Book Review and Giveaway: Taconi and Claude by Margot Finke -BONUS Giveaways TOO!

&& this giveaway is closed &&

 

And now for something a little different! An AUSTRALIAN kids' story! Perfect for Summer reading, this book is aimed at kids ages 7-13,  and exploring for home schooling and kids on Summer vacation!


Synopsis: Set in the 50's, Taconi, a young aboriginal boy, fears his upcoming Man Ceremony, Dreamtime Spirits, and his Dad’s changing jobs. Claude, his talkative cockatoo, offers one-liners that often help. 


Review: This is an interesting book that will definitely delight young readers! As a Mom, I liked that it really taught the value of hard work and finding one's moral character!
I liked how the author used the Aboriginal language with the Aboriginal folk tales, to show what a wealth of culture there is in that culture. In America, we often don't realize how vast their culture is and how similiar it is to our Native American cultures, and this book does a really great job of introducing kids to it, at a level they can understand. Having a glossary of Aussie terms at the back of the book really helped as well!

The use of the wise and funny Claude as a Taconi's best friend, and conscious/wisdom holder, makes this book interesting to boys AND girls. I loved Clause and wished we all had pets that were so helpful!  

Claude and Taconi go through many adventures while searching for a blue kingfisher feather, and through them, Taconi not only builds his own character, he finds that hard work pays off. The father-son dynamic is also well represented, as Taconi helps his father keep his job, and his father becomes very proud of the man he has become! The book shows how hard it is to keep the old customs, and adopt the new modern ways, and is a wonderful way to understand native cultures! I highly recommend it!

Review: Having a 4 yr old, you are always on the lookout for anything to help avert tantrums and the "I wants". I found some interesting ideas in the book, and things that gave me pause in how we traditionally react to our kids misbehavior. By adopting some of her ideas, I have seen tantrums cease or not develop from the initial whining.

I will say that is you have a truly obstinate child, then some of the techniques might not work as well with your child. Like any other parenting book, it's not 100% guaranteed! I do think it will help you with basic issues like sibling rivalry, the need to spend more time with your kids, and dealing with kids who have become spoiled.

I happy to offer the book to one lucky reader, to help you, or a family member with your kids!

BONUS: Everyone who enters THIS giveaway will receive a FREE time-travel story for your kids from the author! Just make sure your email is in your entry, as she will be reading the blogs and sending it to everyone she can!

Second BONUS: Everyone who enters this giveaway, will ALSO be entered to win THREE of the author's books, in a giveaway she is hosting for all the entrants! She will pick ONE winner from ALL the blogs giveaway entrants to win the 3 books (pictured at left).

Giveaway:

Winner will receive this review copy of Taconi and Claude!

 Entries:

Make sure I have an email address, with your comment, so I can contact you, if you win!   
If I don't have a way to contact you, you will forfeit your win!

USA /CANADA ONLY 

3 day winner's rule : Winner has 3 days to acknowledge they won prize,

and confirm address, if no contact, then new winner will be picked in their place. 

  Please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 comments for Subscribing: 

     Some entries have been combined on one line, check carefully! 

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Contest will end on July 18th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on July 19th, and emailed. As soon as winners' info is received, I will mail their book to them as soon as possible!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book for review purposes on this blog, free of charge, from the author, via World of Ink.No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.