Dear Abby: Social Media

Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a wonderful week!  I am so happy that it is Autumn.  The weather will be cooler and nice for longer walks.   Plus, there are fun holidays to look forward to in the next few months.  Hooray!

I have a great question today from my friends: Barbara, her kitty Zeus, and dachshund Oz: 

We have a topic for you to write about: your experiences with social media. We have made so many wonderful connections and even some lovely friendships. There are some things that we don't enjoy about social media (like gossip, shaming, judgmental comments etc.) but if you are careful and choose your connections wisely, we find Twitter & Facebook to be a really good experience. Do you have any tips to help people & pups with this? Looking forward to your next column. 

Barbara, Zeus, and Oz, thank you for the wonderful question!   My Momma and I love social media too.   It is a great way to connect with family and old friends, and we have made some wonderful friends on social media as well!

I like the way you worded this:  "choose your connections wisely."   I think that is a great point about social media.  It is very public, much more so than email or a phone call, so you have to choose who you want to connect to.  

With online time I believe it is important to trust your instincts and if people or pups do not seem to be friendly and kind, you can just disconnect from them.  We like nice people.

I do not have my own social media accounts (alas!), but I have still made friends with dachshunds, dog people, and animal lovers wherever we go. 

On any of the social media sites, you can search for words like: dachshund, dog rescue, etc. and come up with lots of great results.  That is a good way to find pages and groups on Facebook (those are fun places to interract with like-minded pups!).  On Twitter you can search by the words on their own, i.e. dachshunds, but you can also search with hashtags, like #dachshunds.   

We have learned that lists make Twitter a lot more fun.  For instance, you can make lists of your dachshund friends and click on that list at any time (or save the link) in order to read the latest doxie news.  Momma says you can do the same thing with blogger friends, eBay friends, etc.   We like the free version of Hootsuite to read our Twitter posts.  A neat feature of Hootsuite is you can display all your lists side by side.  Twitter can get very overwhelming quickly with the volume of posts there;  this makes it a lot easier to read. 

One of the biggest issues we have with social media is it is addictive!  Momma sometimes sets the timer when she is checking in on our social media sites for work.  That helps!

We would love to connect with all our friends on social media.   I help with these pages: 

Birdhouse Books on Pinterest (check out the Cute Dogs and Dachshund boards I helped set up) 

Birdhouse Books on Facebook (books, nostalgia, and links to my blog posts, too) 

Birdhouse Books on Twitter (mostly Mom's work but I love to chat with dachshund friends there as well!)

I would love to hear from you about your experiences with social media!   Please leave any comments below.

I'm also looking for questions for future posts, so welcome those in the comments section as well.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Love from Abby  xoxoxo

Throwback Thursday - Comic Books

Did you know that September 25 is National Comic Book Day?   I just learned about this retro holiday, and it made me immediately think of comic books from my childhood.

My favorite was Archie, and the related Betty and Veronica comic books as well.  I thought these were really cool when I was little!   They were, of course, about teenage kids and as a little girl, I thought it was fun to read about their high school adventures.

Later I also discovered the Partridge Family comic books.   I was in elementary school when these were popular, and like most girls I knew, I had the biggest crush on David Cassidy.  So of course I loved the comic books, too!

Did you like comic books when you were growing up?  What were your favorites?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Book Spotlight and Giveaway: Thoreau in Phantom Bog by B.B. Oak

Thoreau in Phantom Bog
(A Henry David Thoreau Mystery)
3rd in Series
Mystery
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Kensington (August 25, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-0758290274


Synopsis

Henry David Thorea’s impassioned activism in the Underground Railroad leads him away from the banks of Walden Pond into a morass of murder… 

In the spring of 1848, Thoreau returns to Plumford, Massachusetts, in search of a fellow conductor on the Underground Railroad, who has gone missing along with the escaped female slave he was assigned to transport. With the help of his good friend, Dr. Adam Walker, Thoreau finds the conductor—shot to death on a back road.

When the two men discover that Adam’s beloved cousin Julia has given the slave safe harbor, their relief is counterbalanced by concern for Julia, who has put herself in grave danger. Another conductor has been murdered in a neighboring town and a letter has been found from someone claiming to have been hired to assassinate anyone harboring fugitive slaves. With all of them now potential targets, the need for Thoreau and Adam to apprehend the killer is more urgent than ever…

About The Authors –
B. B. Oak is the pen name of Beth and Ben Oak, who met in a literature course at Boston University and have been enthralled with Henry David Thoreau (and each other) ever since. They are members of The Thoreau Society and Old Sturbridge Village, a living museum which recreates life in rural New England and served as the model for the book’s fictional town of Plumford.   

Author Links
http://www.bboak.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6579683.B_B_Oak

Purchase Links
Amazon B&N  

Giveaway
One lucky winner will receive a great prize package from Kensington. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Wordless Wednesday: Boston Terrier Vintage Valentine

Found at Birdhouse Books:  Vintage Dog Valentines

Book Review - Let's Learn About the Lord's Prayer by Catherine DeVries

Synopsis
Let’s Learn about the Lord’s Prayer (David C. Cook, September 2015) 

In this first book of the HeartSmart series, preschoolers are invited on a playdate with Emma. Together they learn the Lord’s Prayer and practice “teaching” it to Emma’s favorite teddy bear. 

Introducing HeartSmart, a Scripture memory series designed to create opportunities for children to fill their heart with God’s Word. HeartSmart combines key Scriptures with songs, giving parents a spiritual formation path for building a strong foundation of faith.

The entire Lord’s Prayer is included, along with a custom song (free download with access code).

My Review
Let's Learn About the Lord's Prayer is a board book for young children.   Children will meet Emma, who is four years old, in this book, as well as her stuffed bear, Blueberry.  

As Emma goes about her day, she learns The Lord's Prayer.   In addition to memorizing the prayer, she also learns what the words mean in a real and meaningful way in her life.  For instance, she learns:

"Forgive us our debts,
as we have also forgiven
our debtors."

She discovers that this means to forgive friends in situations like a disagreement on the playground.

I love the unique way that this book incorporates scripture in a manner that is accessible for young children as they learn the meaning and application of the words in real-life situations.

This book has cute illustrations by Ryan Jackson that will appeal to preschool children.   It is sturdy and well made.  As a board book, it is great for many rereads.

As a former preschool teacher, I always think it is wonderful to find books that are a great read aloud.  Let's Learn About the Lord's Prayer adapts well for reading aloud at home, in Sunday School, or in a preschool classroom.  Emma asks readers interactive questions, like how old they are and what their favorite food is.

There is even a link provided to download a song that accompanies the prayer.  The song, along with the prayer, provides a rich learning experience for young children.

This is a lovingly crafted book, and would make a wonderful addition to a library at home, church, or religious preschool. 

Author Bio
Catherine DeVries has written twenty books for children, including the bestselling "The Adventure Bible Storybook." As associate publisher of Children’s Resources at David C Cook, she leads product development for The Action Bible collection, which has sold over a million copies. Catherine lives with her husband, their three children, and their big furry dog in the Colorado forest.

I received a copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for an honest review.