Candlewick Press Books~ Review & Giveaway!!

I love children's books, and Candlewick Press publishes some of the best books that I have read to my children and enjoyed. I was recently sent a few books to review, specifically books to help make bedtime a little smoother to transition into. I absolutely love the Tuck Me In! book, by Dean Hacohen & Sherry Scharscmidt. This book is so easy to read, short little story, and put together so well.
My kids love it and giggle with the page turning every time. Tuck Me In! is about different animals getting tucked into their beds with a blanket. There are 7 animals that need to get tucked in: pig, hedgehog, peacock, moose, zebra, alligator, and an elephant. With each page turning, you see the animal waiting, in their bed, to have the blanket laid over them. It is an adorable story, and at the end you ask your child if they need to be tucked in. I highly recommend this book!

Ever hear of a Bear having a sleep over? What about a bear who needs it absolutely QUIET to sleep? A Bedtime for Bear, by Bonny Becker and illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton, is a story about a Bear that has a mouse guest for the night and his troubles with being able to go to sleep. Bear has a few ritual things he does to prepare himself for a night of sleep, and once he is in bed, he wants it quiet. Well, mouse is not the quietest, even with being a mouse. His teeth brushing, humming, and saying, "Good night," was rather noisy for Bear. Mouse finds it rather interesting that Bear can hear everything, even the quietest of sounds....even from the "darkest, teeniest possible corner of the closet." Bear gets so upset, and things finally are quiet, and mouse goes to sleep. Unfortunately, it is so quiet that Bear starts to hear things, and worry! Will he be able to get back to sleep?

This is a fun story for my kids. They really liked how the Bear heard such quiet sounds, and then how the story ended with mouse helping him out. Great story, and a great read!

Do your kids interrupt you? How about interrupting when you are telling them a story? Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein, is a fun story about a Dad Chicken reading to his son, who likes to interrupt. With each story the Dad chicken reads, his son is quick to finish the story~ his own way. (It gives me a chuckle, because I know so many kids like to interrupt.) The Dad Chicken starts to get tired, so the little chicken tells him a story, and his own Dad interrupts in a very comical way.

Cute story, and it was fun to read to my kids. My kids loved how the Dad interrupted in the end.

Moon Dreams, by Ruth Martin and illustrated by Olivier Latyk, is an adventurous book about the moon. Luna is a little girl who wonders where the moon goes during the day. So, she decides to stay up each night to watch it, so she can see where the moon goes. For three nights, Luna can't keep her eyes open long enough and she drifts off to sleep. With the sound of the waves, crickets and owls, and the sound of rain, each night she is put to sleep from the sounds of the night. However, each night she has a great dream. Finally, Luna falls asleep and finds out where the moon really is.

Very cute book, and it was a great book to spark conversations with the kids about the moon, it's purpose, and more educational topics.

Poems are great for kids, for so many reasons~ educational, learning, sounds of rhythm and more! I really enjoy the Switching on the Moon book, by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters. This book has a big collection (60) of bedtime poems. My kids and I love reading through these poems, and it is fun to come to the ones I have learned as a young child, and with reading the newer ones. I love the illustrations from G. Brian Karas in this book, too! I am sure your kids will enjoy this book, too.

**ENTER TO WIN!!**

Candlewick Press has offered to sponsor a giveaway of Tuck Me In!

This contest is open to bloggers and non-bloggers of the United States, and the contest is open until midnight October 23rd, 2010. To enter, go to the Candlewick Press website and check out all the books. Comment here about which ones sound interesting to you.

**For extra chances you can: blog this contest, add my button to your site, subscribe to my blog, twitter and/or become a fan on facebook, and/or visit everyday and add another friendly comment about something you found over at Candlewick Press. Lots of chances to win! Don't forget to put the extra comments for the "extra" work. Good luck!**

This review was provided from Candlewick Press. They have provided me with books to review and information to share with my readers. I am sponsored to offer a giveaway for my readers through this review. I was given the product for my personal opinion and option to share with my readers. I was not compensated for my time or written review.

Candlewick Press Books (Review & 2 GIVEAWAYS)

Children's books are so fun and our family loves to read! I think Candlewick Press offers such a great selection of children's books! I received some books to review, and we have had such fun reading them over and over. I am so excited to share these books with you! I highly recommend these books to your family! These books make great gifts, too!
Did you read Mother Goose books when you were younger? I did, and I loved when my Mom & Dad read me the stories. I grew up with the original "real" Mother Goose stories.
Candlewick Press has The Very Best Mother Goose Book Tower, which is a collection of four mini board books.
I love these little books, because they are perfect size for little hands. I love seeing my toddler holding the books in his hands, trying to read them. The illustrations, by Rosemary Wells, in these books are adorable!
Each book has a title to it: Wee Willie Winkie, Jack and Jill, Pussy Cat Pussy Cat and Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake; however, each book is filled with the Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Each book has about ten nursery rhymes, as well. These books fit great in a diaper bag or purse, to help your child pass time, and possibly get a few giggles. These books make for fun reading, and fun stacking!
The Very Best Mother Goose Book Tower $9.99 U.S./$13.00 CANADA
My daughter loves Polly's Pink Pajamas, by Vivian French. Polly loves her pink pajamas and wears them all the time. She knows she can't wear them to her friend's house for a party, so she seeks out help from her friends to get her outfit for the party. After visiting with her friends, and borrowing the items needed to wear: dress, a sweater, socks and shoes, Polly realizes that it just wasn't right at all.
Will Polly be able to go to the party after all? It is fun to see what the ending is. I am not going to tell you what happens with Polly and her Pajamas...because this is a great book to add to your collection. Great book about friendships, favorites, and decisions.

Polly's Pink Pajamas $14.99 U.S./$18.00 CANADA
Cats are great animals (in my opinion) and I think they make great pets. Children can often think their cats can do amazing things, and be certain things. In The Best Cat, Jeff thinks his cat is a football star, a clown, ballerina, and more. Ginny, Jeff's sister, is not in agreement with her brother. They do agree in the end that Bootsy, the family pet, is the best cat in the world, though. We liked finding out all the things that Bootsy would be, according to Jeff. My kids giggled with this book.

The Best Cat $15.99 U.S./$20.00 CANADA

Being a home schooling Mom, I love teaching my kids about the four seasons. Plus, with living in Minnesota, we definitely experience the seasons fully. I really enjoyed how All Around the Seasons described what happens during each season. Currently, Minnesota is in Spring season, and in All Around the Seasons, "Hiding and seeking, slip down a slide. Springtime's for flying, playing outside." This is a fun book, and the descriptions are very entertaining.

This part of the book is talking about Springtime, too...rainbows, chalk, wagons, climbing trees, and grass-stained knees.

All Around the Seasons $11.99 U.S./$15.00 CANADA

We laughed so much while reading Me Hungry, by Jeremy Tankard. This is such a fun book about a little caveman boy who is hungry. His parents are too busy to help him out, so he goes out to search for food. Will he eat a rabbit, porcupine, tiger, or something else? Will anyone help him get something to eat? What happens in the end? Our family really enjoys this book, and laugh every time we read it. It is a book with few words, which is great for even the youngest age group.

Me Hungry! $7.99 U.S. /$10.00 CANADA

The Guess How Much I Love You books are sweet books about the love between a parent and child. These books are so much fun to read with my kids, and it is fun when they say some of the phrases back to me. Guess How Much I Love You-All Year Round- is about the four seasons with four stories included. Spring is about the growth of things like trees, tadpoles and butterflies after winter. Summer is about all the colors like blue in the sky, reds like poppies and ladybugs, and yellows like flowers. Which is your favorite? Is it Nutbrown like Big Nutbrown's favorite? We liked talking about the four seasons with this book.

Guess How Much I Love You (Sweetheart edition: little red book) is the original Guess How Much I Love You book, just in a small book form and in red color. This would make a great Father's Day gift from your child. This book is a sweet story about Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare talking about how much they love each other, and who loves more. My kids and I play this game all the time, and it is so sweet.

Guess How Much I Love You -All Year Round- $16.99 U.S./$20.00 CANADA

Guess How Much I Love You $12.00 U.S./$14.00 CANADA

I think Leslie Patricelli writes great books that describe young toddlers very well. She has authored quite a few books, and her newest, The Birthday Box, is about a toddler loving his gift: a box! The Birthday Box tells all about the adventures this baby has with his box, and what he found in his box~ a doggy!

The boy and his doggy sail a ship and he is the captain, they fly an airplane, and he becomes a robot. We had some great laughs from reading about this little boy's adventures with his box. It is so true that kids love the boxes their gifts come in, and the boxes can liven their imaginations!

The Birthday Box $6.99 U.S./$9.00 CANADA

Quack! and Hop! are adorable books about baby animals and the fun things they do. Quack! is a story about newly hatched ducklings. "Ducklings waddle. Ducklings trip. Ducklings wings go flip flap flip!" I love the rhyming words in these books. Hop! is about little baby bunnies, their whiskers wiggling, nose twitching, jumping and thumping.

Quack! and Hop! are sold separately for the retail price $5.99 U.S./$7.00 CANADA

Flanimals (a pop-up book) has got to be one of the coolest pop-up books I have ever seen! Quite frankly, it is the most unique and interesting pop-up, too! Flanimals is a book about
From the unique mind of comic master Ricky Gervais comes... 3-D Flanimals! The ghastly stars of a wildly popular book series are about to pop up everywhere!

You will learn very many facts about these strange beasts, and be amazed with the information you read about them! Each page has a great pop-up, and there are little flaps to open to reveal new creatures, or information you need to know.

My oldest son (age 11) loved this book! All my kids loved it, but he was especially interested in the crazy creatures and what they are all about. I was amazed at the great attention to detail with the pop-up! This isn't a book I will let my little ones get their hands on, because I don't want them to destroy it; however, I love showing them the book and every time they are amazed. This is definitely a very creative book!

Flanimals $19.99 U.S./$25.00 CANADA

ENTER TO WIN!!

Candlewick Press has offered to sponsor a giveaway of Guess How Much I Love You -All Around The Seasons- and the Guess How Much I Love You (Sweetheart Edition)! There will be two winners, and each winner will receive both books! This contest is open to bloggers and non-bloggers of the United States, and the contest is open until midnight June 11th, 2010. To enter, go to the Candlewick Press website and check out all the books. Comment here about which ones sound interesting to you.

**For extra chances you can: blog this contest, add my button to your site, subscribe to my blog, twitter and/or become a fan on facebook, and/or visit everyday and add another friendly comment about something you found over at Candlewick Press. Lots of chances to win! Don't forget to put the extra comments for the "extra" work. Good luck!**

This review was provided from Candlewick Press. They have provided me with books to review and information to share with my readers. I am sponsored to offer a giveaway for my readers through this review. I was given the product for my personal opinion and option to share with my readers. I was not compensated for my time or written review.

Candlewick Press books (review and 4 BIG giveaways)

I love reading books to my children, and we really enjoy this time to spend together soaking up stories. My kids and I recently had the opportunity to review a few books from Candlewick Press, and we really had a great time going through the stories. Here are the story books that we reviewed: The Patterson Puppies and the Rainy Day (by Leslie Patricelli), A Walk Down Sesame Street (pop-up book celebrating 40 years), Yummy: eight favorite fairy tales (by Lucy Cousins), The True Story of Goldilocks (by Agnese Baruzzi and Sandro Natalini) and Swan Lake Ballet Theater (by author Jean Mahoney and illustrator Viola Ann Seddon).

The Patterson Puppies and the Rainy Day is an adorable story about 4 little puppy siblings stuck indoors and needing something to do. Using their big imaginations the little puppies turn their living room into a beach with the ocean waters. Playing at the beach became so much fun! The music was playing, the pups were in their swim suits, and they even had a snack with water in their tea cups. With water spilling from the tea cups, one of the pups had a grand idea...let's add more water to make a real ocean! Well, you can imagine where this went...
The Patterson Puppies and the Rainy Day sparks the imagination and brought lots of giggles from my children as we read this story together. What was really comical about this book was the descriptions of the puppies very much resembled characteristics of my own four children. TOO FUNNY! I think your kids would enjoy this book! We sure did! $14.99 U.S./$17.50 Canada
Leslie Patricelli lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, their two children, and two kitties. She sketched out her first children’s book, YUMMY YUCKY, when her then one-year-old son was putting everything in his mouth. "After hearing myself say ‘yucky!’ or ‘yummy!’ for months on end, this book seemed to write itself," she says. "Talking to and watching my young children all day gave me a voice and inspiration for these books. I write down what I say to them and what they say to me."

A Walk Down Sesame Street Pop-Up book is a great pop-up and my kids really enjoyed seeing Bert and Ernie play their instruments in the laundry room and finding the matching socks in the dryers, slimy reusing an apple as a playhouse, counting the cookies on the tray, looking through Big Bird's "B" book, seeing Super Grover fly through the air to rescue a kitty, and hearing about the rhyming words on Zoe and Abby's pages. This is a great book full of learning letters, counting, rhyming and matching. Plus, Elmo greets everyone on the first page as a big pop-out! This is a new favorite.
Yummy is a book compiled of eight fairy tales. The stories are the original stories, and I was surprised about how a few turned out. Nonetheless, this is a cute book. Here are the stories in this book: Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Enormous Turnip (I had never heard this story before), Henny Penny, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, and The Musicians of Bremen. $18.99 U.S./$22.00 Canada
Lucy Cousins is the author-illustrator of many books for children, like Maisy the mouse. Lucy Cousins lives in Hampshire, England.

Have you ever heard the True Story of Goldilocks? This book is about what happened before the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears came to be. The True Story of Goldilocks is about Goldilocks Papa Bear and Mama Bear loving Goldilocks, and Baby Bear not liking her, and in fact he was very impolite and naughty. After Goldilocks had enough of Baby Bear's tactics, Goldilocks taught him how to be GOOD. However, Goldilocks got tired of being good, so she let her hair down and sent a fake invitation to the bears tricking them into leaving so she could have the house to herself. Thus, the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears came to be. $14.99 U.S./ $17.50 Canada
Author-illustrators Agnese Baruzzi and Sandro Natalini met while studying in Urbino, Italy. They have gone on to create a number of children’s books, including THE TRUE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.

The book, Swan Lake Ballet Theater, is an amazing story book where kids can be creative, anduse their imaginations to put on their own play with the props, people and stage settings all within this board book. The book can be transformed into a stage where you can take the included scenery and ballet characters to act out the play Swan Lake, plus an audio CD with the music from Swan Lake. Included is a full color book about the story and how you can put the play together. There are 9 dancing figures, scenery, back drops, and a supporting cast. My kids really enjoyed this book, but it isn't a book for littler ones to play with. However, telling them the story with the stage before them, is a fun way to do story time.
$24.99 U.S. /$29.00 Canada This book is geared toward ages 6 and up.

Jean Mahoney, the author of The Nutcracker Ballet Theater and The Sleeping Beauty Ballet Theater, says she finds the first moment of light and music in a performance to be an inspiration. She lives in Southampton, New York.
Viola Ann Seddon grew up surrounded by the performing arts, ballet, and opera. She is the illustrator of The Nutcracker Ballet Theater and The Sleeping Beauty Ballet Theater. She lives in London.

ENTER TO WIN!!
Candlewick Press has offered to sponsor a giveaway of an assortment of books, including the ones I reviewed. There will be FOUR winners in this giveaway!
This contest is open to bloggers and non-bloggers of the United States, and the contest is open until midnight March 4th, 2010.
To enter, go to the Candlewick Press website and check out all the books. Comment here about which ones sound interesting to you.

**For extra chances you can: blog this contest, add my button to your site, subscribe to my blog, twitter and/or become a fan on facebook, and/or visit everyday and add another friendly comment about something you found over at Candlewick Press. Lots of chances to win! Don't forget to put the extra comments for the "extra" work. Good luck!**

This review was provided from Candlewick Press. They have provided me with books to review and information to share with my readers. I am sponsored to offer a giveaway for my readers through this review. I was given the product for my personal opinion and option to share with my readers. I was not compensated for my time or written review.

Candlewick Press Books~ PLUS a GIVEAWAY!

My children love books, and a great place to find great books for your kids is Candlewick Press! We got some books from Candlewick Press for Christmas time, and I was so excited to get some books for Nathaniel's age! Nathaniel is an avid reader and loves to keep his nose in the books. It can be a challenge to find books that really spark his interest, and I was excited to see his joy when he picked up the 'Where's Waldo? The Complete Collection', and the 'Moon Landing' books!
'Where's Waldo? The Complete Collection,' is a collection of 5 books...the complete series of Where's Waldo? These books are filled with pictures overloading the pages with eye stimulus, and the reader needs to find and pick out Waldo. The Where is Waldo? books are like I spy, but you need to find Waldo. My kids and I like to tryand find other things/people in the pictures after we conquered finding Waldo! The Complete Collection of Where is Waldo? can be purchased for $45.00 found at many book stores, and is geared toward ages 5-12 years. Moon Landing is a book my son really dazzled over, not only is this book fun to look at with the pop-outs and special effects, but it is filled with great information and facts. Wanting to be an astronaut himself, Nathaniel was wide-eyed over 'Moon Landing'! Richard Platt is a great author, and his book features traveling to the moon, the race to conquer space, the technology needed to reach the moon and sustain the astronauts in space, and the moon landing itself. The pop-ups display a rocket, the lunar module, a spaceship, and a spectacular spherical moon. There are even booklets and flaps which are filled with facts. *Published in anticipation of the fortieth anniversary of the first moon landing on July 20, 1969*Features official NASA photographs, two mini-books, and fun informational flaps. At $29.99, I think this book is a great value of educational information! This book is geared toward ages 8 and up.
Some other great books Candlewick Press has are Let's Play in the Snow (from the Guess how much I love you series). Little Nutbrown Hare plays I Spy with Big Nutbrown Hare, and finds out what is Big Nutbrown Hare's favorite thing is that he spys. Maisy's Christmas Day is a story about Maisy and her friends seeing what gifts they get. The pictures are colorful and bright, easy for smaller children to look at. A story of sacrifice and meaning is portrayed in The Gift of the Magi. Della and her husband, Jim, have made great sacrifices for each other just to get the gift long sought for. Coming to realize that Christmas isn't about the price of a gift, but that the gift is in each other and what they share. I love the watercolor pictures in this book, and the meaning behind the story.Another fun pop up book for your kids (and you) to enjoy is A Present for Santa Claus! My kids had a great time watching the pop-ups come to life in this colorful and entertaining book. It is a story about a little boy who would like to give Santa a gift. What would Santa want? At the end of the book, there is a sneak peak of Santa's cottage that kids can get a 3-D look to see inside.
Candlewick Press has books for all ages, and their books are of high quality! Since Candlewick Press first opened their doors in 1991, they’ve received more than 1500 accolades and honors, and have been named "the fastest growing children’s publisher in the U.S." by Publishers Weekly. One thing I find rather fascinating is: Candlewick Press is 100 percent owned and operated by their employees, making them one of the largest independent publishing companies, not just in the country, but in the world!!
Candlewick Press is graciously offering to sponsor a giveaway to you lucky readers! There will be three winners! Here is what you can do to enter: This contest is open to all readers living in the Continental United States. To get your first entry, check out the books at Candlewick Press, find one that interests you (besides the ones I mentioned) and comment about it. Please let me know what book you would like to win of those that I mentioned, too! If you do not do the first required entry, you will be disqualified. You may come back each day and enter (again) after you do the first rule, just tweet about this giveaway and leave the url in your comment. Click here to see how you can earn extra credits to win, and click here to see guidelines and the official rules. Contest will end on January 6, 2009 at 11:59PM CST. GOOD LUCK!