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Giveaway: The Story of Hanukkah Howie (book)

January 12, 2012 By

Hannukah Howie kids bookEver had a bad hair day?  My kids are notorious for those, water, hair gel, etc., usually fixes the uncompromising hair for my kids but in this story, the mom isn’t so lucky!  The Story of Hannukah Howie is a great little story about the adventures of a small Jewish boy who grows up with hair with a mind of it’s own but in the end it turns out to be  a really special gift.  What seemed like just another bad hair day, is what makes Howie eventually become a special boy.

As a mom and teacher, I really enjoyed reading this book to my kids.  We got to learn about the religious practices of another culture and I thought it was perfect because it was during a time when our family was celebrating Christmas.  So we got to compare and contrast the two holidays.  Why would a Christian family want a Hanukkah book?  Simple, Jesus Christ was Jewish!  It also gave me an opportunity to also teach that our Christian faith was grounded on Judeo-Christian principals.  This light little story aided in this process at our home and the added feature was how well the story was written.  It felt like listening to your favorite grandmother telling you a real story about a little boy with bad hair who turned out to save Hanukkah and bring cheer to others!  The rhyming feature in the book gave it that great added touch everyone enjoys in a read aloud.  The text was also predictable so the kids were able to chime in ever so often to keep them engaged in the story.  The illustrations helped in this aspect as well.  In a very clever fashion this book teaches about Hanukkah but in a subtle and gentle manner.  Actually, Howie reminded me a little of Santa Claus a little!  :) So whether your family is Jewish or not, I recommend this great little story!

About the Book:

Have you ever had a bad hair day? Well, imagine eight bad hair days in a row — and at just the wrong time. Our hero, Howie, has very strange spiked hair, but only during the eight days of Hanukkah.  By day eight, in fact, there are “… nine spikes in all, four at right, four at left, one in center so tall”. Howie’s Mom gradually realizes that Howie’s hair looks like a menorah — the nine-candled centerpiece for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. But just when she wonders what she can do, Hanukkah ends and the spikes disappear.

Was the hair-spiking a one-time event? Not a chance. Each year at Hanukkah, Howie’s hair springs into spikes. Since they are impossible to control, over the years both Hannah and Howie search for possible remedies. Readers learn that “…the only solution that seemed to be there… was for Howie to cover his very strange hair.”

This clever book, besides being hugely entertaining,  presents a gentle message that, regardless of our personal appearance and our differences we each have a role in this life – we each have a place in the family of man.  For Howie, his hair and its particular uniqueness ends up being the crown jewel of his personality!

Buy it!

Interested in adding this great book to your family library, buy it today!

Win It

One lucky reader will win a The Story of Hannukah Howie Book of their own!

REQUIRED COMMENT: Visit the The Story of Hannukah Howie website, look around, then come back and tell me why you would be interested in adding this story to your family library.

BONUS #1:

Follow @momof3boys3702 on Twitter and RT this contest. The easiest way to retweet is to simply click the green ReTweet on the top right of this post. YOU MAY TWEET ONCE DAILY!

BONUS #2:

Like 3 Boys and a Dog on Facebook, then share this post by clicking the Facebook share button at the bottom of this post.  You also want to follow them on Facebook, because they let you know of events related to this book.

Other bonus entries:

  • #1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)
  • #2. Sign up for my NEW Weekly Newsletter.
  • #3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.
  • #4. Put my button on your blog.
  • #5. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.
  • #6 – Vote for me at Picket Fence by clicking the button on my sidebar. Be sure to leave a comment saying you did! YOU MAY VOTE ONCE DAILY!

CONTEST ENDS: at Midnight CST on 1/26/12

OPEN TO: US & Canada

*DISCLAIMER: I was sent items to help facilitate my review. Any opinions stated are strictly my own.*

 

Filed Under: Early Years, Giveaways, Holidays / Seasons, Homemaking / Housekeeping, Homeschooling, Just for Kids, Parenting, Parenting, Parenting and Family, Reviews, Teachable Moments Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Giveaway: I See Me Personalized Book

January 7, 2012 By
I absolutely love personalized books, so when I saw this one right before my little girl turned one, I was THRILLED!

About I See Me Books (from their website)

Welcome to I See Me! where we provide the highest quality, most personalized children’s books available. We opened for business in May of 2000, after a year of active product development. My husband Allan and I received a personalized book as a gift for our first son in 1998. While we loved the fact that it was personalized, we thought that the illustrations could have been much better and the story more customized to the child. Thus I See Me! was born.

Allan, who is a graphic designer, and I developed the first book My Very Own Name as a team. Our goal was to produce an educational book that would teach young children how to recognize letters and spell their names. After I developed the concept and wrote the book, we brainstormed together to develop the characters in the book. Allan found and hired the illustrator, and designed the book, while I wrote the business plan.

We are pleased to say our books have become popular among celebrities including Courteney Cox, Brooke Shields and Jessica Alba.

Our mission is to increase self esteem in children through personalized books that celebrate the uniqueness of each child. The goal of our books is to show each child how absolutely unique and special he or she is, to teach the child how to spell his or her name, and to build vocabulary skills.

We hope that you enjoy the books!

–Maia Haag, author and CEO of I See Me! Inc.

About the Author and Illustrator

Author Jennifer Dewing has always been a kid at heart. She started her career in the Toy Industry in 1995, developing children’s products ranging from Matchbox cars to Madeline dolls. In 2006 Jennifer became a member of the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Her recent personalized picture books “Who Loves Me?” and “A Christmas Bear for Me” have won Mom’s Choice Gold awards and Creative Child awards. She is currently working on more personalized titles for I See Me! and enjoys reading her work to her own “focus group” of three kids at home!

Illustrator: Maria Carluccio
Maria Carluccio loves to mix things up. Her collages incorporate both an old, vintage appeal with a fresh modern sensibility. She has enjoyed a seasoned career as a textile/product designer as well as a children’s book author/illustrator. She has received multiple awards for her work from the New York Society of illustrators and 3×3 Magazine. She draws her inspiration from her surroundings in nature where as well as from the textural objects she collects. Her work has a unique sophistication, which she attributes to the range of papers, textures, and details that fascinate her. Maria currently lives in Westchester County NY with her daughter, dog, cat and turtle.

My Thoughts

I absolutely LOVE this book!  It is so adorable!  The cover has my little girl’s name on it and the next page has information about my baby!  Each two page spread has people that she knows and loves!  There are a ton of bright colorful pictures that are very well done too!  I also like the end where it brings it all together!  I think this is a fantastic book for kiddos, because it has their name in it, people they know are in it, and there are pretty pictures to look at!  This way they are learning to recognize their name and other’s names!  Plus there is rhyming which is always helpful for children and repetition!  I would highly suggest this book as a birthday or Christmas or any other speical holiday book!  They can even come with a personalized lovey blanket for $49.95 for the set!  Cute!

Buy it!

You can buy your own here for $24.95!  It’s worth it for this fantastic hardback book!

Win it!

One lucky winner will win their own personalized book (worth $24.95)!

REQUIRED COMMENT: Visit the website, look around, then come back and tell me something you learned.

BONUS #1:

Follow @iseeme and @momof3boys3702 on Twitter and RT this contest. The easiest way to retweet is to simply click the green ReTweet on the top right of this post. YOU MAY TWEET ONCE DAILY!

BONUS #2:

Like I See Me Books and 3 Boys and a Dog on Facebook, then share this post by clicking the Facebook share button at the bottom of this post.  (You really want to follow them on Facebook, because they let you know when there are sales!)

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Put my button on your blog.

#5. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

#6 – Vote for me at Picket Fence by clicking the button on my sidebar. Be sure to leave a comment saying you did!  YOU MAY VOTE ONCE DAILY!

CONTEST ENDS: at Midnight CST on January 21st, 2012

OPEN TO: US

*DISCLAIMER: I was sent a book by I See Me books to help my review.  I was not paid!  Any opinions stated are strictly my own.*

 

Filed Under: Giveaways, Just for Kids, Parenting, Review and Giveaways, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are you a Reader? Can you write Reviews? I need you!

December 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

Hospitality Management Library - Collection

Hi y’all!  I am looking for a regular contributor on the deal site to review books – you must be a pretty fast reader and able to review at least 2 books per week.  I will have a specific form that I want you to follow when reviewing the books, so that will make it easier on you..  You will write it up on my wordpress site and submit it to me to review your writing, check that all items are there, and schedule it to post.  For the most part, you will have no contact with the PR reps. 

You will be reviewing romance, mystery, kids books, cookbooks, self-help books, DIY, and more.  You will need to rate it on a certain scale (I will provide the scale), etc.  Honestly, I am looking for a good writer and they don’t necessarily have to have a blog.  They will need to have the time necessary to devote to reviewing the book and advertising the review in several places.  Many of the book reviews also need to be posted at Amazon and Good Reads.

For more information, please see the complete post at my deal site.

Thanks!

Filed Under: Guest Blogger, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Giveaway: Book Lonely Girl, Gracious God

December 7, 2011 By

Have you ever read a book that changed the way you looked at everything around you?  I just did, and I am amazed at how it opened my eyes.  The book is called “Lonely Girl, Gracious God: A Mother’s Story of Autism’s Devastation and God’s Promise of Enduring Love” by Lauri Khodabandehloo. (ISBN # 9781935265467)

The author is a contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul, and she shares with us the story of her daughter, Farema, and her developmental disability of autism.  But the story is more of her journey of understanding her role in the whole scheme of things, and her coming to accept whatever God chose to test her with.  She shares the ups and downs, the good and bad, and the realization that it is the WHOLE picture that leads her down the path.

I will admit, this would not have been a title I would have picked up on my own.  I don’t really know why, but I probably would have just passed it by.  I have never had to deal with autism, nor do I really have anyone close in my life that deals with it  either, so it’s a pretty unknown subject to me.  Now that I have read this book though, I can definitely say that my eyes have been opened, not only to the subject of autism, but to the struggles of being a parent in that situation as well.  I am a parent of four children, and even more so now, I am humbled and so grateful for my life.  I won’t lie, it made me glad for the children I have, the life I have had, and the fact that I haven’t had the struggles that the author has had.  But, it also let me see that she is not bitter for having the life that she has led.  It let me see through her eyes and to marvel at her strength, and her love for her family.

I would recommend this book to any parent who finds themselves facing a diagnosis of Autism in their child.  There are lots of technical books out there, to explain the physical details of autism, but this one touches on the spiritual aspects that are so often disregarded.  This one helps a parent come to terms with things not being as they had expected, and coming to love everything they have on this different path they are now traveling.  I would also recommend this book to parents who may be struggling with the thought that they were being punished for something – for thoughts, or feelings, or something they just couldn’t name.  This book shows them that they are not alone.  They never were.  I would also recommend this book to any parent, to help them see the facts behind being a parent of an autistic child.  It’s an eye-opener for anyone.

You can find this book in many locations.  It is published by Deep River Books, and was published in paperback in March of 2011.  The list price is $13.99.  The book can be found at Amazon.com or Bn.com, and also comes in e-book versions.

Win it!

One lucky winner will win their very own copy of the book worth $13.99!

REQUIRED COMMENT: Go to the Lonely Girl Gracious God website HERE and tell us something that you learned while there.

BONUS #1: Follow @momof3boys3702 on Twitter and RT this contest. The easiest way to retweet is to simply click the green ReTweet on the top right of this post. YOU MAY TWEET ONCE DAILY

BONUS #2: Like Lonely Girl Gracious God and 3 Boys and a Dog on Facebook, then share this post by clicking the FaceBook share button at the bottom of this post.

Other bonus entries:

  • #1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)
  • #2. Sign up for my NEW Weekly Newsletter.
  • #3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.
  • #4. Put my button on your blog.
  • #5. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.
  • #6 – Vote for me at Picket Fence by clicking the button on my sidebar. Be sure to leave a comment saying you did! YOU MAY VOTE ONCE DAILY!

CONTEST ENDS: at Midnight CST on December 18th

OPEN TO: USA Only

*Disclaimer:  I was provided with a copy of this book to facilitate my review.  All opinions stated are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways, Parenting Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Giveaway: Fit Moms for Life book

December 3, 2011 By

I was beyond excited about this book, because I have had a hard time losing the extra baby weight!  Hurray for a fantastic book!

About the Book (from the back cover)

In this book, you’ll discover:

31 transformation stories from women like you

A training program that burns fat while you sleep

How to burn 5-9 times more fat WITHOUT cardio

How to get your kids to eat healthy and move more

An eating plan and recipes for balanced meals

The ultimate form of accountability

One exercise that can shrink your waistline WITHOUT diet changes

The five pillars necessary for lasting success

About the Author (from his website)

My name is Dustin Maher  and I am a fitness professional living in Madison, WI.  I am 28 years old and absolutely love my job as a personal trainer/fitness instructor/writer/motivational speaker/and teacher.  I love helping everyone I come in contact with get in better shape. I especially enjoy helping moms to look even better than before having kids.

The first question I get asked a lot is, why a 28 year old single guy loves working with moms.  Well the answer to that question goes back many years to when my mom raised my 3 younger siblings and me, along with my dad.  She was a stay-at-home mom and did so much for her 4 children.  Looking back, I realized that she spent so much time taking care of her kids that she didn’t take time for herself.  I also realized that she didn’t have a good support group of other mothers who were motivated to get in shape and lose the baby fat.  I was very blessed to have a mom that was health conscious and cooked very healthy.  I learned a lot from her as she taught me what it meant to eat well.  I have also realized that when I can help a mom change the foods that she buys for her family and begins to exercise, her kids want to do what she is doing!  So not only do I get to help the mother out, but I get to help out the kids and maybe the husband (once in awhile) out as well.

When I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Kinesiology Exercise Science,  I immediately knew what I wanted to do!  I created a class called MamaTone Fitness.  The mission for MamaTone was to help moms realize that it was important to take care of there physical bodies, and that they could still achieve a great body after kids.  The second part of the mission was to connect mothers with each other so they could share life’s experiences with one another.

From MamaTone came Fit Fun Bootcamps, which in 3 years has grown to 10 locations and one of the largest bootcamp programs in the country.  Out of the success of the bootcamps, came calls and emails from around the world asking me to train them.  So from that, came my 28 DVDs which include: 12 month Fit Moms For Life DVDs, Got Core, Buns Guns Back and Shoulders, Ultimate Buddy Bootcamp, and BabyTone.

I have been blessed to have been on TV nearly 100 times, and been featured on numerous radio shows, magazines, and newspapers.

My Thoughts

Seriously, best book EVER!  I love, love, love it!  I might be getting this as a present for lots of women that I know who are having problems losing the weight!  I’m not giving up my copy!  As I read through, I would dogear the page that I wanted to reread or remember and have at least half of the pages dogeared!  The whole premise is “How to Have Endless Energy to Outplay Your Kids.”  Since I have five, I absolutely want that!  This book tells you step-by-step, how you can be a fit mom for LIFE, not lose twenty pounds, but be fit for life!  I know that if I’m going to lose weight and be fit, that I want to stay that way.  I don’t like fad diets that tell you exactly what to do, but if you mess up or go off, you gain all of the weight back.  Yikes!  Dustin gives you food tips, but you can have up to three cheat meals a week (although only one a day)!  Phew!  I know my poor kids would be terribly disappointed if we didn’t eat one of their favorites every week!  There are five pillars of health:  mindset, nutrition, strength training, burst training and environment.  He covers each in depth and shows actual “Fit Moms for Life Transformations” with before and after pictures!  I love seeing real people!  As for strenth training, the one exercise he gives is FANTASTIC!  I’ve been doing it for three days and already feel a little thinner and am building up stomach muscles that have never recovered from my daughter’s birth eleven months ago!  I’m THRILLED!  I’m looking forward to buying some of the workout DVDs to go along with it!  This book is changing my life, which is exciting!  Everyone should have their own!

Buy it!

This book will be released on December 5th!  You can buy it here for $19.95 (plus shipping).  A fantastic price for something that will change your life!

Win it!

One lucky winner will win their very own copy of the book worth $19.95!

REQUIRED COMMENT: Go to his website here and register for his newsletter.  It’s fantastic! THEN, you can leave a comment after completing each of the bonus items.

BONUS #1: Follow @Fitmomsforlife and @momof3boys3702 on Twitter and RT this contest. The easiest way to retweet is to simply click the green ReTweet on the top right of this post. YOU MAY TWEET ONCE DAILY

BONUS #2: Like Fit Moms For Life and 3 Boys and a Dog on FaceBook then share this post by clicking the FaceBook share button at the bottom of this post.

Other bonus entries:

  • #1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)
  • #2. Sign up for my NEW Weekly Newsletter.
  • #3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.
  • #4. Put my button on your blog.
  • #5. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.
  • #6 – Vote for me at Picket Fence by clicking the button on my sidebar. Be sure to leave a comment saying you did! YOU MAY VOTE ONCE DAILY!

CONTEST ENDS: at Midnight CST on December 17th

OPEN TO: USA Only

*Disclaimer:  I was provided this book by Dustin Maher, and was not compensated for my opinions.  They are my very own and can’t be bought!*

Filed Under: 3 Boys & A Dog General Posts, Fitness, Giveaways, health, Living and Lifestyles, Mind and Body, Parenting and Family, Review and Giveaways Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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