Cheapest Mom

Did you know books are essential to a child’s development? They are the most important tool in helping young readers advance their early literacy skills. Unfortunately, for many kids, the biggest obstacle to learning to read is having books available. That’s why Cheerios proudly works with First Books to help provide brand new books to the children who need them the most.

Did you know, General Mills and Cheerios are partenering with First Book on a program called “Spoonfuls of Stories” when you purchase a box of Cheerios? So you ask, “What is “Spoonful of Stories” all about…

Well, for the past eight (8) years, Cheerios has given away more than forty (40) million books in boxes of Cheerios and donated more than $3.2 million to First Book to help provide new books to kids who don’t have books of their own. General Mills and Cheerios are committed to help parents provide a healthy, nutritional and educational foundation for your growing child. It’s the very same reason why Cheerios are made with 100% natural whole grain oats, one (1) gram of sugar and no artifical colors or flavors and great to eat.

Starting this month, all you have to do is purchase one of specialty marked boxes of ”Cheerios” with the “Spoonful of Stories” cover and part of the proceeds will go directly to First Book to help purchase more books to children in need. When you purchase these boxes you will receive one (1) of five (5) brand new books in each box. These five (5) books have not even been released to the public yet by the well known children publisher: Simon & Schuster

1. Junkyard Fort, written by Jon Scieszka, and illustrated by David Shannon, Loren Long and Dave Gordon: Join Gabriella, Jack, Melvin, Ted, Lucy and the other Trucktown characters as they make their own fort, using things found in the junkyard. Ages 4-8. 
2. What´s Under the Bed?, written and illustrated by Joe Fenton: Young Fred cannot stop worrying about the scary creature that might be hiding beneath his bed. Finally summoning the courage to peer under his bed, Fred, with his cumbersome glasses, sees that the only thing there is Ted, his friendly Teddy Bear! Ages 3-7. 
3. Sleepyhead, written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by John Segal: In this rhythmic bedtime story, a cat is the parent and a teddy bear is the child who doesn’t want to go to bed. All ready for bed with teeth brushed and story read, Sleepyhead teddy tries anything to prolong his bedtime; books and his quilt provide ample fodder for his imagination. Ages 3-7. 
4. Ballyhoo Bay, written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Derek Anderson: Mira Bella, an artist who teaches painting and sculpture, loves Ballyhoo Bay and what it offers: sun, sea, sand, and sky. But one gray day a billboard arrives, announcing an impending development that would take all the fun out of the place. Read along to see if Mira Bella and her art can save the day and Ballyhoo Bay! Ages 4-8. 
5. Tea for Ruby, written by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser: Wherever Ruby goes, a bit of disaster seems to follow. But one sunny morning, things change when the postman brings Ruby an amazing invitation: would she like to have tea with the Queen? Ruby needs to polish her manners, and quickly. Ages 4-8. 

When I received an e-mail asking if I would like to participate in MyBlogSpark “Spoonful of Stories” giveaway, I thought they have got the right family here. Both my husband and I read all the time to our four children and we have read and reread several books to them that they know the story line before we even get to that page. We were delighted to be able to receive the wonderful addition from Barnes & Noble Booksellers so we could later go and purchase several more children’s books to read to them later.

So, when I received my box of goodies containing these five (5) books from MyBlogSpark; my little boy (Billy) carried the box inside from the mailbox and could not wait to open it. He was so excited!!! Once we got it open, I had to wrestle him and his 4 years old sister (Victoria) just to be able to look at the books and be able to take a picture so all of you could see what the giveaway consisted of. Then a few hours later, my two other girls (Alixia & Olivia) got home from school and they were curious to what was sitting on the table. After dinner and before bed, we all sat down in our big oversized recliner and I read all five books to them. My three youngest ones were very attentive and listen really closely but my oldest (6 year old Alixia) was not really interested in any of them. So to get a better handle on the interest and attentivness of 6 & 7 year olds, I took them to my daughter teacher and asked her if she would please read them to the class and judge their interest in them. Well several of the children loved the “Tea for Ruby”, “Junkyard Fort” and “Ballyhoo Bay” but they really lost interest in “What’s Under the Bed?” and “Sleepyhead” (they fealt they were to old for those books). So needless to say, I think the age range for these books are really somewhere between 2-7 years of age instead of 3-8 years of age. But other than the age, all five of these books get my children’s approval along with 17 (6-7 year olds) from school.

Some of my favorite highlights of the books are: All books are printed both in English and Spanish. They all have a really good story line for really young readers. My kindergarten (Olivia) was able to read the biggest part of “Tea for Ruby” (which I loved) and Alixia was able to read all of them without any problem. My little boy, Billy, loved “Junkyard Fort” and Victoria loved “What’s Under the Bed?” (except at night). I would love to here anyone else’s input about any or all of these five (5) children’s books.

Now for the “Giveaway” part!!!! I know this is the part you have been waiting for!!!!! Well, MyBlogSpark has been gracious enough to sponsor this giveaway for us. One (1) lucky reader of the giveaway will receive one (1) box of “Cheerios” cereal which will include one of the five (5) books inside, a copy of each of the five (5) childrens books and a gift card for $25.00 to Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

What do you have to do to enter for the wonderful package? All you have to do is answer one of the following questions in the comment section telling me and everyone else:

• How often do you read with your children?
  
• What is your story time ritual with your children?
  
• What is your favorite children´s book?
  
• If you could be a character from a children´s book, who would it be?

Now you can enter in this giveaway up to four (4) times between now and November 6th at 11:59pm EST. On November 7th, I will have random.org chose one lucky winner and I will e-mail them ASAP. The winner will have 48 hours after being e-mailed to respond back to me.

6 Responses to ““Spoonfuls of Stories” Giveaway to One (1) Lucky Reader!!!!!”