Those Stinkin' Kids! Part the second

This is the final installment in my series (sounds pretty impressive, right?) about how spoiled these kids are today. With their books and their reading nooks and their....LIBRARIES!

Check out the gorgeous library at school! (It had me at "We're getting a large shipment of new books, and need this whole area clear." Sigh.)

First off, let me say that this is an all new eco-friendly school. The classrooms have the most calming sky blue walls, with soft yellow and pale green painted through out the rest of the building. The offices are fantastic - the nurse's office is roomy and has separate rooms for the ill and/or faking, instead of mere curtains. The classrooms in the lower grades have restrooms inside them. All the classrooms are HUGE and all have big big windows, which add so much cheerful natural light!

I am really impressed, though, with their library. I fell in love with this library and asked the very hospitable librarian, Ms. Librarian (names changed to protect the innocent) if I could take some people-less photos. Ms. Librarian asked Ms. Principal, and they both kindly agreed! And so. Here we are.


In the front of the school. Such big windows!



Shelves waiting for the new shipment! See the sky light?



Computers, computers, computers! Crazy, right?



So...you think that's  impressive? Well, just wait til you see this part:



Am I right or am I right? Pretty spoiled!



Could you not just die?? I mean, seriously, these stinking kids and their fantastic library! I practically swooned the first time I saw it! SWOONED, I say! What a great reading area!! And the colors are so relaxing...just adds to the "right" atmosphere...you know what I am saying? Do you? It's restful. That's what I am saying. Restful. Relaxing. Reading. 

Now, the down side? Just one. There are no old antiquated books on the book cart. But that's okay. I'll take my kids to my fave Half Price Books, so they can see how it's done "old school".

So, do your kids have a great school library? What was yours like when you went to school?

Storytime: Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward

Talon's February offering for the Read to Me Picture Book Challenge is Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward.


This book was purchased at the Scholastic Book Fair a couple of years ago. As soon as I saw it, I knew  Talon would love it. A cute kitty that gets into one 'cat'astophe after another. Yep, great toddler fare!

Here is Talon's vlog review. Warning: may cause motion sickness. No tripod, a rocking chair and a book circling: Watch at your own risk! 





If you didn't make it through the vlog, here is a synopsis.  Talon says this book is about Cookie, a cat that causes a mess every day of the week. Everytime, Cookie has an accident something goes everywhere.

Talon thinks the book is funny. At age three, he laughed hysterically over Monday's accident: Poor Cookie fell in the toilet and water went everywhere! 

Now at the more mature age of five, he laughs at Wednesday's accident: Cookie upset the trash can and garbage went everywhere!  Talon and I get tickled imagining an aggravated trash can! In Oklahoma, we say 'knocked over' or 'tumped over'.

Talon says he has learned something from this book: Do not do what Cookie does!

This book is a great choice for parents or early childhood teachers to read to children age two to 6 for storytime.

Little ones can relate to a curious kitty innocently exploring the environment and inadverdently creating mess after mess. Cause and effect and days of the week are portrayed in a fun way.

I read Cookie's Week to the entire three year old Head Start class when I'm off schedule and can't see speech/language students individually. They love Cookie's antics.

Don't tell the author that I add an 'UH OH!'  between each of Cookie's explorations and the resultant accident to improve the flow and drama of the narrative. 

 A repetive catch phrase is a language therapy trick to entice kids with limited verbal skills to verbalise more. All kids love catch phrases, whether they are delayed or not. It makes the storytelling experience interactive and the whole class almost knocks me over shouting 'UH OH!'.  (the 'everywhere' at the end of each accident is also repetitive and shoutable)

The illustrations are cute softly colorful watercolors. Funny and realistic that most pages only show a paw or tail sticking out of a mess or disappearing around a door as Cookie scampers off to the next disaster.

Talon and I highly recommend Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward.

And we both hope that on Sunday, Cookie rests... but we have our doubts.

Introducing A New Bookish Linky Party: Bargain Book Bonanza!

Exciting news!  Baja's Cozy Book Nook will soon begin hosting a new weekly bookish linky party: Bargain Book Bonanza!

The theme, if you didn't already guess, is bargain books.

You know-- those books that are a steal. And I don't mean pilfered books but cheap books. Dirt cheap books!

Books for a song that make you almost sing a celebratory aria right in the middle of the bookstore..  or book fair.. or yard sale.. or thrift store.. or even while sitting at home in front of the computer screen after clicking 'confirm'.  (by the way, home is the safest place to belt one out along with the obligatory victory dance-- not so many funny looks that way)

What about you, do you mainly purchase bargain price books?

As a library girl with limited funds and space, I rarely buy books and only buy if they are discounted. But this past year, that all went out the window! Space Shmace! So what if my house is bursting at the seams. Bargain books are addictive. In fact, one of my 2011 bookish resolutions is to aquire beaucoup bargain books! 

Can you guess the consequence of my folly?  Yep, bargain books are coming out of my ears!!  

It was fun posting four frugal book hauls last year so I decided to start an in-house recurrent feature titled Bargain Book Bonanza (BBB).  Seemed like a plan-- especially since my Mrs. BG bargain hunting amigas would likely participate. 

So how did BBB morph into a linky party?

 While participating in photo meme linky parties with my other blog,  I kept noticing how many thrifty/crafty/vintage/decor type bloggers were also linking  photo meme posts to multiple parties to show off their frugalicious finds. (and boy, do those gals know how to party-- some link to ten plus linky parties at a time, Whew!)    

Lightbulb!!  Booklovers need a linky party to show off bargain books!   Why should other blogging communities have all the fun?! Right?!

I was jazzed so jumped on FB immediately for a quick confab with the other ladies of Mrs. BG. They enthusiastically agreed the idea had merit.

Leslie, my favorite co-blogger, even said: People like bargain shopping and the bragging rights!  So true, Leslie-- and only other book lovers can sincerely woohoo and truly appreciate the coolness of a book bargain. Don't ya'll agree?


 DeLynne, my other favorite co-blogger, shared genius ideas for managing our BBB posts and even found photos to consider for a button.  Shopping carts filled with unknown books or small wicker baskets filled with known books. How to decide?  
 
Then the next day, Tracy, our resident queen of computer geekery and all things photo editing surprised us with: 

A wicker shopping cart filled with books plus the embed code!  Isn't it brilliant?!  Tracy is brilliant and definitely my favorite co-blogger! ;o)

Do you like the idea of a Bargain Book Bonanza linky party? 

The first BBB link up will be on Monday, March 7, 2011. 

 All book lovers are invited to carouse, make merry and revel with bargain book abandon! 

New and used books welcome!

BBB book(s) do not have to be current. If a past book bargain did not get the bravo it deserved from your real life friends/family, claim your bragging rights now! 

If your BBB book(s) arrived in your mailbox, feel free to double or triple link your post with Mailbox Monday and/or In My Mailbox or any other applicable linky parties.

See you all here at Mrs. BG next Monday!  Can't wait to learn about more sources for bargain books!

Dog In, Cat Out

This is one of my favourite books. It's only got four words in the text, but I just love the story.

Dog In Cat Out by Gillian Rubinstein is an Aussie book without being overtly kookaburra- and kangaroo-infested. It recounts the day of a family, from the first member up to the last one to bed. The family depicted here remind me so much of friends of ours who live nearby. The house is gently old and rambling. Mum stays at home with Bub and pegs out the washing. Kids wear their uniforms and bike to school. Dad does the dishes. And in amongst all this the family's dog and cat go in and out, out and in.

Because the text consists entirely of these four words this is the first book read by countless Aussie children, my girls included. Also, on every page there is a cuckoo clock with the two pets in the appropriate position and the time shown. It's a great clue to the proto-reader to see the animals in or out of the clock, and to have the text against a white background in the same position on each page. And they can start learning to tell analogue time, too.

But this is not just an educational book. This is a gentle family and animal book that has lots to talk about. Children can talk about what happens in the illustrations and laugh at the things that go wrong. They can compare the daily routine in their own house to the one in the book.

The Devil Wears Prada

I was really quite surprised at myself when I worked out that I hadn't read this yet. A fashion classic! I have seen the movie a countless amount of times, and I love it. The book has to be fantastic, right?

The first thing I noticed was the size. It was pretty thick, considering the size of the brain-dead books I've been reading lately. The plot is roughly the same as the movie. Slight changes- Emily is nice, Miranda is more evil, and there is a large focus on Andrea's best friend, Lilly, who isn't even mentioned on screen.


As I plowed through the book, devouring every couture brand name mentioned, I began to get well... annoyed. Just quit already! She has terrible working conditions, she complains about it on every page, she loses her boyfriend and her best friend, and she stays. By the end of the book, it seems pretty repetitive.

Overall, the book is better than the movie, but so frustrating. I haven't read the end yet, but I'm guessing she finally quits, and all those frustrated readers become relived. And we all go back to eating cereal out of the box and not worrying about Andrea's future.

X.
http://viewsofnow.blogspot.com/

How to Make Beautiful Book Covers Times Two

A few weeks ago while participating with my other blog in the Nifty Thrifty Tuesday linky party hosted by Coastal Charm, I spotted books in three thumbnail links.   

Wow! These bloggers featured beautiful bookish decor ideas!   I immediately asked each one if I could share a link/photo with Mrs. BG's readers and all three bloggers graciously gave permission. 

The two that I am highlighting today showcased eye catching do it yourself bookcovers with easy to follow tutorials. Please click the links to see more of these bloggers lovely photos and learn how to make your own beautiful book covers. Be sure and let them know you are visiting from Mrs. BG.

Aren't these the prettiest book covers ever!  And so easy to make--  just check out this  book cover tutorial  presented by Judy at DIY by Design.  

While you are there, explore some of Judy's other DIY tutorials and decor ideas for inspiration. I love these almost no-sew pillows  and I almost think even I could make them. Just perfect for a sunny reading nook/garden room or reading porch. If only I had a sunny reading nook/garden room or reading porch...

  Sherry at The Charm of Home  displayed wonderful vintage look book covers.  These book covers were inspired by the potions lab set in the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Love it! And much more appealing for us bookworms than the mutilated books offered as objets d'art by Restoration Hardware, don't you think.              

To make your own vintage book covers, check out Sherry's book cover tutorial.  
Looks like a fun  project with easy to follow steps-- easy enough for even the most DIY challenged book lover! 

As a little lagniappe for any of you with a predilection for blue and white china (you know who you are), stop by for high tea with Sherry. Beautiful and scrumptious!


Do you or would you ever make book covers?

I plan to try. Lord knows, I love books in all their natural glory (even old ratty books) but these book covers are spectacular! Would certainly add pizazz to my  clutter decor, that's for sure.

The Long Winter with Persuasion, Mansfield Park and Little Dorrit

Don't gape! There is not a bizarre Ingalls Wilder/Austen/Dickens mash-up on the shelves. 

 The long winter refers to the recent two weeks in which Mother Nature slammed Oklahoma with three back to back ice/sleet/snow storms--  which is just overkill,  in my opinion.  It was downright freakish really:  temperatures dropped  to -24 degrees, cars stranded in four foot snow drifts and highways closed  We missed seven days of school, for heaven's sake!

  

 Personally, we survived fairly well. The water pipes did freeze for three days the first week but no power loss this time, thank goodness. Since our home is all electric with a well, when the power goes, we truly are the little house on the prairie! Not as charming as in the books, that's for sure!

Are you wondering how one occupies oneself during seven unexpected days of hunkering down at home?  Rearrange furniture? Organize drawers/cabinets? Clean out closets, perhaps? Oh no, no, no---   warm sunny days are crucial for projects like that!

Proper hunkering activities include snuggling, eating comfort food, guzzling hot tea, reading, playing games, and watching movies. (blogging is not a proper hunkering activity since the mouse hand tends to freeze)



Here we are in all our unwashed glory!  We read  picture books galore!


A hunkering novice might assume reading would rule as entertainment but actually watching movies comes out on top. Like blogging, books keep the hands cold. With films, the hands can stay nice and toasty under a blanket. 

Now do you see where this going in a rambling, roundabout, Lesa-esque way? Yep,  films from books!   Persuasion, Mansfield Park and Little Dorrit to be exact. 

Persuasion and Mansfield Park arrived in the post in the nick of time on the day of the first storm . How fortuitous! Especially since we didn't see the postman for three days afterwards.   

Persuasion is one of my favorite Austen novels and I loved this 2007 adaptation-- it is delightfully fresh and fun. If you aren't familiar with the story, it is about the relationship between timid Anne, who is perpetually out of sync with her shallow status oriented family, and Captain Wentworth, the man whose proposal she was 'persuaded' to refuse eight years ago.

I liked that Anne and Wentworth look younger than in the 1995 version. And the actors playing the Elliot family are a hoot! I had forgotten that the Elliots rank right up there with Mr. Collins, the Dashwoods and the Eltons in the social foible department.  

 It is a regular length film not a miniseries which means there is no dillydallying in the story-- so you might even entice your Austen-phobic friends to watch it with you. 

 I haven't read Mansfield Park but the story of poor relation Fanny Price longing for her cousin Edmund seemed familiar so I may have watched an earlier version. This 2007 adaptation is very enjoyable and worth seeing but it has received very mixed reviews on Netflix.

An Austen purist might not like it but since I haven't read the book I can't complain in any particular way.   There weren't any truly obnoxious characters but I liked it. In fact, I would watch it again. After reading the book and watching the other adaptations, of course.

One funny thing: the actor who plays awful Mr. Elton in the recent Emma miniseries plays good cousin Edmund in Mansfield Park-- I kept expecting him to get the roles mixed up but he did an excellent job. ;o)

Now for the creme de la creme: Little Dorrit!  I haven't read this book either but based on this fabulous miniseries, Mr. Dickens deserves a whoop and holler!!  It is stunning: the set, story and characters.  I'm still stunned by the spectacularity of it all! You must watch it if you enjoy period films!

So what is the story?  Well, it is complicated to explain with the various subplots and all but the main gist is about a mysterious secret affecting the fortunes of two families: the Clenhams and Dorrits.  The secret is withheld from the pertinent parties by a cold fanatical old woman  (Mrs. Clenham). She is a real piece of work, that one!  

Little Dorrit is at turns satirical, funny, poignant and suspenseful veering on melodramatic at the end. It takes place in and around the Marshalsea Debtor's Prison in London with sojourns to the Alps and Venice. And it all looks real-- creaky, dark, grimy-- even the characters are grimy--not cleaned up for modern tastes.

Speaking of the characters, they are portrayed by a very talented cast.  All of the characters, from the leads to the supporting roles are incredibly vivid and a joy to watch. Such distinct idiosyncrasies and I can't wait to read the book to see how each chararcter is described.  Is the French murderer Rigaud/Blandois as jovial and sociopathic as portrayed?   Does the good hearted, not a bully boy after all, Mr. Pancks really snort constantly? If you've read the book, please tell me.

Little Dorrit is about a secret but it is also about societal shortcomings, the aggravating inanity of bureaucracies (the Circumlocution Office is too funny)  and prisons, real and self-imposed. Dickens story is surprisingly modern. Several times I thought: Hmm, not much has changed...

Little Dorrit arrived in the post just in time for snow storm number three-- only the first two discs though. Then, hubby and I were left hanging for discs three and four-- maddening!  There are mini-cliff hangers all along.  Apparently, Dickens wrote Little Dorrit as a serial over a two year period and I can just imagine folks of the time chattering over the latest edition and eagerly anticipating the next.

Have you read or watched Little Dorrit? What about Persuasion or Mansfield Park? I love to hear what you think about the films as compared to the books.

Please recommend more period films from books: I fear I am addicted!  And don't worry about enabling, it is a hopeless longstanding addiction but I always read the books... eventually.                                              

WON'T YOU TAKE ME TO FUNKYTOWN...

Oh, won't take me to FUNKYTOWN! (Is that nice and stuck in your head now? Goood!)

Now you know, I likes me some books. However, my situation is such that my book allowance is generally quite, um, small. For you not so hep to subtlety...I am poor.

My preferred method to get my "fix" is the library. And we have a great library system! But sometimes, a great book comes along. And you just have to have it. A totally unnecessary, gorgeous book. So, where does a poor bookworm go? Why, to Half-Price Books, of course! (No, this is NOT a commercial!)

My store, bay-bee!

All of the HPB stores are great. They sell books - you guessed it - half price. There are a lot of previously loved books, but there are also a lot of brand-spanking new ones as well! And they do have the best sellers and all that. I don't really care, though, about that stuff. 

There are some fantastic finds here - tantalizing treasures, bizarre biographies, mesmerizing mysteries, and just plain beautiful books that I would never have seen in a typical bookstore! Here they display the funkiness. Ah, yeah.

I mean, really - "Jitterbug Perfume", "Susan Klegg and Her Neighbor's Affairs" (THAT sounds good), "Using Japanese Slang", "India, Then and Now"? I would never have checked these out normally. (Especially the Japanese slang one...I can't afford books, how am I gonna go to Japan??) But don't these sound good?

Each aisle displays some cool finds!

They even have a collectibles and nostalgia section- "Black Beauty", The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and some vintage Dr. Seuss!

The bargain bin

Do you see any old favorites?

Now. There are two Half Price Bookstores that I frequent. One in the artsy part of H-town (Montrose) and one in Rice Village. My fave? The one in Rice Village. It's been here since '89. And it still retains that FUNKYVIBE (sing it, girl!). There are brick walls, a winding staircase, and that old familiar smell of, well, books. Much loved books.

This winding staircase leads to business, foreign language, horror, romance, and games. (There used to be the COOLEST light fixture at the top...all retro-y. It's gone. I'm dealing with it. Progress, you know.)

Scarlet may just come sashaying down...with some books.

But what do you need as you look at books? A place to sit! And should it be one of those squashy sofas that sit so low to the ground that you have to roll out?

At the top of the stairs, sit a spell.

Well, of course not! No, it should be a nice comfy armchair that you can ACTUALLY GET OUT OF! This place has neat little reading spots all over. 

I just looove the children's area (Surprised? Yeah, I know! I even drive a minivan!). It is so bright and cheerful and there are books....

 

...books...

...and more books!

Dinosaurs, trains, and butterflies...all the subjects I look at these days!

I have been coming to this store since '93. And it has seen me through some major stages and events in my life. There were the lovely journals I had time to fill as a single chica, bought gifts for my friends, and then found Spanish lessons and travel guides before I moved to Mexico. I purchased wedding planning books, then pregnancy books, baby name books, potty training books, beginning readers...vegetarian cookbooks, mysteries for roadtrips,  browsed though their vinyl records for my hubby, and old magazines for school projects. I've even sold a few of my lesser loved books to them! Everyone is super friendly and helpful and knows what they are doing(!).

Bet I could find Funkytown here

Yep, it's a real treat for me to come in here, and I can get lost in here for hours.  Hope it stays here another 20 years!

Phryne Fisher meets Precious Ramotswe

I inhabit a world where I might be killed by a snake released in my bedroom, stabbed while dancing, eaten by a crocodile, shot in a drive-by, or pulled from a train and hung from a water tower. Yes, I do love mysteries, but it would be easy to become paranoid. Lately I have immersed myself in two vastly different mystery series.

Not too long ago, my family and I attended Woodford Folk Festival (I wrote about it here). We had torrential, terrible rains, and camping was an exercise in endurance. But our nights were made more tolerable by curling up, each on his or her camp bed, with a book light and a good book. At one point our tent collapsed, breaking poles and wrecking the camp. All we were really worried about was the borrowed camping gear and the bag of Christmas present books, not necessarily in that order.

When gum-boot deep in mud, my distraction of choice was the Phryne Fisher series by Australian Kerry Greenwood. Surrounded by smelly muck, I escaped to the glamorous 1920's where Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee) has more money than she knows how to spend, luxuriates in expensive cosmetics, wears bespoke clothes, and solves mysteries while shocking society. She is a ballsy, unconventional woman with an amazing intellect who began her life distressingly poor, and I want to be her (after she got rich). The book covers are beautiful, each showing Phryne in one of the amazing outfits from the book. I even saved one illustration as my phone's wallpaper (I am truly a book tragic).



After purchasing all the books I can find from the series (there are 17, I think, and I have seven so far) I went to the library in search of another lady detective. And Mma Ramotswe came to mind. Alexander McCall Smith's creation is 'Botswana's only--and finest--female private detective.' She is, in contrast to Phryne, a woman of tradition and national pride with a strong moral compass. Mma Ramotswe's life has a quiet rhythm, and much of her detecting is done chatting politely to people over a cup of bush tea. There's a film version, too.



One of my friends tried to read Smith's series and found it boring. I love the gentle pace and evocative language. McCall writes just as I imagine Mma would speak, and I feel like I've already met Botswana's lady detective.

The two lady sleuths couldn't be more different. Phryne screams through Melbourne in a demonic Hispano-Suiza while Mma tootles across Botswana in her tiny white van, lovingly maintained by her fiance Mr J.L.B. Matekoni. One character is free with her favours, slim with hip bones jutting from milky white skin. The other is 'traditionally built' and honoured when someone calls her fat.

Phryne makes me want to take better care of myself while Mma makes me want to take better care of everyone else. Phryne makes me want more stuff and Mma teaches me that I don't need any more stuff.

They are both avaliable on Kindle (Phryne is here and Mma Ramotswe is here.) if you are trying to save bookshelf space.

However, if, like me, you are reading the traditional, paper versions, you'll need bookmarks. For Phryne I chose a Valentino exhibit bookmark with a vintage dress that Julia Roberts wore. For Mma Ramotwse I chose Emus by Aboriginal artist Yirra-Kurl.


If you are looking to escape from your everyday life (and is that not why we read?), then I can recommend either Phryne or Mma Ramotswe. They are vastly different from one another, but both wonderful detectives.

However, after reading of these ladies' escapes you might start looking over your shoulder.

Storytime: There's a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems

Hey, Y'all! This is my first official post for the new challenge - picture books. I am super excited, because I read to my little ones so much, yet I hate to keep BLATHERING on about it, you know?

But, now, you HAVE to read my blathering, AND you have to like it. See? It's a Win - sorta Win situation.

Now. On to the review.


My review first. Now, I am speaking as a mom of three, count'em (I have to!), three squirmy wormies! And, although you may feel as though I am a regular June Cleaver (I give off that impression), I actually get rather bored reading some children's books. I know! Gasp! The horror!

So, my perspective is one of a young(ish) mother who will be reading said story about 20 times during the following week. How disgusted will I be with it? THAT, ladies and germs, IS the question!

This book, by Mo Willems, is absolutely. adorable. Aaaand (Yes, there is an "and"!) aaand...FUNNY!

I could totally read this one 20 times this week! 

The pictures are very simple- actually the same basic picture as the cover. I like that because you see the expressions on Piggie's and Elephant's face, and the colors are muted. So there is not a lot to distract from the words.

And the words are very easy to read - the story is a conversation between Piggie and Elephant and beginning readers can read the high frequency words that they will be familiar with (the, bird, on, etc), but there is enough repetition for them to grasp new harder words and memorize them (somewhere, head, etc).

This book will be entertaining for older readers, as well, but it will not be challenging. This is really a beginner's level book.

All of the books in this series (Piggie and Elephant) are similarly written, and I give them a "4 Whews!" and "2 1/2 Snickers (as in laughs, not the candy...although that could work too..)". I may just buy this book and a few more in the series.

 

Nico's interview. (Nico is six, and "motivationally challenged" - that means...uhh..lazy. So he HATES to actually read - he wants me to do it. He pretends, yes, pretends to sound out the words so that I will give in and just read the dang word. He works harder at not working than actually working!)

Me: Nico, did you like this book?

Nico: Uh-huh. Can I go?

Me: No.What did you like about it?

Nico: I don't know. Are we finished?

Me: Not yet. COME BACK HERE! Did. you. like. the. story.

Nico: Yeah. It was funny. Maaaamaaaa, can I go NOW?

Me: Jus' a sec. Did you like to read the words?
Nico: No. Well, yeah, but I just don't know how to read all those books. Can I go?
Me: *sigh* NO! Now. What was your favorite part?
Nico: Elephant said "Aaaaaaaaaaaaagh." And it was funny. He thinks there was a bird on his head!
Me: NICO! COME. HERE! Do you think other kids would like this book?
Nico: (Grinning) Yeah. It was funny. Now can I go?

I must say, I let him go. Through the entire interview, he was hopping up and down. How would Oprah or Barbara Wawa have handled it? Could they have made him cry? Or would they have started to cry?


Anyway, folks. There you have it. It was funny. And not torturous to read the words. He read it with me once, once by himself, and once with his brother and sister each. Not bad, boy-who-doesn't-like-to-read, not bad at all!



Please visit the Read to Me Picture Book Challenge's February linky party   hosted by There's A Book for more terrific picture books!

Read To Me: Picture Book Challenge

  My 2011 challenges/readalongs were all disregarded sorted if not formally announced. (Yep, I have commitment issues)  Actually, challenges and quotas just don't suit my spontaneous reading style but the novelty and adventure of participating in a challenge is intriguing.


So which, out of the multitude offered, did I settle on?


 A quirky foodie book challenge and a women authors of science fiction bookclub. Both of which should enhance not interfere with my normal reading habits. I'm tickled pink because these two are ideal for me-- and Tracy, my favorite co-blogger, decided to join the sci-fi book club too which doubles the fun!


Last week, I determined  to finally post about my foodie/sci-fi fetish and officially announce my participation in these two events, because two is absolutely plenty---  BUT wouldn't you know it---  The Serendipity Fairy paid  another visit to Mrs. BG!

As I was minding my own bloggy business, this perfectly darling little challenge caught my eye:  Read to Me Picture Book Challenge at There's A Book!

Isn't this the sweetest little badge?

And isn't this cute cute cute?!

This challenge is just too irrestible! I adore picture books! I still hoard have my picture books from childhood---  I use picture books in my work--- and of course, I share my love of  picture books with my child!

Picture books have never been neglected here at Mrs. BG.

Recalling that my favorite co-bloggers, DeLynne and Leslie, have both posted here, here and here about picture books, I hatched a devious plot to ensnare them into the picture book challenge. But they jumped right on board so I didn't need to cajole much less twist any arms. Have I mentioned how terrific my co-bloggers are?

We will aim for the "Watering" level of 36 books.  Although we read hundreds of picture books between us annually (especially Leslie since she has three kiddos of various ages),  it would be detrimental to our sanity to post about them all.  Since our children will be participating with us, the focus will mainly be on their favorites. Hopefully, we won't exhaust their interest or put them completely off reading and blogging!  

How exciting! Our first participation in a challenge!


Can't believe the announcement and sign up is complete!  That wasn't so bad---  One of these days, I may even settle my commitment issues and officially announce my participation in the foodie book challenge-- sometime before December 2011, I hope.

Tuesday Tickles: The Woman in White

Is it just me or is there something wrong with this cover?

Blogiversary Spectacular Giveaway Winners!

A great big  thank you  from the ladies of Mrs. BG for making our Blogiversary Giveaway truly spectacular! We sincerely appreciate all the lovely comments and all of your help spreading the word.  

The response exceeded our wildest expectations and we are so pleased to have made so many new friends! 

Winners were chosen using Random.org. I will email all winners and each winner must respond in three days or another winner will be chosen. 

Are you on tenterhooks? Waiting with bated breath?  Here we go... 

Winners:

Winner of the $40 CSN Stores gift code:  Out of 149 entries--  number 18! Congratulations, Lisa Loves To Read!!

Winner of the international prize, a $20 or less book of choice from Book Depository:  Out of 111 entries-- number 71! Congratulations, Enbrethiliel!!

Good News! Mrs. BG gained more than 25 followers. In fact, we gained an extra 25! So not only will there be one lagniappe prize, there will be three! The $20 or less book of choice from Book depository as promised and two $10 or less book of choice prizes from Book Depository! All entrants are eligible to win.

First Lagniappe Prize:
Winner of the $20 or less book of choice from Book Depository: Out of 260 entries-- number 6! Congratulations, Teddy Rose!!

Second Lagniappe Prize:
Winner of a $10 or less book of choice from Book Depository: Out of 260 entries-- number 214! Congratulations, -Petit!!

Third Lagniappe Prize:
Winner of a $10 or less book of choice from Book Depository: Out of 260 entries-- number 52! Congratulations, KinnairdKath!!

Thank you again for participating in our blogiversary celebration!