GIVEAWAY: The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

    

I received an email last week from Egmont USA telling me about an ebook coming out this week - A Royal Birthday: A False Princess Short Story by Eilis O'Neal.

I loved  The False Princess. It's been awhile since I read it, but you can read my review of it here.

I immediately pre-ordered the new short story for my Nook and I received it on Tuesday. I hope you will check it out. You can read about it here.

Comment below for a chance to win a hardcover copy of the original story, The False Princess. 
[note: this book is not related to The False Prince in any way I've been able to discern.] Comment by midnight Eastern on Saturday, December 14th for a chance to win.

BLOG TOUR and GIVEAWAY: Super Schnoz and the Gates of Smell by Gary Urey

For details on the full tour, please go to  www.albertwhitman.com 

Today I am pleased to be a part of the Blog Tour for Super Schnoz and the Gates of Smell, a new book by Gary Urey. Gary has graciously composed a post for my readers today. Enjoy!

Triumph of the Reluctant Reader

Hello, everyone! My name is Gary Urey, author of SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL (Albert Whitman), and I am thrilled to be making an appearance on Bring on the Books! Like Jaymie, I am a book lover. A great quote about kids, books, and reading comes from one of my favorite writers, Kate DiCamillo—“Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or a duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift."

Unfortunately, reading is a chore or a duty for some kids. And I am qualified to address the subject because I was one of those kids. I grew up in the late 1970s and early 1980s in a house without books. My main source of entertainment was comics and Saturday morning cartoons. I couldn’t get enough of the Fantastic Four, Hong Kong Phooey, Super Friends, Johnny Quest, Bugs Bunny, Land of the Lost, the Flintstones, and dozens of other comics and cartoons. If I’d had a laptop, Direct TV, and Netflix way back then — forget about it! A book (other than a comic) would have been as foreign to me as a moon rock.

Yet, I grew up to be a children’s book author.

My only reading pleasure as a kid came from super hero comics. I gobbled them up like sugary Pixy Stix. I was well past high school before I discovered my love of real books and writing. But a childhood full of quick blasts of goofy, visual entertainment had already wired my brain. Hence, SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL, about a boy with a giant-sized nose who becomes the unlikely hero when a criminal organization plots to destroy his school. The hilarious illustrations are from Daytime Emmy-award nominee and Geisel Award winner, Ethan Long. The book’s inspiration came straight from my thousands of hours of reading comic books and watching cartoons.  

As a child, there was no way I would have read a Newbery Medal-winning book about a girl living in a small Kansas town during the depression. However, I would have picked up a book like SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL. That book may have led me to other books in the genre. And then as the feel of a hard cover book in my hands became less of a chore, I just might have checked out that book about the Kansas girl set during the depression (when my friends weren’t around, of course) and probably would have thoroughly enjoyed it.  

A reluctant reader is really just a kid who hasn’t found the right book for them. I cringe inside when I see books like CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS and the DAY MY BUTT WENT PSYCHO banned from school libraries. With so many electronic distractions designed to steal our kids away from reading, books like those mentioned above and SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL could be the bridge from the computer screen to the printed page. A lifetime of reading pleasure awaits the reluctant reader!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thanks, Gary! I completely agree about the power of ONE book to open the door for kids who think they hate to read. We just have to try to get a variety of books into their hands so they can find the one that will click. I posted my review of Super Schnoz and the Gates of Smell earlier today; you can read that here if you haven't already. If you are interested in a copy of Super Schnoz and the Gates of Smell for a reader in your life - or for a classroom or library - physical copies are available from the publisher, Albert Whitman and Company. Electronic copies are available from Open Road Media.

Please follow the tour to http://ncteacherstuff.blogspot.com/ tomorrow for the next stop!

The folks at Albert Whitman and Company have graciously offered to give a signed copy of Super Schnoz and the Gates of Smell to one of my blog readers today. Please leave a comment here - or on the Networked Blogs post on my Facebook page - by Sunday, September 29th, 2013 at 11:59pm Eastern for a chance to win. You must live in Canada or the United States to win. Winner will be chosen at random and posted on Facebook and here on Monday the 30th. 

And the winner is...

I have compiled the names from blog comments and Facebook comments and chosen one at random. The winner of the second set of board books from Tiger Tales is....

Michelle!

Congratulations, Michelle! Hope you kids enjoy their new books.

Thanks again to Tiger Tales Publishers for providing review copies to me that I am able to pass on to my readers. 

TIGER TALES - Padded Board Books

   

We have another giveaway opportunity today! This time we are looking at the new padded board books from Tiger Tales.

First up, we have That's My Daddy! and Mommy! These are sweet books with colorful illustrations of a parent and young animal, celebrating things that parents do for their kids. Four out of 5 stars for both of these. I would buy these for gifts - they are visually appealing and would be great for cuddling and reading aloud.

      

It's Spring Time! celebrates the tasks and wonders of spring from planting and nesting to playing and cleaning. Textured pages give little fingers things to explore. Three out of 5 stars. Splish Splash Splosh is a cute counting book. Ten fluffy ducks are planning to explore a pool, but things don't go smoothly. This could very easily become a "read it again!" story. Four out of 5 stars.

   

The format for these two books is delightful! Each book is cleverly closed with "hands" that wrap from the back cover around to the front with a magnetic closure. There are colorful animal pictures on every page - hugging animals in Hug! and hiding animals in Peek-a-boo! Four out of 5 stars. 

Now for the giveaway! Just like our Tiger Tales books from last week, post a comment on this post or on Facebook. I will pick one person from the comments to receive all 6 books. You have until Thursday the 18th to post your comments. I will choose someone on Friday the 19th.  Good luck!!

TIGER TALES - Board Books

     

It's spring and that means it is time for some new releases from the publisher, Tiger Tales. The company has so many great releases coming out this spring that they decided to send them out in batches. This time I have 6 new board books and a puzzle+book set to review. (I could only find pictures for two of the books, but all of them have these same beautiful colors.)

My First Touch and Feel Farm - Five pages of animal pictures with a touch and feel portion as well as words that show what the animal "says."

My First Touch and Feel Pets - Five more pages of animal pictures with a touch as feel portion (my favorite was the lizard - very cool) as well as words that show what the animal "says."

My First Lift and Learn - First Colors - Ten pages with large flaps. The page asks what color the picture is. Inside the flap are pictures of other items that are that color. The words for those items are shown on the back of the flap.

My First Lift and Learn - First Numbers - Ten pages with large flaps. Readers can trace the number with a finger while counting the objects on each page.

My First Book of Things to Learn - Large board book with 6 tabs. Each page focuses on a different skill - colors, animal sounds, shapes, baby animals, numbers and matching.

My First Book of Things to See - Large board book with 6 tabs. Each page focuses on a different setting and pictures (and words) of things that go in that setting - like starfish at the beach.

My First Puzzle Set - Paperback alphabet book in the same graphic style as these other books. Comes with 30-piece alphabet puzzle. Both come in a beautiful box that looks like the books in this series. The box closes with two small pieces of velcro. 

These are lovely books. Very colorful and visually appealing. If I were to walk by these in the book store, they would definitely catch my eye!

Now, I don't have any readers in my house - or at school - who are young enough to enjoy these, but I do know some folks who do have younger book lovers at their homes. So, I'm going to do a giveaway of these. No one has looked at these books but me - they are in pristine condition. I haven't even opened the puzzle - all the pieces are still in the bag. If you would like a chance to win this whole collection, please leave a comment here or on this post on Facebook by Monday, April 15th. I will choose a winner on Tuesday, April 16th.

WINNERS!

I had so much fun with out book giveaways over the last couple weeks. Thanks to everyone who dropped me a comment here and on facebook.

The winners are....

(1) Paperback copies of Panda-monium! and  The Ice Cream King Stacey

(2) Paperback copies of A Little Bit of Love and My Mom Has X-ray Vision  Brandy
(3) Books one and two of the Imagination Station series Tami

I'll be in touch with each of you this week to talk about how I will get your books to you. Congratulations!

TIGER TALES WEEK - WRAP UP

Well, that's the end of Tiger Tales Week! I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did. Tiger Tales is a great publisher for children's books and I especially like their picture book offerings.

Remember we are having a GIVEAWAY this week. Leave a comment on any of the Tiger Tale entries this week, including this one, if you want to be entered to win a chance at one of two book sets. 
(1) Paperback copies of Panda-monium! and  The Ice Cream King

(2) Paperback copies of A Little Bit of Love and My Mom Has X-ray Vision

I'll post the winners sometime next week. Good luck!

TIGER TALES Week

It's Tiger Tales Week here at Bring on the Books. Rather than stretch out my Spring Tiger Tales reviews over a month, I'm going to review them all this week. 

Even better, I have some copies that I am going to give away to two of my blog readers. Comment on any of my blog entries starting today through Saturday, April 2nd to be entered to win a two-book set of picture books

Commenters can win one of the following sets:
(1) Paperback copies of Panda-monium! and  The Ice Cream King

(2) Paperback copies of A Little Bit of Love and My Mom Has X-ray Vision

These books would be great for classroom or home libraries! Remember, post a comment some time this week, from now through midnight on April 2nd. I'll announce the winners some time during the week of April 4th.

Enjoy!