Author Guest Post w Vicky Weber, Gingersnap Snatcher Review

Can you help the kids crack the case of the GINGERSNAP SNATCHER?

Welcome to one of the December 14th stops on the blog tour for Gingersnap Snatcher by Vicky Weber with iRead Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, exclusive content, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

Author Guest Post

Finding your work-life balance

Being a stay-at-home mom is hard. But being a working mom is too. One of the most difficult parts of parenthood is balancing it all: the bills, stress, responsibility, all while trying to stay happy and healthy…and keep your kids that way too.

It’s a lot of pressure.

But the thing to remember is that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. What works for some families doesn’t work for others because we’re all different. We face different challenges under different circumstances with different personality types.

What works for me is setting boundaries, especially with myself. I’m the type of person who will get so lost in work that I’ll forget to eat lunch, so I set alarms and give myself rules. I keep my work in my office. That way, I have a physical boundary line for “work mode” and “relax mode.” I turn my computer off at 4 p.m. so that I can spend uninterrupted time with my husband and daughter because that’s time I’ll never get back.

There are some nights I have to work and there are times where my boundaries need to be broken, but for the most part, those rules are habit, which is what matters most.

The truth is that you need to find what works for you based on your situation. You need to communicate your needs to your partner or your support system and make sure you are in a good headspace to support them in return. Try new things, be objective about what’s working and what’s not. And if you need professional help, that is nothing to be ashamed of. After all, mental health IS health. Just remember: you can’t pour from an empty cup. There’s a reason airlines tell you to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others – taking care of yourself first ensures that you’ll be around to help others.

About the Book

Gingersnap Snatcher
by Vicky Weber
Illustrated by Svitlana Liuta

Published 7 December 2021
Trunk Up Books

Genre: Children’s Fiction
Page Count: 31
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Abuela made cookies to eat after school. The gingersnap kind, just the thought made us drool! We rushed home excited. We opened the door…The cookies were missing – just CRUMBS on the floor! Can you help the kids crack the case of the GINGERSNAP SNATCHER?

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

My Review

My Rating: 5 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads

I was granted complimentary access to Gingersnap Snatcher as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with iRead Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Gingersnap Snatcher is a cute rhyming story about a trio of siblings who can’t wait to get home from school because their Abuela has baked ginger snaps for them. Unfortunately for the kids, when they get home all the cookies are gone! Who ate them? That’s what they’re going to find out.

I love the casual representation of a BIPOC family here in all its wonderful cultural uniqueness. Kids who are Hispanic or Latin-American will see themselves and their families represented here. Other kids are subtly introduced to the idea that families from these cultures often live in multigenerational homes and that grandmothers are called Abuela. All this while going on a hunt for the cookie thief! (It wasn’t the cat.)

The ratio of text to page/text to images is perfect for a young audience and this book will surely captivate toddlers all the way up to early primary grades. It’s short, interesting, and flows very well. My only concern is that the text, either quite literally hand-printed by the artist over the illustrations or added in a font that looks like printing, is a little on the small side to be layered over colourful images without the help of a translucent text box or any of those sort of children’s book tricks. I had the benefit of reading on a computer screen where I could make it bigger, but in print form, it is the size it is.

The illustrations are absolutely adorable! They remind me of the slightly simplified style Disney tends to go with in their spinoff TV series franchises. (I reviewed an early eBook version where later pages were still sketches, and I honestly can’t wait to see the cat in the tree fully rendered!) This is going to be a favourite book to look at for a lot of kids out there.

I’ll definitely be showing this to my sister who teaches Kindergarten.

About the Author

Vicky Weber is a musician and an elementary educator with a love for children’s literature. As a Puerto Rican author of Taíno descent, she strives to create picture books that are fun, engaging, and educational. All her current titles are based on her background in music education or her heritage. While she has taught a variety of grade levels, primary level education is where her passion lies. It has long been a dream of hers to teach children through the magic of books and she hopes you love reading her works as much as she loved writing them.