Happy Valentine's Day to all my family, friends and loyal readers! Love is in the air and this is a special day for lovers everywhere.
I recently read "A Lovely Day; A Valentine Picture Book for Children" by Sujatha Lalgudi. This is a story about a young boy who finds a perfect Valentine's Day gift for each member of his family.
About The Author
Sujatha Lalgudi was born in Bangalore and holds a Masters Degree in
Computers. After working for several years in the Silicon Valley, she moved back
to India. She is currently residing in Mysore, a heritage city. She and her
husband Raghavendra Mocharla run and operate www.yumdeal.com and
www.hippidoo.com.
Both her children, daughter aged 8 and son aged 3 love books. All her books
pass through their test first :-)
Sujatha Lalgudi has written many ebooks for children. They are all available on the Amazon Kindle.
Valentine's Day
This is a very simple ebook for children that features a young boy and his family. Each page of the book shows him presenting a different family member or friend a Valentine's Day gift.
The boy gives his mommie a bouquet of red roses, his daddy some tasty cupcakes and his best friend a bunch of balloons. He gives his dog a special bone and his cat a cozy blanket. He presents his "Valentine" with a big red paper heart!
The story ends with a picture of the boy and his parents embracing and looking very happy ~ "lots of kisses, loads of hugs, all for me!"
My Thoughts
This 13-page ebook is a short and sweet story for young boys and girls. Each page includes a full-page color illustration and one sentence of text. The text is written above or below the illustration in big print.
I read this book on my Kindle 3 (black and white illustrations) and my Kindle for PC application (color illustrations). I enjoyed the pictures and text on the small screen of my Kindle. The formatting is very good and I did not have any problem reading the text.
The color illustrations are very expressive and truly convey the joy of giving that the boy experienced as he gave gifts to his family and friends. I love the way this book emphasizes the spirit of generosity. The gifts were all inexpensive and many of them were homemade.
The last page of the story is so sweet. It shows that the boy received the very best gift of all ~ Hugs and kisses from his loved ones.
I think this is an excellent story to share with young children on Valentine's Day. Highly recommended!
My Rating: 5 stars out of 5
FYI ~ I ordered this book from Amazon.Com when it was offered as a free download. Please check the price before ordering.
Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
This book provides intrigue, adventure, inspiration, spirituality and much more. The Saint (Kindle Single), by Oliver Broudy, is a short 85-page story that delivers some powerful messages. 
Oliver Broudy had become frustrated with his life as a resident of New York City and his career as a professional writer. One day he met James Otis, an eccentric memorabilia collector. James was under attack by the international community because he was auctioning off five personal items once belonging to Mahatma Gandhi. James was a lifelong disciple of Gandhi and was determined to use the profits from this sale to help the poor in India and promote Gandhian principles abroad.
Oliver Broudy soon found himself admiring James and accepting an invitation to accompany him on a trip to India. This was an opportunity for Mr. Broudy to escape the routines of city life and investigate a vastly different culture. He spent the next several weeks visiting some of the poorest populations in the world. They go to the border between India and Tibet because James wants to cross the border and peacefully protest human rights violations in the area.
The author believes that James Otis is a saint. He has given up his own dreams, ambitions and wealthy lifestyle to serve others. Yet there are times when James' actions seem to be more self-serving than generous. The author is forced to examine his own values and his views of reality. This is a true story that brings out the best and worst aspects of human nature.
I would like to share one of my very favorite quotations from this book;
Principles, in other words, are not simply acquired, like light bulbs. They're not hot-swappable. So even if we endorse (for instance) the principle of hating the sin and not the sinner, finding a way to organize our inner selves around that principle such that our every action reflects it is another challenge entirely.
You will find this book thought-provoking and challenging. The poetic writing style is a delight to read. I highly recommend this book!
Martin Smith opens up his heart and tells the story of his life as a worship leader with the contemporary Christian band Delirious?. "Delirious: My Journey with the Band, a Growing Family, and an Army of Historymakers" tells about Martin's childhood days growing up in a middle-class Christian home in England. He learned to play a guitar at a young age and started leading worship in his home church as a teenager. He married Anna, a pastor's daughter, and became involved in his church's outreach events.
In 1995, Mr. Smith was involved in a near-fatal car accident. During his weeks of recovery, he decided to become a full-time musician. He became the lead singer for the band Delirious? and his career quickly took off. Martin and the other members of the band were talented song writers as well as performers. The band toured all over the world and drew huge crowds at Christian events.
The author honestly tells about the many advantages and trials that come with touring and being a member of a popular Christian band. He is brutally honest about some of the challenges that they faced. He is very quick to give God all the glory for the success that he and the band experienced. It was important for him to stay connected to his home church and to limit his touring schedule to not exceed ten days at a time. Mr. Smith expressed the difficult feelings that he had to face when he left his wife and six children to travel with the band.
Joyce Meyer invited the members of Delirious? to lead worship at their conferences in the United States and abroad. Mr. Smith writes about how his life was changed when the band traveled to India to lead worship for a Joyce Meyer conference with over four hundred thousand people in attendance. The author met Farin, the daughter of a prostitute living in a Mumbai slum. This girl was the same age as one of his daughters, and without help she too would end up facing life as a sex worker. Mr. Smith felt the Lord calling him to help the poor people in India. He organized CompassionArt to raise money to help relieve the extreme poverty in third world countries.
The last part of the book tells about the transition period that Mr. Smith and his family are experiencing since the band broke up. His faith is stronger than ever and the future is bright for this talented musician.
On a personal note, I first saw Martin Smith leading worship at a Joyce Meyer conference in November, 2010. The huge crowd of worshipers at Lakewood Church were on their feet the entire time that Mr. Smith led the worship. I wrote about this experience on this blog in a post named, "Joyce Meyer Washes Feet." Joyce was teaching from John 13: 1-17 and acted out the story of Jesus humbling himself and washing his disciples' feet. She asked Martin Smith to sit down in a chair, take off his shoes and socks so that she could wash his feet.
This book is fascinating and inspirational. I was touched by Mr. Smith's strong faith in Christ during his long journey with Delirious? and beyond.
Thank you to The B & B Media Group for sending me a free copy of this book to review.
Coming Soon: I am currently reading Meet Mrs. Smith: My Adventures with Six Kids, One Rockstar Husband, and a Heart to Fight Poverty. This book was written by Martin Smith's wife and tells about her experiences. I will be posting my review of this book soon!
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
