I'm a full-time mummy

I was wondering where should I categorise this post review on, book or music or what and finally decided to put it under 'Product Review' for my post title. The reason is because this book also came with the accompanying CD that tells the storyline with wonderful music and instruments in the background. Now I do not have any background or experience in musical field, so the reason why I decided to review this is because I want my 2 kiddos to learn and appreciate music. How sounds are made, how songs are composed and how different instruments can create wonderful tunes and songs.

Description from the product page:
"In the best-selling and award-winning book Maximus Musicus Visits the Orchestra, Iceland’s best-loved mouse discovers the wonders of music and the symphony orchestra in his own joyful and charming manner.

The book, by Hallfrídur Ólafsdóttir and Þórarinn Már Baldursson, of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, tells the tale of the mouse, Maximus Musicus, who by chance finds himself in a concert hall. What an interesting and adventurous turn his life has suddenly taken! Maxi enjoys himself so much that he decides to stay in the concert hall and see what happens the next day. There he experiences many strange and funny events as well as some wonderful and moving sounds as the orchestral musicians warm up, tune their instruments, rehearse, and finally play the pieces in concert.

The book is illustrated with Þórarinn Már Baldursson’s endearing images and accompanied by an audio CD featuring Stella Arman’s warm and humorous narration, together with music carefully chosen to suit the young audience: Ravel’s Bolero, a Fanfare and some galloping encores as well as Maxi’s own catchy song."

The red colored hardcover book has a total of 40 pages, about 8.5 inches X 10.5 inches X 0.375 inches, and includes an accompanying audio CD where the storyline is narrated by Stella Arman with beautiful and captivating music and sounds as the background.

I used the opportunity to teach my kiddos the many types of musical instruments and I found myself learning too as there are some musical instruments which I have never seen or heard before too!

My 16 months old girl is especially captivated on the cute illustrated Maximus and keeps on pointing at it to me as I go through the storyline with her. My almost 4 years old boy on the other hand is more interested in looking at the various types of musical instruments and listening to the sounds each instruments made.

The music and storytelling is perfect for my 2 kiddos who love fun, groovy and exciting tunes now! A wonderful book that will delight and educate your child, even yourself!

You can get this book from Music Word Media website.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

We have a couple of Five Little Monkeys apps on my iPad and the latest one that my almost 4 years old boy still loves to read and listen to is of course the "Five Little Monkeys Collection #1" app. So when I received an email pitch on this app, I immediately requested to review it. Without further ado, here goes my feedback...

* Title: Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Jan 16, 2013
* Version: 2.1
* Size: 24.1 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Mama's out dancing and Lulu is in charge of the Five Little Monkeys. It's bedtime for the rambunctious monkeys, but they persuade Lulu to play hide-and-seek. "Just one game," says Lulu. "Then it's right off to bed. Your bedtime's at eight. That's what your mama said." But there's always time for one more game! Join the Five Little Monkeys as they find the perfect hiding place where even their babysitter can't find them!"

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and the words pop out to tell you what it is!

* I like the storyline where it tells how the Lulu the babysitter plays hide and seek with the 5 little monkeys before their bedtime and was pleasantly surprised at the cute and surprise ending of the story.

* I have just started teaching my boy counting from 11 to 20 about 2 weeks ago and am particularly enjoying this page below where Lulu counted from 1 to 24:

* I used the opportunity in this story app to reinforce the number counting (1 to 20 for now) to my 4 years old boy and also reminded him that when it is time to sleep, we must be serious and stick to bedtime and not be playful anymore.

You can purchase the "Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I mentioned before that we are big fans of "Little Critter" apps and the last app we reviewed are the "Little Critter Collection #1", "Just a Mess" and "Just Go to Bed". So the moment I saw the words "Little Critter" in the latest Oceanhouse Media's press release in my email inbox, of course I immediately request for the promo code to review this app. Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Just Going to the Dentist
* Price: $0.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Jan 15, 2013
* Version: 2.1
* Size: 26.1 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Little Critter is off to the dentist's office. He gets a thorough checkup and cleaning, complete with dental x-rays. When Dr. Ghum finds a cavity, Little Critter bravely gets a filling. The visit is painless and Little Critter's good nature reassures young readers that going to the dentist is not that bad after all!"

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and the words pop out to tell you what it is!

* I like the storyline where it tells how the Little Critter go for his first ever dental check up and what he experienced during the visit.

* There are some pages which got Ben's attention and reactions such as the page where Little Critter said the dentist office looks like a spaceship:

* I used the opportunity in this story app to explain to my almost 4 years old boy that there is nothing to be feared of in the dentist office.

* I do however feel the page where the nurse cleaned Little Critters teeth before the dentist came in is not relevant to us as so far, I have not encountered similar treatment in the dentist clinics in Malaysia.

You can purchase the "Just Going to the Dentist" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"