Giveaway: Fairy Godmother Academy Party Pack

As I mentioned previously, there’s an exciting new book series and online world for little girls on the horizon – The Fairy Godmother Academy. My daughter loves to read. I would hate to calculate what we spend on books in the average year.

Our newest book arrived yesterday, and I’m happy to say it was free. Yesterday we received a Fairy Godmother’s Party Pack that included the first book in the series (Birdie’s Book), iron on transfers for the girls at the party to make their own Fairy Godmother’s shirts, a music CD, handouts for the girls to research their lineage (I’m thinking pre-party – maybe of sending these with the invitations), wisdom cards, stickers, and then a nice customizable book for recording everyone’s lineage.

As I stated, I just received this party pack yesterday. I’ve just started the book so I can’t tell you much about it yet, but will come back and post a more thorough review after I finish it. However, I have great news for you. The company has been generous enough to not only offer my daughter a party pack, but also a party pack for one lucky reader! This contest will be a live contest.

Here are pictures of our Party Pack:

Live Contest Rules

1. Comments will be opened  at 7:00 pm CST
2. The comment number of the winner will be announced prior to comments opening.
3. Topic will be announced at beginning of contest.  All posts must be relevant to conversation.
4. No duplicate comments.
5. You may comment as often as you like – as long as all comments are relevant.
6. No comments back to back.

See you Monday!!

Contest Time!

Topic: Conversation must begin about who you will throw this party for, ideas of how to use everything, and other activities you might include.

Conversation can evolve from this however comments should make sense with everyone’s current conversation or be on the original topic.  No off topic, no duplicate comments, spam, etc just get the comment numbers up. The same person CAN NOT post back to back.

One extra comment per person per day allowed for follwing me on Twitter and tweeting this live contest. Must post link to your tweet in contest. (this can be back to back with another of your comments)

One extra comment per person for blogging about this contest and posting the link. (this can be back to back with another of your comments)

Comment #123 will win.

I will go back through comments and delete off topic comments if necessary so final winner will not be announced until previous comments are reviewed.

Contest will continue until comment #123 or August 30th. If we do not have 123 comments by the end of the night, one comment will be randomly selected.

Review & Giveaway: The Unexpected Gift

When I was asked if I would like to read/review/giveaway The Unexpected Gift by Meaghan Gonzales Wagar and Michelle Bulmer Atha, I clicked over and read the summary and knew from the beginning that I would love this book.  And I have to admit that I was not disappointed. It’s a thin book so I chunked it in my carryon bag when I was leaving for Blogher thinking it would be nice to have something lightweight to add to my bag.  I arrived at the airport super early Thursday so I pulled it out and started reading.  I was so involved that time flew while I waited on my plane.

As soon as I loaded on the plane, I pulled it back out, anxious to see what happened next. By the time the plane landed, I only had two chapters left to read.  The book is about two remarkable women. The first is a recently divorced wife and mother who is looking to find herself and raise her children alone.  Still loving her husband ex-husband makes this a challenging road. She’s also now needing to make her entrance back into the full time work world. The second woman is a young pregnant girl living in poverty, but working hard to make a better life for herself. The two meet by chance when the divorcee donates baby clothes to the young girl.  After a couple more chance meetings, they start to build a friendship that becomes quite strong and helps each of the women become strong and conquer the issues in their lives.

I’ve been both of these women to some degree – the young pregnant girl without much money (though my life was much easier than the girl in this book) and the single mom trying to raise her children so I felt so connected to each of them as I read it.

Does The Unexpected Gift sound like something you’d like to read? If so, you might be in luck as I have three copies to give away.

Required Entry:

Who in your life came to you unexpectedly and has made a difference?

Bonus Entries:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed. You can still enter if you already subscribe.
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet – already a follower, just tweet and let me know)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.
6. Enter any other contest here or at Southern Girl Reviews through the duration of this contest. You may have an entry for every contest that you enter between now and then.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Sunday, August 16 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Don’t want to wait until the contest ends? You can buy it now for $11.01 at Amazon.

Operation Kindness

You may remember how much Cameron liked the first book in the Precious Girls Club series, A Little Bit of Faith.  Thanks to the Precious Girls Club and MomSelect she just received the second book, Operation Kindness, and it was just as much a hit as the first one – maybe more so.

In case you have not heard of this series, it’s a book series and virtual world website for young girls from the makers of Precious Moments.  Just as the figurines are inspirational, so are the books.  The protagonist in the book is Kate Bennett and she struggles just as the young girls in our lives do to “fit in” and at deciding just who they really are.  Through the help of her guardian angel and family, Kate does find her own group of friends in the first book, A Little Bit of Faith.

In this book, Operation Kindness, Kate and her group of friends (The Precious Girls Club) have decided that they want to volunteer at the local community hospital to cheer up sick children.  They run into some problems and through the use of joining together, they are able to overcome these obstacles and develop a puppet show.

Once again, Kate and her friends present real problems with solutions based on values and morals.

If you have a young reader in your home, I think that the Precious Girls Club series, may be the books I recommend over any other that Cameron has read.

And in a fashion, I love – you can introduce this series to your favorite reader for FREE thanks to A Novel Mind, Mom Select, and the Precious Girls Club.  I have a hardback copy of Operation Kindness for one lucky reader.  BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!  I also have a stuffed puppy from the series, and special codes for the online world of the Precious Girls Club, some bracelets and stickers.  There will be LOTS of winners for this contest.  I also have two copies of the first book, A Little Bit of Faith.

This is how we’ll break up the winners:

• 1 Grand Prize Winner will receive Operation Kindness, the stuffed puppy, as well as bracelets and stickers.  If the Grand Prize Winner does not own the first book, A Little Bit of Faith, they’ll also receive a copy of this book.
• 1 or 2 Runner Up Winners (depending on Grand Prize winner prize) will win the first book, A Little Bit of Faith, bracelets, and stickers.
• The First 60 Entrants will be selected to receive the online code for their little one to have special privileges on the online world of the Precious Girls Club. (will be sent via email)

How to Enter:

Required Entry:
Tell me the little girl in your life’s (that would receive this package) favorite books – or the books you wish she would read!

Bonus Entries:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed.  You can still enter if you already subscribe.
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet – already a follower, just tweet and let me know)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.
6. Enter any other contest here or at Southern Girl Reviews through the duration of this contest.  You may have an entry for every contest that you enter between now and then.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Sunday, August 9 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Don’t want to wait until the contest ends? You can buy it now for $9.95 at Amazon.

CONTEST ENDED! COMMENTS CLOSED! WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

Adventure at Brimstone Hill

Who doesn’t love an adventure? I know I have always loved adventures and mysteries so how happy was I when Carol Ottley-Mitchell asked me to review her book, Adventure at Brimstone Hill.  This is a children’s mystery – the first in the Caribbean Adventure Series.  I originally passed this book on to Cameron to see her reaction, and as she started telling me about her readings the first day, I had to join in and read it behind her.  After she fell asleep each night, I’d take the book off of her nightstand and read what she had read that day.  I think I may have enjoyed it as much as she did.

There’s no way that Carol could have known, but Cameron is really fascinated by monkeys right now. Her last two Build A Bear pets? Monkeys. So when she found out that this story was about 3 children – Kyle, Ingrid, and Mark and their MONKEY, Chee Chee she was hooked from the beginning.  Did I mention one of her dogs name is Chee Chee?  That was one of the first things she had to tell me about the book  - the MONKEY NAMED CHEE CHEE!! She loved to read about their adventures of the children on their field trip at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. The adventure takes place on a tiny island called St. Kitts in the Caribbean. Maybe better than Chee Chee? The fact that the children are 9 – so close to her own age.

What did Mom like?  I loved the vocabulary in the book. The book was full of words that Cameron didn’t know that served as great spring boards into vocabulary lessons.  After the first chapter, I gave her a highlighter and she started marking any words she wasn’t sure of the meanings.  We then worked on context clues and looked up some of the words that she couldn’t guess.  The English teacher and Mom in me was proud that the book was interesting enough to keep her attention and made for a great lesson too.

Another Mom plus?  The fact that the setting is a true location that Cameron (and I) had never heard of – Brimstone Hill.  After finishing the book, we browsed the Internet to learn more about this historical location.

The story? The story begins with us meeting the 3 children and Chee Chee on the day of the class field trip to Brimstone Hill.  Chee Chee, of course, isn’t welcome on the field trip, but makes it anyways.  As the children search for Chee Chee, they are taken into the past – right in the middle of a battle between the British and the French during the 18th century. The book centers around the adventures the children have when they are taken back in time to this battle. I won’t reveal more of the plot, but if you have children between 7 or 8 and 12, I think you’ll find this to be an enjoyable story for them to read, or maybe you could read it as a family.  It has so much history throughout the book, that a great summer project could be researching the history surrounding the setting and battle after you finish reading Adventure at Brimstone Hill by Carol Ottley-Mitchell.

Want to know more about Carol and her series? Even read a preview of book 2 – Pirates at Port Royal at http://caribbeanadventureseries.com/.  You can also read more about Carol here.

And do I have great news for you!  This is your lucky day as you can now enter for a chance to win your very own copy of Adventure at Brimstone Hill.

Required Entry:
Tell me where you would go if you could go on your very own dream adventure – you can choose a past or present location!  Or maybe even somewhere in the future!

Bonus Entries:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed.  You can still enter if you already subscribe.
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet – already a follower, just tweet and let me know)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, August 1 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Don’t want to wait until the contest ends? You can buy it now for $12.95 at Amazon.

PLEASE NOTE CONTEST IS OVER!!!  WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED AND ANNOUNCED!!

A New Blog – A New Contest

Before wrapping up my blogging for the night, I wanted to take a moment to let any A Novel Mind readers know that I’ve started a new blog for the purpose of product reviews called Southern Girl Reviews.

You now have your first chance to win a prize at this new site!  Go check it out!!

This Is The Day by Nancy White Carlstrom – ENDED

Today’s review and giveaway are for your little ones, and it’s a true gem. The book is called This Is the Day! by Nancy White Carlstrom and illustrated by Richard Cowdrey.

This is a lovely children’s book about the miracles of God’s creations and the importance of preserving them.  What I found really neat about this book is it’s divided by the days of the week so that we see 7 days of creations just like the 7 days that God took to create the Earth. 

The illustrations are beautiful in this book also.  I really enjoyed the pictures as much as the story. Richard Cowdrey deserves as much recognition as Nancy for such great illustrations.

Without any further adieu – You can win a copy of This Is The Day for your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, or family friend.  This is a hard cover edition of this book worth $15.99 and it can be just for you.  So how do you win?

Required Entry:

Head over to http://www.nancywhitecarlstrom.com and tell me one thing you learned about Nancy White Carlstrom or her books.  The trick? You can’t list anything on my post or that another person enters in their comments.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment** 

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

But wait!  I’m upping the ante. For all the contests being posted over the next week, I’ll give you TWENTY (yes you hear right) TWENTY extra entries if you head over to MomCentral and vote for my blogging friend, Trisha, to win an Electrolux washer and dryer. She’s #8 strawberryred.  After you vote, come back and tell me you voted and leave your Mom Central username.  You can then comment 20 times for 20 entries for each of the grand opening prizes!

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, March 28 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Note: While you are here, be sure to enter the Grand Opening contests for a

• If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny ball cap

….and more to come…check daily!