Mario Lopez

This is vanity publishing. This is the story of Mario spending his day with his baby cousin Gia, and not being able to do what he wants or plan his birthday party. The ending is typical and expected. The illustrations are something. I can’t put my finger on why but I am not a fan of them. They almost feel amateur. Like someone who is still studying to be an illustrator instead of someone who is an illustrator. Altogether, this could be a vanity published Indie book if it weren’t for the show more fact it was written by a celebrity. show less

An alluring spin on old-fashioned mud pies, the illustrations and the lively imaginations of the children, induce a real desire to feast on mud tacos. One is ready to crunch into the giant leaf shells and to munch on the filling of mud and flowers. Surrounded by a garden of colorful plants and friendly smiles, the children welcome the reader to the world of pretend.
Themes: imagination and growing up -- Is one ever too old to play make believe?
Classroom uses: the above question could act as a show more prompt for a rich discussion about growing up, fantasy and reality, and imagination. show less

Initially I might not have considered this book to rate 5 stars, but it has been in my preschool classroom for a few years, and is a favorite with children. It highlights themes of family, imaginative play, and kindness. Children understand this book, and I have come to love it!

Easy to read and follow well organized plan for a lifetime of healthy eating for you and your children.

I wanted to review Extra Lean Family because being Mexican Mario has many issues I have when it comes to family tradition and eating. I myself am Hispanic and was born in Puerto Rico although my ancestors came from Spain. I have found this book to work for my family and me when it comes to nutrition, meals and our total health. In the introduction Mario points out how he struggled with show more eating right as a young adolescent and into his teens. He points out the main goal of his books are is to help others find the right balance when it comes to nutrition. Now that he is married and has a family of his own he has decided to extend that information with this Extra Lean Family book. Chapter 1 of the book is quick and focused on the metabolism, calories, servings good and bad fats and other information, including child size portions. Just a refresher if you already know some things and great insight for others who do not, especially when it comes to child portions. The second chapter moves on to what kinds of foods you should and should not have in the house, shopping for the right foods and food labels. Chapter 3 helps you maintain the Extra Lean habits. While chapter 4 is "the five week meal plan." which includes a grocery list for each week, simple family recipes and nutrition information. In chapter 5 the focus goes to the nutrition of the child, including healthy snacks, options for the picky eater and really good points on how to help your child eat better without being overbearing. Even if we can't get our kids to eat right we can at least show them how to by example, which later can be a great benefit once they get older and realise the importance of it, a great point in the book. Chapter 6 leads into other helpful tips like how to fool your appetite, fast food rules and some pointers on physical fitness.

Overall what I liked most about this book is that it is a condensed 250 pages with tons of great information. So it is not over whelming parents to read and begin to use this nutrition plan, a plan that regular hard working people can implement into their lives. It can be so hard for parents to stick to a family meal plan when they spend all day at work and come home to parenting. Extra Lean Family is not a book for those who are looking to have their fa, in our fast paced society. This book is not a weight loss book for a family to lose weight on a special diet. It is not a get thin quick scheme and yes some of these concepts in the book you probably have already even heard of or read before. However it is a well organized book, a book on how to lead a happy healthy lifestyle with food, to help us parents implement daily healthy habits into our lives and the lives of our children, so they can continue to eat healthy into their adulthood and later pass it on to their own children someday. show less