BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01511 I have a feeling that we may have one too many of a certain book. This makes me laugh every time I walk by.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01436 I received an advanced copy of the book Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold. I requested it for Andy because I figured that he would enjoy the silliness of it plus the tons of cartoon illustrations inside. The book is filled with cartoons that go along with the story. It is one of those combination books where much of the story is told through the cartoons on each page but then there are also pages of text. It is a great book for those kids who are not huge readers but they enjoy cartoons and will find having cartoons and text broken up throughout the book much easier to read. This is the type of reader that Andy is. He’s not one for a straight up book with text only. He enjoyed the cartoons and the story of this book because it was so absurdly silly. I also read the book and found it to be pretty funny. The simple drawings and the unique and funny characters made it an interesting read. You can pick up this book from out amazon.com affiliate link and g...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01428 I recently received a copy of the final book in the Explorer Academy series from National Geographic. This is a YA adventure series that takes place all around the world. There is a blend of real world science with science fiction plus a ton of cool locations across the globe and lots and lots of puzzles and riddles and codes to solve. I have read all seven books in the series and I have enjoyed them all. The series centers on the character Cruz Coronado. He’s a kid form Hawaii who gets accepted into the fictional Explorer Academy based in Washington DC. From there he has adventures all over the world with his friends Emmett, Sailor, Bryndis and Lani. This series has been building to an incredible finale and this book did not disappoint. Some major thigs were revealed and I am happy to hear that while Cruz’s story and focus on him is over with this series there is a spin-off series coming centered around another explorer and that already has some interestin...

  If you are a teacher of kids from grades 4-6 or 6-8 Wizards of the Coast has created a new initiative to provide educational materials for teachers so that they can incorporate Dungeons and Dragons into their lesson plans. This is very exciting and so useful, too. It also comes out to coincide with a brand new starter set being released.. Dungeons and Dragons is very popular with many celebrities playing it and it being featured in some very popular TV shows. Kids are learning more and more about it but they may have never played before. There are many benefits from playing and many educational moments to learn from while playing. This initiative will even provide schools, libraries and community centers and enrichment organizations with D&D Afterschool Kits that will include everything to start D&D clubs and meetups. I have a full press release below with all the information on the initiative. I would also like to point you towards the website where you can download many...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01358 I received a free copy of The Art of the National Parks: Coloring Book to check out and review. Opinions are my own. I am a big fan of coloring books. I love having some colored pencils or crayons to use to just put color on paper and enjoy losing myself in the activity. I also like nature and have been to a few National Parks. This is one fantastic coloring book, not only in the content but the physical book itself. When I first opened it up I was immediately impressed. For one thing when you open up the book the spine lays flat and the pages lay flat so you do not have to keep the left side down with your hand like you normally do with most books. The back cover it a thick hard cardboard, too so you have something firm to color upon. This is perfect. The content is also phenomenal. There are 63 pages to color and 63 pages of information on the parks. So you have the coloring page on the right side and a description of the park on the left side. It is real...

  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-...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01049 We received a free copy of the latest book in the Explorer Academy series by Trudi Trueit to read and review. Opinions are our own. This Summer I read through the first five books in The Explorer Academy series. This is a series that is inspired by the National Geographic society and is published through National Geographic. It is a science fiction novel series where the science fiction is things not too far outside the realm of possibility. There are thins that may not even be a few years off as technology progresses. Then there are things within the series that seem way far outside of possibility. It is a fun series to read with tons of great puzzles and a pretty intricate plot with some big mysteries. I do not know how many books are planned for the series but the major mystery is nearing an end. With the fallout from the gut wrenching events of Book Five hanging heavy on Cruz he has to put that aside and keep searching for the cipher because Nebula is c...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01044 We received a review copy of the new comic book for middle graders called Batman, Robin and Howard for free to review. Opinions are our own. Graphic novels for middle graders are the sweet spot for getting my son, Andy to read. He has the best time reading them and he observes so much when he does. I wasn’t sure that he was noticing things because he reads them so quickly but what he noticed about this book blew me away. Yes, the book is about Batman and his son Damian Wayne who is also Robin. It is also about another character named Howard who comes into the Wayne’s lives. However, that was not what Andy noticed. What he noticed was that there was a student who goes to school with Howard and Damian who does not have a hand on his left arm. I was like, are you sure? He said, “Yeah, it is one of my favorite things about the book because it includes everyone.” I was blown away that my almost 10 year-old noticed something like that and had that reaction. He’s ...

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 #00951 We received a copy of City of Dragons: The Awakening Storm for free to read and review. Opinions are our own. When we received this book I gave it to Andy to read. I’m always looking for new and interesting things for Andy. He’s more of a reluctant reader and because of that he doesn’t often pick up a book on his own to read. He does enjoy comics and graphic novels, though. He also enjoys fantasy and dragons so this was a great graphic novel for him to start reading. He completed the book in a day and really enjoyed it. When he was finished I took up the book and read it. I enjoyed the overall story and the characters. This is also the first book in a new series and it sets up the subsequent books very well. there is plenty of mystery, humor and heart in the book, too. Plus, did I mention Dragons! Our main character, Grace is a strong female character who suffers a major loss in her life. A few years later she moves to Hong Kong. there she meets new friends Rames...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00948 We received a free review copy of THE MYSTERY MEANEST TEACHER: A JOHNNY CONSTANTINE GRAPHIC NOVEL from DC comics to read and review. Opinions are our own. My wife and I are fans of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on the CW. There is a character that has become part of the team called John Constantine. He’s a magic user who is mostly selfish but eventually he ends up doing the right thing. Most of the time. In this graphic novel for ages 8-12 we have Johnny Constantine or rather, Kid as he likes being called. Johnny doesn’t have his cigarette addiction but instead it is all candy like lollipops. Of course he messes things up by eating some particularly important chocolate and has to flee to America. there in Massachusetts he meets Anna who is also a magic user. School isn’t any fun for this new kid and this outsider. Things get even worse when the history teacher takes an immediate dislike to Johnny. There is much more going on than meets the eye and it is up to Johnny a...

  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 #00826 Thirteen years ago I took a photo of a pigeon. A few months ago I was approached by someone who wanted to use the photo for a book cover. The book came out recently and they sent me a free copy. They also sent a very nice note and some money. It was a very nice sentiment. We are looking forward to reading the book. If you want to get a copy or learn what it is all about check out their page at Payhip. – https://payhip.com/tripledeckerpress. Last year when the pandemic hit Andy and I were training with America’s Best Defense: North Attleboro – Krav Maga at home and we gave each other the stripes we earned. Last year Eva was not yet enrolled in classes. In the span of a year Andy and I advanced three more belts each. Green then Brown. Then Andy earned Advanced Brown and I, Red. Eva enrolled in Jr. Krav Maga and earned White, Yellow, Orange and then her Purple last week. I can’t wait to see where we are in another year’s time.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00808 We received a free copy of Alone by Megan R. Freeman to read and review. Opinions are our own. We all know that Eva is a voracious reader. She is never without a book in hand. So she is my go to for reading Young Adult novels and letting me know what she thinks of them. In this instance we both read Alone. We also both enjoyed the book. This book is a little different than many you will read because it is a novel-in-verse and is pretty short overall. The minimalist use of words to tell this story adds to how alone our protagonist, Maddie is in the world. Things do not start out that way. This is not some post apocalyptic world overrun by hordes of zombies or monsters. This is a sleepy town in Colorado where one day Maddie wakes up and she is completely alone. No other soul is around except for a dog named George. the story is about how Maddie survives through the years completely on her own. How she finds food and shelter. How she deals with growing up by h...