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“Pony Express” by Carla Osborne, Children’s Book Review

This post is a partnership with Gona’s Reading Ranch to share Carla Osborne’s new children’s book, “Pony Express” with my readers as a sponsored post and giveaway. As always, all opinions, recommendations, and overuse of exclamation points are my own ;)

In this house, one thing I’ve always been really passionate about is reading. From day 1, when kiddo was just a baby, I was reading to her every day. I’ve always been a voracious reader myself – starting in middle school I used to steal all of my parent’s paperback novels as fast as they could refill the bookshelves, reading everything from Sweet Valley High to Stephen King, always walking around with my nose in a book. I’m still that girl who always has a book in my purse, at least one on my nightstand, and a pile of “to be read next” books glaring at me each time I put in yet another order at an online book retailer, lol. I’m a book lover, man. 

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King. I’ve always felt like that was the most beautifully perfect way to describe why I love books so hard, 🖤 They’re the most inexpensive, accessible, portable form of magic, easily available to everyone. Pages of just paper and ink can transport you across the world, to other worlds, to other ages of the world. You gain empathy for others as you see life through the eyes of new characters. You learn and experience a whole range of feelings – excitement! Suspense! Heartbreak! Adventure! Loss! Love! All lived through the pages of a book. Magical, every time.

Like I said – I’ve read to kiddo since she was born. We still read together often. We sometimes read books via Zoom to younger nieces and nephews, to stay connected during these weird Covid times. 🖤 A new favorite we’ve found that I *highly* encourage you to check out is Pony Express, by Carla Osborne. It’s from her series Go Gona Go, and it’s absolutely freaking delightful, you guys.

The author grew up in rural Southern Idaho on a working farm that’s been in the family for four generations. She started writing children’s books to share a bit of the magic she knew growing up back then, with today’s generation of kids. Her life story is incredible, honestly – after leaving the farm, she went on to work with a traveling theater group as a singer, dancer, and actor. And now once again lives on a farm in Idaho, spending her days outside on 15 acres with horses, donkey, and sheep. To learn more about her amazing life story that inspired the magical children’s stories she writes, visit her site CarlaOsborneBooks.com. And be sure to check out her YouTube channel as well, and give it a follow:

The author’s life story is full of magical memories, and that definitely influences the story in Pony Express. It’s all about an adventurous girl named Gona, with a wild child heart like my own, who has a huge imagination, and a love for the outdoors and adventure. She partners with her brother to pretend to be Pony Express Riders, racing across the Wild West on their horses to deliver mail. They make a deal on getting chores done, then the shenanigans begin. ;) It’s kind of refreshing to see a book filled with kids enjoying life… with no screens or technology. 🤠 Just playing outside, inventing their own fun, the way we did as kids. You can almost feel the fresh air, just reading the book. It’s such a great read. 

I hadn’t even realized until we started reading this book, that my kiddo had never heard of the Pony Express. She’s 11, in 6th grade, so I was super surprised?! But, with Covid, virtual schooling the past couple of years, the disruptions, substitutes, etc to infinity… there have just been a lot of subjects and topics that have gotten missed. So, this was a great opportunity for a fun bit of history lesson as well. The story is really sweet, the illustrations are beautifully done, and the quality of the book is wonderful. The story is fun for little kids – but still engaging for bigger kids too. Get your own copy here: Buy Pony Express here today. You can also head over to the @gonas_reading_ranch Instagram page too, for updates on the author, the book, other books she’s written, and upcoming fun. And while you’re on Instagram, don’t forget to follow me, too – @sunandsipcups.

ENTER TO WIN!!

Now, to win a copy of your own! Use the form below to enter to win – and be sure to share this with any other book lovers you know, or on your social media, to spread the word. Good luck!

 
 
 
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1, 3, 5, 7, 9… I Cannot Even Today.

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Hello, Tuesday? I’d like to speak to your manager.

First of all, the weather. It’s like… moist. Humid. Gross. I’m not a fan. At all. This morning was cold and sweatpants {my cool new ones from Bookish Shop that say Don’t Let the Hard Days Win and are the most comfy sweats everofalltimeomg.} Currently it’s warm and muggy and musty and overcast and the air feels heavy. I have rheumatoid arthritis, neuropathy, and a million other weird random old lady diseases and this type of weather makes me more achy. The pool is clean and blue and so ready. I just want to sit poolside and read my book all day, ok? *Sigh*

{Random side note: #OOTD – I haven’t had a haircut in 6 months. I haven’t even dyed it at home because I have some weird scalp autoimmune weird nonsense going on and it’s inflamed so I can’t. I haven’t even brushed it today. Makeup probably from BoxyCharm because they send me personalized stuff each month since I suck at knowing what to pick myself. But I’m accessorized, yo. Necklace is from ThreeBirdNest, one of my absolute favorite shops at the moment. And this Mama Bird t-shirt is from ThePineTorch, another absolute obsession – they’re shirts are long, thin, soft, drape perfectly. I cut the neck to be off the shoulder because regular crew necks strangle me because I have anxiety. The link I added should give you 10% off or something I think. I am a hot mess. Emphasis on hot. Also on mess. Ha.}

Anyway. Tuesdays are lunch day – Abby’s school district has two different locations, one is 5 minutes from our house, where you drive through and pick up a week’s worth of breakfast and lunch items. There’s honestly not very much food at all – but, Abby likes seeing the little juice boxes, frozen burgers, things that remind her of school days and normality, you know? So, we did that. Then came home to do Abby’s school work. But…. her computer.was.broke. Like, Oregon Trail-looking font on a black screen telling me that it had no operating system or soul and haha you bought me 5 weeks ago but I’m done now haha sucker. Because that’s how 2020 DO, you know?

I immediately call tech support (my brother Brian who is a very smart man in the robot world of technical shenanigans) and he walks me through some diagnostics but it seems that my hard drive is just nope. But fast forward 2 hours, battery out, power off, restart, blah blah, and I’d run a new diagnostic that it passed, so I ran other stuff, and I say “just do SOMETHING this time, sweet lil baby Jesus in your manger just please ok I can not even anymore today” and then hit the button and…. Abby’s eyes get so big because it.boots.up.again, like normal, like nothing happened, because the robot gods and baby Jesus heard my prayers and I have no clue what happened but ok. Good. It’s all ok. Thank you, universe.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Then, there were just other assorted other sh*t shows all day, k? So, no school work done. No house work done. No patience left. Abby’s dad comes to get her for the evening – she goes to visit every Monday and Tuesday evening + every other weekend. I had these 4 little baby waby cuteness rescue kittens, right? And he let her take one to live at his house, about a week ago. But today he says the kitten she brought there {Salty, a little white one that started out really hissy and spitty and scared and mad but ended up being my bff little bro cat} probably has to come back to my house because his girlfriend has allergies so — I’m gonna have SIX CATS and the dog. Cool. Great. Let’s buy another litter box. Ha. I turned 40 last month right after getting these 4 rescues and I didn’t find homes for ANY of the others so I guess it’s just Crazy Cat Lady Lifestyle for me. 

Then, after she leaves, I think imma sit down, quiet, finally, for a few minutes, get my head sorted out. Nope. My momma called, she left a sprinkler on in my back gardens. I go out to turn it off. We have about a half acre out there, and the sprinklers that I had to shut off were all the way in the back. As I’m coming back to the house, walking towards the shop, I see a flash of fur, and think I accidentally let a kitten out again. But no. That is black and white and the right size but that is a SKUNK omg. And the dog sees it. My grumpy little old man dog who’s half blind these days and BORKS HIS FOOL HEAD OFF at every other cat and dog in the neighborhood because he is all about that protect and serve, you know? I know he’s going to attack the skunk and I’ve never handled a sprayed animal before and this day is just too much so clearly I know he is going to get sprayed. My boyfriend is on the phone listening to me scream at the dog to “please do not attack the skunk!! Run away!!” I throw a pinecone to distract him. It’s no use. He goes right towards the skunk. And… they sniff each other. And my dog who attacks every animal he doesn’t know… does nothing. Like, all friendly hey what’s up little skunk man. And it’s a BABY skunk. It is so cute. I wait, in panic. But… it runs to hide under the shop, no spraying, nada. But if there’s a baby skunk doo doo do doo, then there’s a momma and maybe siblings and daddies and aunties and uncles. Oh my.

So I grab the dog and run in the house. I’m over today. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9… I Cannot Even Today. {Get it? That’s counting by odd numbers. No even numbers. Because, can’t even? My kiddos joke. Hilarious. I’m delirious? Who knows.}

E X H A U S T E D.

All cool. Very cool and good and ok. How was your day? Leave me some comments. Or come on over to my Twitter – @sunandsipcups – where I like to talk about politics and current events and staying hopeful in a world of idiots that is on fire in every way. Come cheer me up with bad puns and good jokes and memes and pics of your cats. K? Cool. All so very cool today.

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Random Rad Stuff

Since I whined a whole lot and you guys are such good listeners and I love you, here’s some stuff that doesn’t suck, ok? Yay! Just some randoms that I think are extra cool that I’ll share. 

FabFitFun. You probably see the posts all over social media about them. A lot of people think only the “influencers” get cool stuff. But, I have a subscription I pay for myself, and get RAD stuff. I just paid for another full year subscription – I like to prepay, so that I get early access to customization and Add-Ons. I got my summer box recently but haven’t even put pics up – you’d think that being a pandemic and all, and me being immune compromised and staying home, that I’d have more time? No. I never have time. Anyway – you can see the Spring Box pics on my Facebook. And if you’re interested – sign up here and get $10 off your box. Every single box I’ve paid for the past year and a half, I’ve loved, and has been worth it.

Speaking of subscription boxes… I’m a junkie for them always. But extra more right now, since there is no leaving the house or shopping or anything like that. {I’m in Yakima, Washington. We have the highest rate of COVID19 cases on the West Coast. It’s bonkers.} I am super in love with BookishBox – last month’s theme was Harry Potter, and was one of my all-time faves of any subscription box I’ve ever gotten. My link gets you 10% off. Another really great book nerd box is Owl Crate – these have such fun stuff. And each month there is a hardcover book, signed, often with a handwritten note from the author with notes about the book/why they wrote it/etc, they’ll have special edition covers, or gilded edges. The personalized touch of a note from the author makes my daughter feel like it’s a super special package, and really motivates her to read. They have a kid’s box, the Owl Crate Jr. – but we get the young adult one, and read the book together. She’s 10, the stories are often in a fantasy, magical, adventure type them. We love it.

And, since we’re all shopping online, are you using Rakuten? It used to be called Ebates. You get cash back on almost everything you buy online. It isn’t *quite* as good as it used to be, I admit, since Pandemic life online shopping has got a little weird. A few sites no longer give cash back, like Target. But, I use this every time I shop, and rack up quite a bit of extra totally free money this way. If you aren’t using some type of cash back site, you are legit missing out. Sign up today and you’ll get a FREE $10 gift card. If you already use it, share it with your friends and get the referral bonus. #winning

 

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