BOOK REVIEW: Adventures of Ai by Craig T. Bouchard | #GIVEAWAY

I don't review that many books but I have a love of children's and young adult books.  I was approached a few weeks ago to read a new on the market Young Adult book called Adventures of Ai by New York Times Bestseller, Craig T. Bouchard.

I wasn't sure what to expect for this book since I wasn't given an age range recommendation before reading.  I quickly realized that this would be a book that would probably be a good fit for the 12 and older crowd.  

This book leads its readers into an adventure of Japanese cultures and legends.  What do you get when you give a dad an audience of 3 willing daughters and the world as his stage.   You get a captivating audience in the readers.  What better way to spend quality time with your young children than teaching them about the world that will one day be theirs.


Adventures of Ai brings its readers through Mr. Bouchard's own memories of his friends in Hiro, Japan in 1990's as well as stories of ancient Japan. The book is read from the points of view from the children to the father and finally the brave and adventurous, Ai,  

Ai means "love" in Japanese.  The love that Bouchard shows his daughters continues throughout the story as his character Ai connects with her father that had been away for 3 years.  The friendship that she shares with the nature around her shows respect and love for all things beautiful from the inside.  She follows her mission that was set upon her by her father and finds who she was and who she is meant to be.

The Video Game:

This book is a good combination of true experiences and creativity with good morals.  It made such a fun book, the author made Ai's adventures in to a hit game on Androids, Kindle and iOS.  

It is a 3D video game where kids will follow the adventures of Ai and solve problems and challenges from art, history, poetry, music, and mathematics.

  

I played the game briefly and then turned it over to my 7 year old who LOVED it!  He gets to ride horses that fly, do the splits and find treasure.  What else could children want?  He even overlooked the fact that he was playing a girl(Ai).


Before the game starts, kids can choose to play for their country. Scores you get from the game will be in the form of cash contributions that will be given to different charities.

Proceeds from a global competition of kids playing the video game benefit children’s charities around the world, including:

• Lurie Children’s Hospital
• Misericordia Hearts of Mercy
• The National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• K is for Kids
• The Equestrian Challenge
• Ashinaga Uganda Rainbow House
• Operation Smile in China
• Taipei Orphan Foundation and Maria Social Welfare Foundation in Taiwan
• The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Recovery in Japan
• Cry and Magic Bus in India
• Children’s Leukemia and Cancer Research Foundation
• Sony Foundation of Australia
• Child Cancer Foundation of New Zealand

You play and help at the same time.

2 WINNERS WILL WIN A COPY OF ADVENTURES OF AI!  ENTER BELOW!

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You can get a copy of the books from Amazon, iTunes/iBooks Store, Google Play and Google Books.

Disclaimer:  I received a free e-book to review this book.  All thoughts and ideas are my own.  All photos are used with permission.