Blog Being Reviewed: Ryn Tale's Book of Days
Reviewed By: Diva Dee
At First Glance: Google Ads and a stock template. The writing better be good. Pfft.
Template/Design: stock template. I didn't complain about this in my last review, because they fiddled with the plain-janer a bit and at least changed the header graphic. This one is a lock-stock-and-barrel canned template. It's not horrible, but in my previous post, you'll see there's lots of places out there to find something a little more personal... You can edit the free ones too you know!
With that being said, I'll move on. Your sidebar is getting quite long, and I've said this several times lately, but it bears repeating. Shorten it up. You have some great information and content in your sidebar, but it's getting lost. Stick all that in a post titled "Blogs I Love" and "Information About Cerebal Palsy" (you get the idea), and then add THOSE links to your sidebar, getting rid of all the multiple lines of text.
And really... I love categories. BUT, when you have 46 categories for 110 posts? That's a little excessive. You might want to change that also.
Content: This blog is authored by Kathryn (Ryn) and it tells of her roller-coaster life with her daughter, Ellie-- lovingly termed "warrior princess." Ellie was born at about 27.5 weeks, and has gone through quite a bit in her short life as yet. She suffers from cerebal palsy, although I hesitate to use the word 'suffers' because she has these two great awesome parents raising her, and she seems to be a thriving 4 year old. This was evidenced by this post here.
I started this post wondering how I would give this blogger a fair review, because I truly have no knowledge on the subject of cerebal palsy or premature births. Still, I found it interesting. Sometimes it is helpful to see the other side of things. I see parents pushing their disabled children around in wheelchairs, or other such medical devices, and I wonder how hectic their life must be. Then you wonder if you should say something, or not. Should you look directly at them? Should you just walk on by as if they were any other person?
Ryn shows the other side of the coin. The parent of a disabled child. She freely discusses comments people make to her and Ellie. The looks she gets, how she and her daughter are treated. It's quite an eye-opener. She has insecurities just like all of us parents, she's just truly quite remarkable. As she says, it's just cerebal palsy... it could be much worse!
What is the First Thing I Would Change About This Blog? Probably freshen up the site with a new template.
What is the Best Feature of this Blog? Definitely Ellie. Ryn, your daughter is a doll.
Rating: 7.5
Labels: Diva Dee Dishing It Out
1 Comments:
Diva Dee - Thanks for the review. I absolutely agree with you about all the formatting stuff. I liked your ideas about shortening the side bar. My problem is I want the ease of using Blogger but totally am not thrilled with any of their templates. I am hoping the links you provided in the post about that allow me to make it more interesting. I would love to design my own header and even make new designs every quarter or so.
Ellie is a doll. Glad you liked the content though lately I realize it has been a bit dull. I hope you got to see some of the earliest posts as it was all still fresh and new.
Thanks again for the review and all the blogging resources on your site. I hope you won't be adverse to reviewing me again in a year or so and after I have made some serious template changes.
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