God Bless My Friends Book Review

Title: God Bless My Friends

Author: Hannah C. Hall

Genre: Christian, Children, Friends, Poetry, Board Book,

Plot: Friendships come in all shapes and sizes, and in unlikely pairs. A monkey loves to play ball with a fluffy tiger, a duckling goes exploring on the back of a sturdy panda and a chipmunk nestles with a bird under a cozy quilt. All these adorable friendships dot every colorful page and express in beautiful pose what it means to be friends.

Children of all ages will love this book and so will their parents!

Likes/Dislikes: I read this colorful book to my three year old who cooed at all the adorable animals and seemed very interested in the story. I personally enjoyed the artwork and each page was a delight to read. Loved it and would recommend it to everyone!

Rating: G- all ages

Date Report Written: January 28th, 2017

Edit: I also recently read this book to my six month old who also cooed at all the animals and seemed to especially like the panda and duckling duo as her coos intensified.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of Booklook Bloggers and wasn't required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

California Winter

It is winter in California, and outside

Is like the interior of a florist shop: 

A chilled and moisture-laden crop

Of pink camellias lines the path; and what

Rare roses for a banquet or a bride, 

So multitudinous that they seem a glut! 

A line of snails crosses the golf-green lawn

From the rosebushes to the ivy bed; 

An arsenic compound is distributed

For them. The gardener will rake up the shells

And leave in a corner of the patio

The little mound of empty shells, like skulls.

By noon the fog is burnt off by the sun

And the world's immensest sky opens a page

For the exercise of a future age; 

Now jet planes draw straight lines, parabolas, 

And x's, which the wind, before they're done, 

Erases leisurely or pulls to fuzz.

It is winter in the valley of the vine.

The vineyards crucified on stakes suggest

War cemeteries, but the fruit is pressed, 

The redwood vats are brimming in the shed, 

And on the sidings stand tank cars of wine, 

For which bright juice a billion grapes have bled.

And skiers from the snow line driving home

Descend through almond orchards, olive farms.

Fig tree and palm tree - everything that warms

The imagination of the wintertime.

If the walls were older one would think of Rome: 

If the land were stonier one would think of Spain.

But this land grows the oldest living things, 

Trees that were young when Pharoahs ruled the world, 

Trees whose new leaves are only just unfurled.

Beautiful they are not; they oppress the heart

With gigantism and with immortal wings; 

And yet one feels the sumptuousness of this dirt.

It is raining in California, a straight rain

Cleaning the heavy oranges on the bough, 

Filling the gardens till the gardens flow, 

Shining the olives, tiling the gleaming tile, 

Waxing the dark camellia leaves more green, 

Flooding the daylong valleys like the Nile. 

~ Karl Sharpiro

Blue Winter

Winter uses all the blues there are.

One shade of blue for water, one for ice,

Another blue for shadows over snow.

The clear or cloudy sky uses blue twice-

Both different blues. And hills row after row

Are colored blue according to how far.

You know the bluejay's double-blur device

Shows best when there are no green leaves to show.

And Sirius is a winterbluegreen star.

~ Robert Frances

A Winter Night

My window-pane is starred with frost, 

The world is bitter cold to-night, 

The moon is cruel, and the wind 

Is like a two-edged sword to smite.

God pity all the homeless ones, 

The beggars pacing to and fro. 

God pity all the poor to-night 

Who walk the lamp-lit streets of snow.

My room is like a bit of June, 

Warm and close-curtained fold on fold, 

But somewhere, like a homeless child, 

My heart is crying in the cold. 

~ Sara Teasdale

Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind

Blow, blow, thou winter wind 

Thou art not so unkind 

As man's ingratitude; 

Thy tooth is not so keen, 

Because thou art not seen, 

Although thy breath be rude. 

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly: 

Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly: 

Then heigh-ho, the holly! 

This life is most jolly. 

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky, 

That does not bite so nigh 

As benefits forgot: 

Though thou the waters warp, 

Thy sting is not so sharp 

As a friend remembered not. 

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly: 

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: 

Then heigh-ho, the holly! 

This life is most jolly. 

~ William Shakespeare

The Books of 2016

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Read from December 29, 1015 to January 1st, 2016

Changeless by Gail Carriger

Read January 22nd - 26th

Miss Manners' Guide to Rearing Perfect Children by Judith Martin

Read January 19th-29th




A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Read February 2nd-4th




Blameless by Gail Carriger
Read February 5th-6th




The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook by Mickey Trescott
Read February 28th-29th




Arthritis Diet and Cookbook by Joshua Goldberger
Read February 29th-March 1st



Benefits of Pomegranate by Ellen Vincent
Read from March 3rd-4th



Paris in Love by Eloisa James
Read from March 6th-7th



Snacks For Little Kids by Brenda Van Niekerk
Read March 25th



201 Organic Smoothies and Juice for a Healthy Pregnancy by Nicole Cormier
Read March 28th



There's A Green Plastic Monkey In My Purse by Jessie Clemence
Read April 6th



Cartoon Marriage by Liza Donnelly
Read May 24th



You Are What You Eat by Dr. Gillian McKeith
Read June 7th-8th



Heartless by Gail Carriger
Read July 5th-7th



A Beauty Refined by Tracie Peterson
Read from July 22nd-23rd



The Happiness Dare by Jennifer Dukes Lee
Read from July 23rd - August 3rd



A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches by Tyler Kurd
Read from August 23rd - 29th



The Everything Bridesmaid Book by Jennifer Lata Rung
Read from September 8th - 13th



Miss Manners On Weddings by Judith Martin
Read from September 13th - 16th



I Wish He Had Come With Instructions by Mike Bechtle
Read from August 8th - September 20th



Counted With The Stars by Connilyn Cossette
Read from September 21st - 25th



Honor Redeemed by Christine Johnson
Read from September 27th - 30th



Timeless by Gail Carriger
Read from September 30th - October 1st



Two Tickets To The Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul
Read from November 7th - 11th



Confessions Of A Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Read from November 20th - 27th



The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Read December 17th



The Innkeeper Of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen
Read from December 15th - 20th


My Year In Books 2016