The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza: Review and Giveaway

***Please Note–This Giveaway Has ENDED. ***

Please see Winners page for winning entrant information.

I first became acquainted with the writings of Laura Numeroff when Mister received If You Give a Mouse a Cookie for his first Christmas.  Since then, we have garnered quite a collection of her titles.

When I learned that Laura Numeroff has teamed up with Sleepy’s and First Book, a non-profit organization that provides new books to children in need, to launch a Sleepy’s Bedtime Stories, I was very excited!

Sleepy’s Bedtime Stories is a new children’s reading program designed  to promote family bedtime reading. Research shows that reading at least 20 minutes per night with your child can improve child literacy by 10 whole school days per year.  Laura Numeroff would also like to encourage parents to make a pledge to read to their children at least 20 minutes per night. Each pledge will support Sleepy’s corporate contribution to First Book to provide new books to families in need so more children have access to read. Parents can take the pledge at http://www.sleepysbedtimestories.com and enter for a chance to win lunch with Laura Numeroff in New York City.

Reading with my children is one of my greatest joys.  So, I jumped at the chance to read The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza (written by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, published by Abrams) to Mister and Sister.

The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza is about a group of girls that are friends, though they are all different.  Just like jellybeans all go well together, despite their different flavors, these girls get along great—despite their differences.

At school, the girls are assigned to do a book report.  Anna, the rabbit, is shy and loves to read.  She helps Emily (dog), Nicole (cat), and Bitsy (pig) find books about their favorite subjects.  But when it came time to give their book reports, Anna is to shy to get up.  That’s when her friends pull together to help her out.

This book is perfect for teaching children how to use their strengths and talents to work together and help where their friends may be weak.  The illustrations are simply beautiful, as well.  I love how the illustrator shows Anna’s love of books by depicting her hugging a book and even reading in the tub.

The illustrations of Anna remind me of when I was younger, and was oft caught reading under the bed sheets using a flashlight that I snuck from Dad’s workbench.

The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza is hard-covered with reinforced binding and meausres 9×12 inches.  It was published by Abrams in 2010. It is 32 pages long.  While the book would make a great basket stuffer, it is also a great everyday read.  The book is geared toward 4-8 year old children, but I read it to my children this morning, and they loved it!  And trust me, I did not get away with only reading it once!  Here’s Mister, “reading” it by himself.

Buy It:

You can purchase The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza for $15.95 here.

Win It:

One lucky Lady V dZine reader will win a copy of The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza.

Mandatory Entry

Visit Laura Numeroff and tell me what other books you love or want.

Bonus Entries (optional)

1 bonus entry- Take the reading pledge at http://www.sleepysbedtimestories.com and enter for a chance to win lunch with Laura Numeroff in New York City.

1 bonus entry- Become a Facebook Fan of Sleepy’s and comment with your screen name or profile name

1 bonus entry- Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect (see right side bar) and comment with your profile name.

1 bonus entry- Follow me on Twitter and comment with your Twitter profile name.

1 bonus entry- Tweet this contest and leave your tweet link (may be done once per day).

@ladyvdzine Win Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza by Laura Numeroff, enter here: http://bit.ly/bh7XMe

1 bonus entry- Become a Facebook Fan of Lady V dZine and comment with your screen name or profile name.

1 bonus entry- For each of my other contests that you enter.  Please leave a separate comment for each, telling me which one’s you’ve entered.

3 bonus entries- Blog about this contest, including a link back to this post.  Leave three separate comments including a direct link to your blog post (not your home page).

***Please note: You must have your email in your comment or in your profile in order to win.***

Contest ends at 12 a.m. CST 04/16/2010.  Winner will be selected via random.org.  Winner will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond with mailing address.  If no response is received from the winning entrant, a new winner will be selected.   I am not responsible for the mailing of the book.

Disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary copy of The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza for this review.  No monetary compensation was provided and the opinions stated herein are my own.

Be blessed,

Virginia

Lady V dZine