Book Review: 'ABC is for Circus' by Patrick Hruby

Copyright: © Patrick Hruby 2010/Courtesy of www.ammobooks.com

Publishers' Book Description:
ABC IS FOR CIRCUS celebrates the colorful and festive world
of the circus through each letter of the alphabet. Young children
will enjoy memorizing letters and words like A is for Acrobats,
B is for Big Top, and C is for Calliope in this imaginative chunky
board book.
 
ABC IS FOR CIRCUS is an awesome addition to AMMO Books' artistcentric line of ABC books and is sure to delight an audience of children and adults alike.

'A' is for apple, 'B' is for ball, 'C' is for cat, blah, blah, blah... Most of us with children have a board book or two that sound very similar to that, right? I know I do - and I avoid reading them like the plague. This book? It's not like that. This book took some imagination. This book took more than 45 minutes looking for free-use clip art to put together. This book is original. This book... is magic.

I have a 3 year old son (he says he's not 3 - he's almost 4!) that has been a book lover since he was 6 months old and a 15 month old daughter that I can't, for the life of me, get to care at all about them. Until, that is, I got this one.

The day after 'ABC is for Circus' came in the mail, I sat down on the floor and pulled my daughter into my lap. She's a girl on the move, so she immediately tried to push me away and get back to whatever she thought was important at the time. I showed her the book - and she sat down and stared. 

By the time we got to 'C is for Calliope', she was hooked. We stopped on every page for a minute or so while she touched all of the shapes and colors with her chubby little fingers. I've never seen her that quiet for that long.

Then we came to the letter 'F'.  'F is for Fireworks'. People, she jumped out of my lap and started clapping when she saw the page. Seriously - you can't make that up.
 
Every page seemed to be better than the last. Every page a new buffet of color. More shapes, more imagination, more excitement.

She sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' when we got to 'N is for Nightime'. She roared at the Tiger. She called the weightlifter 'Daddy' (heehee). And when we were done? When we were done she picked up the book, carried it to her room, and sat on her floor to look at it again.  That, for me, says it all.

If you know someone with children from birth to 5 and need a gift idea - get this book. If you are a parent that is bored to tears with the furry kitty cats and the unoriginal fluff - get this book. If you have an appreciation for kids books with modern illustrations and lots of color - get this book. You can get it on Amazon, or from AMMO Books. I promise you'll love it.

About the Author/Artist:
Los Angeles-based illustrator Patrick Hruby grew up in a log cabin within an Idaho forest. As a young boy he
dreamt of running away to join the circus and become a trapeze artist. Eventually, however, he grew up to
study math and physics before attending the renowned Art Center College of Design and pursuing a career
as an illustrator. His interest in the geometry of nature is central to his work.

Influenced by artists and designers such as Charley Harper, Paul Rand, and Mary Blair, Hruby has gone on
to develop his own stunning and modern aesthetic. Hruby’s clients include The New York Times Magazine,
Playboy Jazz Festival, Varsity Pictures, and Brand New School. CMYK Magazine recently named him one of their Top 100 New Creatives

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher, AMMO Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Next Book Review: 'ABC is for Circus' by Patrick Hruby

Publishers' Book Description:
ABC IS FOR CIRCUS celebrates the colorful and festive world
of the circus through each letter of the alphabet. Young children
will enjoy memorizing letters and words like A is for Acrobats,
B is for Big Top, and C is for Calliope in this imaginative chunky
board book.
 
ABC IS FOR CIRCUS is an awesome addition to AMMO Books' artistcentric line of ABC books and is sure to delight an audience of children and adults alike.

Copyright: © Patrick Hruby 2010/Courtesy of www.ammobooks.com

I will be bringing you my review of this delightful childrens' board book on Friday. Keep a look out - I'll see you then!

The Middle Class Crunch

With our economy and our dollar how they are and with all of the Presidential Candidates using scare tactics and pretty little economic plans to lure votes, there has been a lot of talk recently about the "Middle Class Crunch", particularly the housing market situation, health care costs and out of control childcare costs.

Now, I'll admit that inflation is out of control (even thought the government completely denies it. Hello! Where I live a gallon of milk is $5 right now!) it's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. But, honestly, is it really just the rising costs making it so difficult? I don't think so. You want to know the biggest part of the problem? Debt.

That's right, it's your credit cards. It's your car payments. It's your big screen TV that you just HAD to have. It's that huge house you bought 3 years ago that you really couldn't afford, so you got an ARM. Debt. Americans spend money like there's no tomorrow - money that they don't even have! Look, just because you have a huge credit limit, doesn't mean you need to use it. And just because they tell you that you can pay that monthly payment, guess what, it doesn't mean you can afford it!

To quote the linked article:
"A generation or two ago, Mom -- and it was usually a mom -- could stay home with the kids while Dad put in the hours at the office. His income was enough to let them own a home and a car, and put a pot-roast dinner on the table once a week."

Exactly. The article hit the nail on the head without even realizing it. They had enough for what they needed and the occasional treat. Today we don't think twice before going out to eat 5 times a week (or more, for some people) and putting it on the credit card. We have huge walk-in closets full of nice clothes - your probably still paying them off, too. We have $50,000 SUV's . We have piles of store cards, cards with airline miles, cards with cash back rewards - and it just KILLS us to miss out on a reward. So what if you spent $25,000 (plus interest) to get that free airline ticket , it was FREE!!

Now the average costs for childcare in this country are $8,303 per year, per child for infants and $6,215 per year, per child for preschool. That's a lot of money, I understand that. The cost of childcare is rising at twice the rate of inflation. Many claim it's impossible to have a one-income household anymore. Bull.

I'm a SAHM. My husband works very hard for me to be able to stay home with our son. We're by no means rich but we don't have to worry either. Why? Because we make sacrifices and we have priorities. I manage to keep our monthly food bill to $300 a month, including diapers, formula, baby food, toiletries, etc. It's hard, I have to be creative sometimes, but I do it. And no, we're not living on Hamburger Helper, either. We will have our house paid off in 6 more years - we've only lived here a year and a half. We're maxing out our Roth IRA contributions every year and my husband is maxing out his 401k contributions. That's a ton of money going straight to investments. Not including our house payment, we live on $10,000 a year so that we can do that. That $10k includes utilities, gas, insurance, cell phones, food, entertainment - everything. And we end up putting a small portion of that in savings.

I know that for some families, it truly isn't possible to have a one income household. But I think that the vast majority of families could do it, if they really wanted to. It's about discipline, it's about priorities, it's about goals, it's about common sense.

I'll get off my soapbox now. ;)