Classic Reading for Kids 2012 - bonus days!

 

I have a bookfair starting today and need to take a couple days off for set up and working with the teachers and parents to get it going. So, I'm going to take Thursday/Friday off and do my last days review & giveaway tomorrow. Hope ya don't mind.

Thursday/Friday only, I am offering 25 FREE points in the Classic Reading 4 Kids Pack of Books.  There are a few rules though:

• you MUST follow this blog on Linky Followers (on the sidebar)
• you MUST do the mandatory entries or the FREEBIE entry won't open up for you.
• The daily question is going to be closed off. But you do need to TWEET out the giveaway as a mandatory entry in order to access the FREEBIE entry.

Note: the FREEBIE question is listed as : Leave A Blog Post Comment - it's a simple comment not much work other than to type a sentence or two. =D

Click on the GREEN button to enter:

Day 4 Classic Reading for Kids ~ A Kiss For Little Bear

Classic Reading for Kids is an annual event hosted by myself and Ella of MyMcBooks.wordpress.com where we focus on Classic Reading for Kids and then we GIVE THEM AWAY! 

Today and each day this week I will be focusing on my favorite books for the Preschool Age Group and on Saturday - I will be giving them ALL away to ONE LUCKY winner! Is that winner going to be you? You'll find out on Saturday!

To enter the giveaway this week you must return to my blog each day where I will post the answer to that day's entry. To receive your entry that day you will need that answer. Ella will be featuring 5 books on her blog too and doing a giveaway there as well. So, you have 2 chances to WIN big this week!

Little Bear
by Elsa Holmelund Minarik
ISBN: 978-0064440042
$3.95 Paperback or $7.04 for the Boxed Set


About the Book:
Meet Little Bear, a friend to millions of children. And meet Mother Bear, who is there whenever Little Bear needs her. When it is cold and snowy outside, she finds just the right outfit for Little Bear to play in. When he goes to the moon, she has a hot lunch waiting for him on his return. At night she helps him get to sleep. And, of course, she never forgets his birthday!


My Thoughts:
I still remember sitting with Dad reading this book. It's one of 3 books I remember reading as a preschooler. Our time together was very limited and the only time I ever had anyone read to me was at bedtime. Our ritual was Little Bear one night. Beady Bear another night and The Night Before Christmas which the poor guy had memorized. Oh yeah, there were a few Dr Seuss' too (Dad HATED Dr Seuss!).  


Written by Elsa Holmelund Minarik when she decided that her daughter didn't have enough books to read (just what all parents should do - write books FOR your children!). Little Bear is the first of 4 books about the adventures of a little bear. Little Bear uses his imagination to go to the moon, uses his initiative to make a birthday soup for himself and entertains his guests when they turn up. And that's ALL in Book 1!. 


Little Bear was the first book in the "I Can Read" series that has been around since 1954 and since then Little Bear has continued to be a favorite among children and a book parents love to share with their kids. Little Bear is a great book for beginning readers and for "listeners" as well. The text is large and the words are simple, with very little rhyming (not intentionally anyway) and the subject is interesting enough to keep kids attention. And best of all, for children ages 4-8, your child will connect and bond with a little bear who seems like them - except he has paws and fur all over his body!

The Little Bear Series:

    

About the author:
Else Holmelund Minarik was born in Denmark in 1920 but came to the US at the age of 4. She found learning English very difficult and her father introduced her to cowboy movies and her mother took her to the playground to help her learn English as she learned to play with new friends. Else was gifted in telling stories in simple, captivating words and used that ability in writing over 20 books much of which is still in print.

Classic Reading for Kid's Giveaway:

It's Day 4 of the Classic Reading for Kid's Giveaway Event. I've officially changed the mandatory entry to today's question. Be sure to read this post to know the answer. 

On Sunday my drawing will include a copy of Little Bear which contains 3 stories: Little Bear, Snowy Day and Birthday Soup. Your child will love them as much as I did! =D

Click the button to enter the contest!

Day 3 Classic Reading for Kids ~ Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel

Classic Reading for Kids is an annual event hosted by myself and Ella of MyMcBooks.wordpress.com where we focus on Classic Reading for Kids and then we GIVE THEM AWAY! 

Today and each day this week I will be focusing on my favorite books for the Preschool Age Group and on Saturday - I will be giving them ALL away to ONE LUCKY winner! Is that winner going to be you? You'll find out on Saturday!

To enter the giveaway this week you must return to my blog each day where I will post the answer to that day's entry. To receive your entry that day you will need that answer. Ella will be featuring 5 books on her blog too and doing a giveaway there as well. So, you have 2 chances to WIN big this week!

Day 3 - Book Review & Giveaway

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel

by Virginia Lee Burton

ISBN: 9780395169612

$8.79 (Book with CD), 

Mike Mulligan and 4 Classic Stories ($13.60)

About the Book:

Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne, have a very important job. They dig deep canals for boats to travel through, cut mountain passes for trains and hollow out cellars for big city skyscrapers - the very symbol of modern industrial America. But with progress comes new machines and soon the inseparable duo are out of work. Mike believes Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as a hundred men can dig in a week and the two have one last chance to prove it and save Mary Anne from the scrap heap. What happens next in the small town of Popperville is a testament to their friendship, as well as old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity.

"Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel.

A beautiful red steam shovel."

My Thoughts:

This fun book was originally published in 1939 and has remained a favorite of boys and girls ever since. Originally written by the author for her 2 boys she incorporated many of the noises I'm sure she heard her children make. "Bing! Bang! Crash! Slam! describes the sound Mary Anne made when she worked faster and faster. When the fire department arrives you hear "Clang, Clang, Clang!" 

The begins by explaining what Mary Anne did as a steam shovel. She dug the canals for the big boats, she cut through the high mountains for the trains and "lowered the hills and straightened the curves". The illustrations are very descriptive and children can visualize what is happening just by looking at the pictures. In fact, the pictures are descriptive enough you really don't need words for this book!

One thing I really like about this book is the friendly competition between two groups of people. You have Mike and Mary Anne against a group of 100 men competing against each other to see who can dig the most. As time goes by you see those who feel that only NEW methods and tools are the way to go - but eventually these same people start to respect the effort and work that Mike and Mary Anne show (and do). 

See inside the book: Click Here

About the author: 
Virginia Lee Burton was the talented author and illustrator of some of the most enduring books ever written for children. The winner of the 1942 Caldecott Medal for The Little House, Burton's books include heroes and happy endings, lively illustrations, and a dash of nostalgia. She lived with her two sons, Aristides and Michael, and her husband George Demetrios, the sculptor, in a section of Gloucester, Massachusetts, called Folly Cove. Here she taught a class in design and from it emerged the Folly Cove designers, a group of internationally known professional artisans. (from Wikipedia)

To learn more about the book, other books the author wrote and find kid's activity pages go to: MikeMulligan.com. 

Classic Reading for Kid's Giveaway:

It's Day 2 of the Classic Reading for Kid's Giveaway Event. I've officially changed the mandatory entry to today's question. Be sure to read this post to know the answer. 

On Sunday my drawing will include the Mike Mulligan Travel Activity Kit (provided it's still available) ~ if the kit is sold I will send a copy of the book only. It includes: a CD with audio recordings of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Katy and the Big Snow, and Maybelle the Cable Car (more than an hour of listening time!), a paperback copy of the book, a 24 page activity book, crayons, postcards and 2 sheets of Mike Mulligan mini stickers!

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Coming Event....

Classic Reading for Kids is an annual event hosted by myself and Ella of MyMcBooks.wordpress.com where we focus on Classic Reading for Kids and then we'll GIVE THEM AWAY! 

Today and each day this week I will be focusing on my favorite books for the Preschool Age Group and on Saturday - I will be giving them all away to ONE LUCKY winner! Is that winner going to be you? You'll find out on Saturday!

Featured books on Classic Children's Books March 11 - 17th:

  

 

**Note: the Travel Activity Kit I'm hoping will still be available at the end of the week - if not you will receive only the paperback book. Keep your fingers crossed!

To enter the giveaway this week you must return to my blog each day and enter the giveaway - Ella will be featuring 5 books on her blog too (for the middle grade group) and doing a giveaway there too. So, you have 2 chances to WIN BIG this week!