Calling all aspiring children’s book authors!  Cheerios wants to read your children’s stories.  Now in it’s 3rd year, the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories New Author Contest encourages previously un-published authors to write the next great children’s book. Entries are accepted through July 15th.  You can find out more at the spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com.

Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories has given away more than 35 million children’s books by distributing them free inside cereal boxes over the past seven years, and has donated nearly $3 million to First Book, their non-profit partner, which provides books to children from low-income families.

To celebrate the Spoonfuls of Stories contest and to encourage the importance of reading to your child, Cheerios has given us a Spoonfuls of Stories book gift set to give away to one lucky reader!  This set of four books includes the first Spoonfuls of Stories winner, The Great Dog Wash.  I love reading with my kids (in fact I just got Joshua his own library card this week! It was so exciting!) and this set of great books makes it really fun!

To enter, leave us a comment on this post telling us your favorite children’s book.  One winner will be chosen by random.org on Friday, June 26th!  Good luck and happy entering!

Last year when I was at the Sony Mommy Blogger Event, I met a great blogger named Christina Tynan-Wood. What set Christina apart from the rest of us Mommy Bloggers at the event is that Christina had been writing for years, and had been, well – getting paid for it!  She was a professional writer who got into blogging after she had already established a successful writing career.  At the time of the event, she was working on a book, and now that book is out and ready to be purchased and read!  I was privileged to get a copy to review.  It’s called How to Be a Geek Goddess: Practical Advice for Using Computers with Smarts and Style.

First, before I delve into this review, let me tell you that despite the fact that I am a blogger, I am very technologically challenged.  (Are you shocked?) So, I was definitely interested in seeing if Christina’s book could educate me.  I am happy to say I was not disappointed!  This book is very practical, translates “geek speak” into understandable English, and is also entertaining to read!  How to be a Geek Goddess can help you decide between Mac and PC, tell you who to call (and what information to have ready) when you need help, and even gives you tips for how to be the savviest online shopper.  From exploring communications outlets like Skype and Google Talk to instructing you on how to set up and use Wi-Fi (that’s a wireless internet connection to you non-geeks), this book has it all!

I must say, though, as a mom, I spent the most time poring over chapter nine, “Geek Parenting”.  In this chapter, Christina covers how to keep your kids safe when they are using the internet.  From cyber bullying to smut and dangerous downloads, she comprehensively covers everything you need to do, watch for, and use to keep your kids safe online.  I never knew there were so many tools available to parents to help in that area, and this chapter covers them all!  Serisously, even if you don’t want to be a Geek Goddess, this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

How to be a Geek Goddess is available now at fine bookstores everywhere and of course at my favorite online retailer, Amazon.

Recently I was asked to review the new series from Free Spirit Publishing, Toddler Tools. Since I have a bonafide crazy, terrible-twos-toddler myself, I was happy to have the opportunity! I am also happy to say that both Sophie and I are really enjoying the books. Author Elizabeth Verdick and illustrator Marieka Heinlen offer a fresh, fun look at the transition times and tasks toddlers and parents deal with daily. The illustrations are also infused with prints of Amy Butler fabrics, and are very engaging and fun to look at! Sophie loves to carry these books around with her and look at them herself when I’m not reading them to her. The pictures really hold her attention, and the words encourage her that there are good reasons for our routines! I highly recommend these books for your home library if you have a little one. Check them out at Free Spirit’s website, and look for them as part of a giveaway on Mommin’ It Up soon!

To see what things others love, go see Jill at the Diaper Diaries!

Since my son was a baby, I’ve been singing to him the same song my mom used to sing to me when I was little. I have no idea where it originated, but the words go like this: “I’ll be loving you, always. With a love that’s true, always. When the things you plan, need a helping hand, I will understand, always…I’ll be loving you, always. Not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a week, but always.”

When I was given the opportunity to review the new children’s book, Always, by Ann Stott, that song immediately came to mind. I just knew the book was going to be as sweet as that song, and it is. With delightful words by Stott and whimsical illustrations by Matt Phelan, Always teaches our kids that we love them no matter what. Whether they eat all their peas, or don’t, whether they are gentle…or aren’t, and even when they ruin their brand new shoes.

Almost exactly a year ago, I had a conversation with my son about how I still loved his sister even after I spoke sternly to her.

“Why don’t you love Sophie?” he asked me then. Although I patiently explained to him that Mommy always loves him and Sophie even when they disobey, I’m thankful for tools like Always that help me underscore that truth! Somehow, it means more to him when he sees an illustration and hears the story of a little boy a lot like him whose Mommy loves him no matter what.

So, I love Always by Ann Stott. It’s sure to be a staple around our house for years to come. For more great favorites, check out Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.

I think I might have mentioned once or twice that I LOVE books! So I was super-excited to see these come in the mail:

Are they cute or what? Eebee’s adventures are perfect for my little Sam – they are short, interactive and indestructable (which is good, because everything goes in his mouth right now). My favorite on is Have a Ball – the Eebee on the front holds a ball in his velcro hands, and each page has another activity to use the ball with (putting it through a hoop, hiding it behind the blanket, stuff like that). It is very cute.

Eebee also has a bath book that floats! How fun is that?

These books are bright and colorful, and they happen to match the decor in Sam’s room. They are so pretty that I am planning to get hooks to hang them on throughout his room! I’ll let you know when I actually get around to that, but until then go check out all of Eebee’s adventures!

P.S. I also like these books because my initials are E.B. Eebee – get it? Yes, I am a dork.

I loooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeee books. Fortunately, Kate does too.

I must admit though, I don’t always love the same books that she does. But I LOVE this one:

It’s the coolest pop-up book I have ever seen. It does so much more than pop up! It has something to pull, push, lift, or spin on every page. I have never seen anything like it, for real! It is so much fun. This would make a great present for a toddler or preschooler!

Check out this book and others (like more books from the “Guess How Much I Love You” people – another one of my all-time favs) at Candlewick Press.

For more fabulous finds, check out Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries!

Hola, faithful readers!  I started this blog so Emily and I can write reviews and blog about things that we may be restricted on our main site. So, if need be, I will direct you all from Mommin’ It Up over here from time to time.  Thanks for checking in!