in magic that gets him through some very difficult times in his life. Danny is a foster kid who has been kicking around from home to home. His older sister is placed in separate foster care but she goes missing. It is up to Danny to find her and he believes that she has found a way to Rio Luna. Rio Luna is the land of some fairy tales that he and his sister loved and Danny is out to prove that it is real. His personal mission is to find this Rio Luna and his sister. I read it and enjoyed it. I gave it to Andy to read and found him crying. The beginning of the book i...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00529 We received a selection of My Audio Pet products for free to play with and review. I also purchased some additional products as gifts for my niece and nephew. Opinions are my own. Back at Toy Fair I visited the My Audio Pet booth and was blown away by their products. They not only had the cutest tiny bluetooth speakers but they had huge sound coming out of those speakers. Each of the My Audio Pets speakers has a name and personality. There is Slow Jam the sloth, Scales the dragon, Unichord the unicorn and so many more. What really caught my eye was Narmony the Narwhal that was part of the My audio Pet Splash line. This is a line of products that are larger than the rest of the pets and also waterproof. They have 5 watts of sound per speaker and a rechargeable battery. We received Narmony as part of our review products and started using it in Andy’s room right away. What is nice is that because it is bluetooth we can play something from another room and Andy can l...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00525 We received the entire series of Explorer Academy from National Geographic Kids Books for free to read and review. Opinions are our own. When I was a kid my Aunt gave me a subscription to National Geographic Magazine. These amazing magazines with information from all over the world had eye popping photos and so much information. It was so cool to look at the photos. I can’t say that I read too much of the articles and that is too bad because the articles have such great information. Maybe if the amazing information was presented to me like that which is in the Explorer Academy series I would have gotten more excited about learning about things in nature. I love the Explorer Academy books because they aren’t just cool action adventure books but rather they are based in scientific facts. Sure there are things that are not possible right now like the CAVE (Computer Animated Virtual Experience) Missions that the students have but we are getting very close with virtua...