My eight-year-old son had talked a lot about wanting to keep a diary. I thought that was a great idea, so I gave him a notebook as he requested, but he didn’t use it a whole lot. I’m still hoping to tap into that desire, because as I writer I know how therapeutic and inspiring and cathartic writing can be.

With two creative and artistic kids, I definitely thought that The Scribble Diary: My Brain Right Now by Lisa Currie could help them entertain themselves as they examine their days. This is a book that is a twist on a traditional diary — designed for all ages to be able to use.

Each two-page spread has a place to record events and feelings in a creative way, either writing or scribbling. Honestly, when I first looked at it, I wasn’t sure how it would really work in a practical way.

But my son LOVED it. He has used it consistently for the last week, even doing more than one entry during a day when he was feeling inspired. I even picked it up and left my own entry for him to discover.

So whether you want to encourage your child or teen to record their lives, or give them a creative activity for the summer or a long road trip, or create a fun family book, The Scribble Diary: My Brain Right Now is a unique way to do that.

We have TWO copies to give away today. Just leave a comment, and we’ll announce the winner in our 5 Minutes for Books column right here on June 4.

The winner of I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag is #46 Lori D.

I think that most mothers want to record their children’s lives. Many of us started blogs prompted by the reflection that motherhood brought out in us. Others share joys and frustrations via Facebook or Twitter. Perhaps we journal or scrapbook or write yearly letters.

If you want to write about motherhood, but sometimes feel uninspired or struggle to find the time, read Jennifer’s review of Use Your Words over at 5 Minutes for Books.  Read Elizabeth’s essay below, then leave a comment below if you’d like to win a copy of the book so that you can be similarly inspired.

Sharon is not really my child but it is to me she cries out in the night. I get up, cool tiles under my feet, and walk into my daughter Ilsa’s room, where Sharon sleeps uneasily next to her in the double bed. I crawl in on the edge and cradle her skinny, long body. I tuck her head, covered in tight curls, under my chin, although it feels odd, too intimate, to comfort another woman’s daughter like this. But there is no one else to bring comfort. “Shh, shh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” I soothe, although I am lying. It is not okay. Sharon’s mother was killed by her father a week ago, and we are taking care of her until her grandmother can come up from Cote d’Ivoire to Nouakchott, where we live, on the coast of Mauritania. The sense of betrayal I feel—both the parents were close friends of ours—is nothing compared to what will be felt by this alien child whom I have taken into my heart.

Every day she comes home from preschool at noon in the desert heat. It’s March and already hot, the dry wind blowing across 3000 miles of sand and gathering strength from arid places until it seems to suck your very breath when you step out into it, the heavy heat like gold bars crashing down on your head. A friend of ours whose daughter, blonde and sturdy, goes to the same preschool gives Sharon a ride to our house. I meet her at the door in the wall that surrounds our house, and we hold hands as we walk past the low shrubs blooming in this desert thanks to the large hose that runs off our washing machine and waters the sand. Our house, built of concrete blocks, feels dark and cool when we first enter it. It is only a block or so from the house where Sharon lived with her parents, our friends.

Every day, she comes home from preschool and loses it. She shouts and hits, has a tantrum. I hold her tight and soothe her. “It’s okay, Sharon. It’s okay. I’m here. I love you. Auntie Elizabeth loves you,” I tell her. Her English isn’t bad, although her first language is French, but in this crisis my French flees. “Je t’aime, je t’aime,” I manage. Eventually, she subsides into sobs, her lanky body racked with them, while I clutch her tightly. I do not cry. My tears are dried up in the horror of this new reality as my head whirls to wrap around the fact that I did not know this man I counted as a friend, and that the horror is complicating my chance to grieve my friend Yolande, and her marvelous singing voice and sly sense of humour and fierce love for her only daughter.

Ilsa and Sharon

My own children come home from their French elementary school for lunch. Sharon is 4, half the age of my 8-year-old twins but already half a head taller than Ilsa. Elliot, nearly 10, is having the hardest time with her being here, but they’re all struggling. They loved her parents, both of them. How can someone they trusted, called “uncle” affectionately, went boogie-boarding with in the strong Atlantic currents, ate spicy Ivorian food with, have stabbed their “auntie” in the heart while their daughter slept in the next room? The presence of Sharon, the amount of my attention she takes up, is hard for them—they are not greedy children, and they understand, but they are hurting too and they need me. I am not there. I am gone, with Sharon, to view the body (a counselor said this might help her understand the fact of death); with my husband, navigating the complications of a legal system in a dusty undeveloped country where the constitution is half-based on tribal law, half-based on Islam, and thoroughly corrupt so that, even after he confesses to murdering his wife, he is given a one year sentence. He worked with us at the English center and stole a grant we’d just received, and we have no doubt that this explains that short prison sentence. He committed the crime on the twins’ 8th birthday and was released from prison on their 9th birthday.

He now lives with a couple of whom the wife was formerly Yolande’s best friend. This hurts me still.

His daughter wears Ilsa’s t-shirts instead of her own clothes and looks at a family picture of the 5 of us. “Where am I?” she says. She holds her arm next to mine, thinks for a long time, and then goes to the bathroom and begins scrubbing, hard. This breaks my heart anew. She is so beautiful. A woman comes by to braid her hair, so she’ll look nice for her mother’s memorial service. She cries and cries until Ilsa, smiling, holding her hand, sits to have her hair braided too.

I try to journal once while holding her. She takes my pen. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO she writes, wobbly preschool letters following the lines on the page.

That year, by Mother’s Day, Sharon is gone, back to the country of her birth, to live with family known to her only through phone calls and framed pictures on polished side tables. That year, I feel like I was meant to be mother of 4 but am left with 3, a perfect 3 yes, but with one missing all the same, never to be found again. I find a forgotten tiny flip-flop in the sand at the end of the porch but I don’t cry. I just stare at it for a long time, and then go lie down on my bed.

This essay was inspired by the writing prompt “Sensory Details.” I’d planned to write something quite different, but I sat down and suddenly memories of Sharon came pouring out. I’ve never written about her before. She lived with us for a month, but she changed the shape of family for me forever. I have had no news of her since she turned 6. She would be 11 now, but her country has experienced a lot of unrest. I hope and pray she is well and that she has forgiven me for letting her go with her grandmother and aunt, even though we all know logically that was the best choice.

Remember to leave a comment if you’d like to be entered to win a copy of Use Your Words: A Writing Guide for Mothers.

• The winner of Stay Close to Mama is #27 Joy.

Book blogger Elizabeth is celebrating Mother’s Day with her 3; Elliot, who will be 17 this summer, and twins Abel and Ilsa, 15. Learn more about her life in Mauritania, Morocco, and America at her blog Planet Nomad.

Jennifer Gilbert seemed to have it all – an affluent upbringing, a great education followed by post-college travel to Europe, and plans to take the Manhattan business world by storm upon her return. Then suddenly, all of her dreams were interrupted by a vicious attack that left her almost dead from multiple stab wounds all over her body.

This attack, and the years that followed, are the subject of her book, I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag: A Memoir of a Life Through Events–the Ones You Plan and the Ones You Don’t. As her body recovers, Jennifer suffers from night terrors and ongoing phobias that don’t go away even when her attacker is found and imprisoned to await trial. She tries to escape her new reality by moving to Boston, but soon decides that she must return to New York and prove to herself and everyone else that she can make it. Unfortunately, the only way she can do this is to stuff all the negative emotions down deep and present herself as a whole new Jen.

Wearing what she calls her “Jen suit,” she takes a job as an event planner and immerses herself into her work, revolutionizing the business model in a way that propels her to the top of the heap and eventually leads her to start her own company. After running as hard as she can in the other direction for three years, however, the time comes when she must testify against her attacker at trial. Finally, Jen realizes that she has to deal with her ordeal and begins to see a therapist who helps her face her darkest fears and start the emotional healing process.

Throughout the book, Jennifer is candidly open and honest about how she – and those around her – dealt with her pain. We see the forward strides as well as the steps backwards as she does her best to hold herself together and regain her joy and peace in her life. In addition to her insights about her personal journey and close relationships, we also see how she brings the lessons she has learned to her professional life as an event planner.

While Jennifer’s story centers around a painful experience, her writing is filled with the determination and hopefulness that she has fought to recover in her life. I found myself constantly reaching for a pen to underline or mark some of the gems like these:

• Everything in life is relative, and…perspective only comes after the crisis.
• Never “at least” someone else’s pain away. Let them have it, feel it, and then try to alleviate it.
• If you spend your time measuring your reality against your fantasy, you’re inevitably going to lose the joy of just being in that moment.

I highly recommend I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag; you won’t be sorry to have opened yourself up to this testimony to the strength and resilience of the human spirit. Definitely a 5-Star Read (check out our page for the rest of the books that we rate the best of the best).

We have a copy to give away to one of you! Just leave a comment if you’d like to win. We will announce the giveaway here in this column on May 21.

The winner of Help Wanted: Moms Raising Daughters is #68 Shirley Pebbles.

Trish would like to thank HarperCollins for the opportunity to review this book. You can find Trish seeking her own life lessons at her blog, In So Many Words.

The bond between mom and young child makes delightful fodder for picture books. As Mother’s Day approaches, Toni Buzzeo’s adorable new book Stay Close to Mama explores the theme with love and tenderness.

A young giraffe named Twiga (which actually means giraffe in Swahili), sees the big world from under the legs of his tall mama, and he longs to explore it. Mama is aware of some dangers and she wants to keep Twiga close. Twiga’s curiosity gets the best of him, so despite his mother’s warnings he ventures away from her a few times to see what he can see. As he goes, his mother keeps a watchful eye on him, but she doesn’t stop him outright from his investigations. When he gets too close to danger, Mama is there to rustle the grass to fend off a danger, and in the end, Twiga can always find comfort in his mother’s snuggles.

Young children know all about this experience, for their worlds are expanding just like Twiga’s, and we parents want to provide the reassurance to them that we’ll always be there when they’re ready to return from their adventures. The soft-toned illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka perfectly convey the warmth and love between Twiga and his mom. Cuddle up with your own little one this Mother’s Day for a shared reading of Stay Close to Mama!

We have one autographed copy of Stay Close to Mama to give away today. Please leave a comment here to be entered, U.S. and Canada addresses only. We will announce our winner in our May 14 column.

The winner of Girl Unmoored is #15 Lori.

Reading Help Wanted: Moms Raising Daughters, the impression of author Darlene Brock comes through loud and clear. She’s a smart, driven, caring, and uncompromising mama. If only I could claim all of those labels.

Yes, it’s a book about all that goes into parenting girls, but Brock also gives an informative perspective on many issues of our day: the educational system, feminism, media, marriage and more.

Motherhood is a calling. You can give birth and raise kids and never fully say “yes” to all the job truly entails, but Help Wanted: Moms Raising Daughters gives you the want to and the know-how to make the most of the time we are given with our daughters with equal measures of pep talk, personal narrative, and awareness-raising.

What are the roles she challenges us to fill as moms?

• Coach
• Creative Counselor
• Time Manager
• Media Advisor
• Academic Advocate
• Professor of Gender Studies
• Relationship Counselor
• Sex Ed Teacher
• Financial Consultant
• Bodyguard
• Communications Specialist
• In-Home Decorator
• Military Strategist

Some of these are exactly what you might expect, while others will probably cause you to reevaluate some of your gut reactions to situations. I love books that challenge my thinking and yet still leave room for me to process and reach my own conclusions!

We have one copy of Help Wanted: Moms Raising Daughters to give away. Please leave a comment if you’d like to win. We’ll announce the winner in our May 7 book review giveaway column.

Keep up with Darlene Brock at her blog and learn more about her Grit & Grace Project.

The winner of Confessions of a Scary Mommy is #37 Garrett.

In Jennifer Gooch Hummer’s debut novel Girl Unmoored, a vulnerable middle schooler with an unusual name is about to discover that she is much stronger than anyone gives her credit for. As narrator, Apron Bramhall (yes, her name is actually Apron), delivers an earnest telling of her story that will undoubtedly touch the hearts of adult readers.

Remember when you were in seventh grade and you were trying so hard to make sense of the world around you? That’s life for Apron, but matters have been even more complicated since her mother’s death, and her father’s subsequent relationship with her mother’s former nurse. Too bad that Apron’s dad is oblivious to the way that Margie (or M, as Apron can only bear to call her) treats her, because Apron really could use someone in her corner right about now, especially since her best friend appears to be outgrowing her. This poor girl is coming unmoored, indeed.

After seeing him on stage playing Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and subsequently running into him again in town, Apron begins to develop a friendship with a young man, the nephew of a neighbor, and the owner of a local flower shop. Soon enough she begins to realize that Mike’s friend Chad is more than a friend, and Apron is confronted with a reality that she’s only ever heard adults whisper derisively about. The mocking that she hears among her peers has always felt wrong, but what does Apron know about gay people? Her heart tells her that Mike and Chad are two caring people, the types of people she so desperately needs in her life right now, regardless of the hate that she hears expressed toward them.

Set in Maine in the 1980s, Girl Unmoored accurately depicts a time when hostility toward homosexuality went largely unchecked, and AIDS was making national headlines though so very little was yet understood about the disease. Apron’s story is told with a heartfelt honest voice, a child on the verge of adolescence with an innocent and nonjudgmental perspective who simply wants to find goodness and love in the world. Apron unknowingly possesses a wisdom beyond her years, and an innate kindness that the reader keeps hoping will be recognized and somehow rewarded.

We’re happy to offer one copy of Girl Unmoored for today’s giveaway. Please leave a comment here to be entered, U.S. mailing addresses only. We will announce the winner on 4/30.

The winners of I’ve Had it Up to Here with Teenagers are #8 Tammy Gordon, #25 Angela E., and #43 Jeni Monroe.

Sometimes I am so glad I have a second place to write, off of my own blog, where all of my family and neighbors read everything I write. I’ve gotten in trouble before when I’ve posted a picture of my oldest daughter, and her high school friends have let her know about it. Yes, even my daughter’s teenage friends read my blog. Scary.

This week, I’ve been hanging out in Orlando with a fabulous group of bloggers. The week has been full of adventure, excitement, and guilt. I thought I was done with separation anxiety problems once my kids passed age 6 or so. Not so. My nearly 13 year old daughter decided to pull out the hormones and pass around the guilt this week before I left. She refused to give me a hug or say goodbye when I left, and she walked out of the house with her earphones on.

Oh, the joy of being a mother of two teenage girls!

If you have teens (or will have teens someday or USED to be a teen yourself), you’ve got to check out this book review by Jennifer on 5 Minutes for Books….

I’ve Had it Up to Here with Teenagers

I can’t even describe what a gift reading this book was for me. As the mom of a teenager, I know that I get my best encouragement when I can just be honest with them and admit my struggles and provide a listening ear. Because let’s face it, even though we sometimes want to cry (or yell or pull our hair out), sometimes you just have to laugh.

Melinda Rainey Thompson gave me that in her book I’ve Had it Up to Here with Teenagers. The book made me think about my parenting AND laugh, and that’s a wonderful combination.

Finish reading Jennifer’s review and then go enter to win a copy! Hurry fast….the winner is going to be announced on Monday!

Checking in with the Sisters recap is written by Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

Right from the opening passages, I knew that I liked Jill Smokler. I’d never read her blog Scary Mommy before, though I had heard talk of her as a local “big” blogger in my area. I was looking forward to her newly released book Confessions of a Scary Mommy if for no other reason than to find out what the hype was all about. Then just a few pages in to the first chapter, I came across this passage that induced my first literal LOL.

“A few years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom to three kids, ranging in age from a newborn to a four-year-old. I was living in a new house, in a new town, among unfamiliar neighbors. It was lonely and overwhelming and I was bordering on miserable. A fellow mom from down the street stopped by our house to introduce herself and ask how my days were going. Half joking, I responded, “The baby is a bit of an @$$hole, but he’ll grow out of it. We’ll survive.” The look on her face was enough to let me know not only that I had offended her, but that we would not be spending our afternoons commiserating together.”

Oh man, I’d commiserate with her any day.

Confessions of a Scary Mommy is a slim 160+ pages but packs quite a humorous punch with each and every page turn. The humor comes from Smokler’s brash honesty, as she doesn’t try to paint an unrealistically rosy picture of her motherhood experiences. A variety of parenting-related topics are addressed here including: moms getting sick (not allowed), the gross things moms do (catch vomit in bare hands and take pleasure out of getting crusty boogies out of a baby’s nose– yup and yup for me!), and vacationing with children (definitely NOT a vacation), among several more.

Each chapter starts off with a selection of related “Confessions” that have been submitted on her blog, which are a mix of funny, touching, sad, and absurd, giving multiple perspectives on the topic at hand. Some of my favorites appear at the beginning of the chapter about labor and delivery, including: “My newborn looks like an alien. Am I supposed to find her cute?” and “To the new mom who left the hospital looking like a million bucks: I hate you.” And, I kid you not, this: “Even my vagina has stretch marks.” Oh my.

Smokler tells a good story, and the personal ones that she includes here are surely going to be understood by many mom readers. Personally, I appreciate her honesty, because I tend to roll my eyes at any proclamation that even hints at the thought that motherhood is nothing but sweetness and light. Yeah, right. If you’re the type of mom who enjoys chatting with pals about the good– AND the not-so-good– aspects of this role, then bring your sense of humor and pick up a copy of Confessions of a Scary Mommy.

Ready to laugh? We have one copy to give away to a reader (US mailing addresses only). Leave a comment here with your own “Scary Mommy” confession, as simple or brashly honest as you’d like! We’ll announce the winner here on 4/23.

The winner of Chuckling Ducklings and Baby Animal Friends is #2 Liz.

Want more mom humor? The giveaway for I’ve Had it Up to Here with Teenagers is still open as well.

Dawn has definitely earned herself a place at the “scary” mommy table, and she takes pleasure in reading others’ accounts of the parenthood experience. Her own tales are told on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

I don’t believe that the teen years have to be all bad. Contrary to the title of Melinda Rainey Thompson new book, neither does she. In I’ve Had It Up to Here with Teenagers, she combines humor in her topical essays about dealing with teenagers, combined with a mother’s unconditional, unwavering, and unapologetic love.

She is a self-proclaimed “humor writer,” so yes, she uses hyperbole to her advantage, but she uses the humor to dish out practical advice about raising teens.

A modern-day Erma Bombeck

For some reason, back in my teens and early twenties, I actually read a lot of Erma Bombeck. I didn’t personally relate to a lot of her topics (like cooking, cleaning, and raising kids), but one thing that I didn’t miss was that she was funny. Hilarious.

I am not using hyperbole when I say that Melissa Rainey Thompson is a modern-day Erma Bombeck, and so whether you have teens or not, this book is for you.

By the time my daughter was 9 or so, I began reading books that dealt with teens. I think that it was easier to be objective at that time. I was never sure if they were exaggerating, or if my child would indeed display the self-absorbed, spacey, hormonally-fueled characteristics that seem so common to teens, at least those that parenting writers focus on. But being a little removed, I could actually laugh and I could objectively plan how I was going to react and parent.

I highly recommend this approach. Now that my daughter is almost 14 years old, I am not objective or rational. I find myself acting like a teenager myself.

Topics to Ponder

Like I said — if you don’t have a teen, feel free to read along for pure enjoyment. If you do, you have the privilege of learning a little about one mom’s approach to these issues, which will either give you some new ideas, or at least cause you to think about your current approach:

• Attitude
• Money-Matters
• “Curfew Conondrums”
• “Laundry Laments”
• Care and Feeding
• Clothing
• Driving
• Internet Safety
• Dating

I’ve included some of my favorite quotes from I’ve Had it Up to Here with Teenagers over at 5 Minutes for Books. If you click through and leave a comment over there, you’ll get an extra entry (and I promise that in reading them, you’ll get a laugh or two).

This book would make a great Mother’s Day gift! Treat your friend or your sister or even your own mom to I’ve Had it Up to Here with Teenagers (as a sort of retroactive apology perhaps?).

Leave a comment here for your chance to win.  We have THREE books to give away, and we’ll announce the winner in our book column right here on April 16.

The winner of The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook is #16 June.

Your kids may be familiar with the names of some baby animals, like kittens and piglets. Sure, those are easy. Bonus points if they know calf or foal. But I’m willing to bet that they (and probably you, too!) have no idea what kind of animal young’un is called a leveret, or a puggle, or my favorite of the bunch, a cheeper. Thanks to Aaron Zenz’ latest picture book Chuckling Ducklings and Baby Animal Friends, my kids and I are newly informed and still giggling over the cuteness of these little ones.

With each page turn, young readers are introduced to a new baby animal, starting off with some that will probably be familiar. Giggles will likely ensue when multiple animals share the same name, as it did with my kids when we read the word “cub” four times on one page featuring a raccoon, a bear, a panda, and a tiger. Silly, right? Zenz even gets a little tricky when he shows both a baby female and male horse, which technically are both referred to as foals, but each has its own gender-specific name, too. (Do you know them?)

My kids have been long interested in birds, and the two-page spread that features a whopping eight baby birds, each sitting atop a parent, introduced several new words to all of us. (I’ll tell you that the cheeper is featured on this page, but I’m not giving away what it is!)

The text consists of only a few words on each page, introducing over 50 different animals, but the true delight is found in the illustrations. The animals ooze adorableness, and Zenz’s colored pencil artwork has total kid appeal. For families looking for a little giggly reading fun that introduces new words, and possibly even a few new animals, be sure to check out Chuckling Ducklings and Baby Animal Friends. And for you avid book blog readers, Aaron Zenz and his children regularly post at Bookie Woogie, where they have delightful conversations about children’s literature.

**The 5 Minutes for Books team are happy to be a part of Scholastic’s Parent Circle. Each month, one of our reviewers will select a book from that month’s Scholastic Book Club flyers. I selected Chuckling Ducklings and Baby Animal Friends from April’s Honeybee flyer.

We are happy to offer a paperback copy of this cute picture book as featured in the Scholastic book club flyer to one lucky reader. Leave a comment to enter, and we’ll announce our winner in our book column on 4/9.

The winner of How Not to Kill Your Baby is #49 Eileen.

5 Minutes for Books reviewer Dawn spends her days surrounded by her preschool students, and her evenings catching up with her own three kids. When she gets the chance, she blogs away at my thoughts exactly.