Category: Children’s

Raddish Kids Subscription Box Review
Carefully cutting the Zucchini

My daughter received a Raddish kids subscription box for Christmas this year from her grandmother. It’s become a tradition for them to pick a different subscription box each year. It’s a fantastic gift idea, they look forward to getting a package in the mail every month. *My oldest daughter chose Little Passports – stay tuned for a review.

Heart Measuring Spoons

After receiving her first box my daughter was a little disappointed because she thought she would be receiving food along with her recipes, similar to HelloFresh. Each Raddish box includes three different recipes, a shopping list, a kitchen utensil, some activities and a patch for her apron.

Shopping List!

It is important to note that this box requires some heavy adult involvement compared to others we received like Tinker Crate and Kiwi Crate. Also, it will likely require a grocery shopping trip! After receiving her first box my daughter was upset that we couldn’t dive into the recipe right away. Involving her in the prep, like writing her own shopping list, had her excited again.

Raddish Recipe Card

So far, we have made the Harty Lasagna Soup and Raspberry Love Muffins. Both recipes were delicious and easy for my 6-year-old to follow with help. We will be making both recipe again for sure! The heart measuring spoons were also a HUGE hit. Once we were able to cook and get into the recipes my daughter was over the moon. She is now looking forward to her next box!

Raddish Recipe Card Inside – Easy Directions

Overall, I would recommend the Raddish kids subscription box for any child who really loves to cook! If you have a smaller child, know that they will need parent supervision. I plan to update this review as more boxes arrive. We also still have multiple recipes we haven’t been able to try yet.

Hearty Lasagna Soup

Other Subscription Box Reviews
February 7, 2020
Not So Scary Halloween Books for Kids
We love reading here at Today I Need A… and when I was younger I loved reading scary, spooky stories. I still remember going to the library with my mom and looking to check out one of the R.L. Stein or Goosebumps books that I hadn’t read yet. I was definitely a little older than my kids are now, and I currently have one little 5 year old who does NOT like to be scared like I did. So that is why I put together a list of the books we read with our little ones during this time of year. None of them are too scary, but they are still festive. Happy Reading! 🛍️ This post contains affiliate links– thank you for supporting us.

Room on the Broom – Love this book, Netflix has an animated short movie of this book with the same name. Find it here: https://amzn.to/2OXBDEs *Affiliate link

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything – We love this book too, we even made up hand movements to go with the repeated phrases! https://amzn.to/2MR4980 *Affiliate link

Goodnight Goon – A fun twist on the original! https://amzn.to/2W0J67a *Affiliate link

Creepy Pair of Underwear – Always good for a giggle! https://amzn.to/2OXWeZg *Affiliate link

It’s Raining Bats and Frogs – We have had this book for a few years and it is still one of my girls’ favorites! They love the spells and illustrations. https://amzn.to/31nQSsS *Affiliate link

Vampirina Ballerina – Who wouldn’t like to read about a vampire ballerina? https://amzn.to/2oT5brX *Affiliate link

Ghoulia – For the slightly older kid ~ we just read it this week and both of my girls loved it! This is part of a series so there is more to keep the creepy fun going. https://amzn.to/35FicGp *Affiliate link

Hit up your local library!

Below is a list of books that are currently out of print, but you may be able to find at your library. That’s what we did! Happy Reading!
- Here They Come – David Costello
- Harold & Chester in Scared Silly: A Halloween Treat – James Howe
- The House that Drac Built – Judy Sierra
- The Man Who Tricked A Ghost – Laurence Yep
- That Terrible Halloween Night – James Stevenson
October 23, 2019
Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl

(I know the title of this graphic novel lists Mighty Jack first, but given that the girls and I read Zita long before Jack came around, I prefer to think of this as Zita’s book. Just sayin’.)

We’ve been reading Zita the Spacegirl in our house for years at this point, and author and artist Ben Hatke’s work appealed to our girls from the moment I brought her first book home. As I hate giving away too much information about a story (I’m looking at you, lengthy movie trailers that spoil everything), I’ll simply say that our girls found Zita’s original trilogy of graphic novels to be just the right combination of adventure and suspense, with a little heart-tugging thrown in for good measure. Zita’s was the kind of kids’ story that, once you finished it, you wish you could forget the entire thing just so you could read it all over again with a fresh brain. Her original story wraps up really nicely, which is a tough thing to do in any genre, but regardless, we were sorry to see it end. Like most fans, we hoped for – someday – just a little bit more. Just one more tale, perhaps.

That’s what made it so great to have her pop up in Jack’s latest adventures. Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl is a great combination of storylines; Jack’s is a fantastical take on the beanstalk mythos, while Zita’s is one of intergalactic adventure, and the story of their meeting and consequent quest to save Earth is told as only Ben Hatke can tell it. This book has the same combination of emotions – the real heart of Hatke’s stuff – that made his work on both Zita and Jack so great. We enjoyed Jack’s first two graphic novels – Mighty Jack, and then Mighty Jack and the Goblin King – and while I might be a far cry from the intended demographic, I was honestly happy to bring home another tale starring Zita, even if she was sharing the spotlight.

I know this writeup is a little vague, but I really want to avoid giving anything away. Suffice it to say, fans of Zita will see a lot of familiar faces in this book, and fans of Jack will see the wrapping-up of his overall storyline. It felt good to see them both back in action. And it felt good to see our girls’ faces when they saw that Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl was going to be the Books at Bedtime selection for the next several nights.

Please, pick up some work by Ben Hatke. Start with Zita, read Jack, and then read this latest offering starring both titular characters. I really don’t think you will be disappointed.

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl: https://amzn.to/2ncsg7Q
Zita the Spacegirl: https://amzn.to/2mkBwGR

*affiliate links

September 27, 2019
We Love Lumberjanes! Great Girl Power Graphic Novels.

Lumberjanes

The title says it all – we have loved reading Lumberjanes!

My daughters are enamored with this series, which focuses on a group of girls who attend a Girl Scout-like summer camp, only to find themselves immersed in supernatural adventures and mysteries. When we got our hands on the first volume, we were excited to read it, and it has yet to disappoint.

The main characters – April, Mal, Ripley, Jo, and Molly – each have a distinct personality, as well as their own strengths and struggles, and every adventure requires them to ultimately work as team in order to succeed. Naturally, they tend to discover things about themselves, develop new survival or mystical skills, and learn to support one another throughout the process, all things which add to the rich storytelling. In addition, each story tends to contain just a little danger, a touch of original or classic mythology, and new material that builds upon the series’ mythos. Even when stories wrap up neatly, you tend to be left wondering what new obstacles the girls from Roanoke Cabin will face in their next adventure. My youngest daughter likes the fact that the girls work as a team, while my oldest loves the humor of the series. As for me, I gravitate toward the supernatural and paranormal aspects of the series, and the variety of personalities the writers have cultivated in both the main and supporting characters (Bear Woman is cantankerous, but tends to be one of my favorites).

Over the course of a number of Books at Bedtime sessions, we read the first ten volumes, each of which collects several issues of the series. The creative team does change over the course of the series, which sometimes took adjusting on our parts (we would read one volume, becoming accustomed to one writing or artistic style, only to find this had changed in the next volume). However, while the series may have its ups and downs (depending on what you’re looking for, storywise), there were never any disappointments or stories that the girls felt were uninteresting. Each volume we finished left us wanting to pick up the next one (we already have the next volume on the way).

Highly recommended (for kids and adults, alike). Pick up some Lumberjanes the next chance you get!

*affiliate links

August 23, 2019
Mighty Meg – A Great Story for All Ages
In our house, we prize reading. It can be anything, really; chapter books, picture books, magazines, comics, graphic novels, or even the backs of cereal boxes. We are constantly looking for new reading material for our two girls, and given their varying tastes, finding something to read with the two of them at bedtime that appeals to both of them can sometimes be a little challenging.

That was why we were so happy to find the Mighty Meg series.

The series focuses on the title character, Meg, an inquisitive and kind young girl who receives a beautiful, antique ring as a birthday gift. When she discovers the ring imbues her with superpowers, Meg embarks on some challenging adventures, and has to decide how – and whether – to put her new powers to use, all while trying to master them.

The books are adventurous, family-friendly, and are appropriate for a wide range of ages (we read these to our 6 and 8 year-old daughters). In addition, Meg tales seem short enough to appeal to kids that may struggle with longterm focus, and also have illustrations on nearly every page, which will certainly help keep younger readers engaged. I really loved the focus on the importance of family, how Meg struggles with the idea of keeping her powers a secret from those she cares about, and how, even being as young as she is, Meg understands the importance of helping others.

We weren’t even halfway through the first book when my girls began to ask if we could read the second book together, and I was more than happy to tell them that we would!

In short, this is a fun, kid-friendly series with wide appeal. Highly recommended for family reading time!

Find the whole series on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2JRn8PJ
* affiliate links
May 20, 2019