Mark Alden Johnson’s “I’m Up in a Tree” tells the story of a boy who climbs a tree only to realize after the fact that he unsure how to get down. While contemplating his options he is visited by various creatures including bees, a bird and a cat who give him  suggestions, all of which sound scary to the little boy. The boy must to decide whether to give into the peer pressure of these creatures or wait for his dad, even though he thinks he might get in trouble.

My three year old son Lucian and I really enjoyed reading this book together. The lyrical rhyming style makes it not only fun for me to read but definite grabs and keeps his attention. “I climbed up your tree, up here in the sky. I thought it’d be fun but I climbed too high! I would climb back down but I don’t know how. So I’m stuck up here in your tree for now.”

While my son just enjoys the story overall, I love the underlying message of the book.  When in a sticky situation it is better to think the situation through. Just because a peer tells you that you should do something, doesn’t mean you should. It is all about making the right choices.  Even though the child is afraid his dad will be mad, he continues to wait for him rather than follow the bad advice of the bees, bird and cat.  One detail that bothered my son however was that there were no whiskers on the illustration of the cat! (Leave it to him to notice something like that…)

MARK ALDEN JOHNSON has been a writer at heart since a very young age. Even as a kid, he would invent imaginative stories and proudly present them to his parents – and anyone else he could find. Johnson started writing children’s stories just for his kids and their friends when they were young, but after he published his first book, Little Fish Lou (Outskirts Press), he knew writing was a passion he wanted to pursue. A native of northern Nevada, Johnson attended West Nevada College, where he took a wide variety of courses. Currently, he works for a local utility company in Dayton, Nev., where he lives with his wife and three kids.

Buy it: This hardcover book is 32 pages and is intended for ages 4-8. It retails for $14.99 but can be purchased at a discount at Amazonwith free super saver shipping!

{ Giveaway }

I have one copy of I’m Up in a Tree by Mark Alden Johnson to give away to one of my readers!

MAIN ENTRY: Tell me why you’d like to win and who would be the lucky recipient if you won!

Want more entries? (This really is a fun read, so yes, you do!) After answering my question do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.

-Visit the author’s website and tell me something you learned
-Follow my blog publicly
-Subscribe to my feed in a reader or by email
-Become a fan of Baby Loving Mama on Facebook
-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway

Win a hardcover children’s book, I’m Up in a Tree by Mark Alden Johnson @babylovingmama http://ow.ly/1qqU4v #giveaway PLS RT!

-Add my button to your blog
-Add my Spring into Spring event button to your blog
-Blog about this contest and link back here and to Mark Alder Johnson (3 entries)

This contest will end on 3/29/10 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S. residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner or do a live giveaway.

Disclosure: I received a book sample for the purpose of this review . This has no bearing on my completely honest review above and was not influenced by any type of monetary compensation. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.

Sergio Ruzzier, author of the children’s book, Amandina is back at it again.  His newest creation, Hey, Rabbit! is now hitting store shelves just in time for Easter! This sweet book tells the tale of Rabbit who is helping out all his friends with his amazing suitcase, delivering amazing and over the top surprises for a dog, toucan, bear, mouse, cat and crab. But what will Rabbit find for himself in his suitcase?

Written and illustrated by Ruzzier, this tale contains a repetitive Hey Rabbit! with the introduction of each character.  Telling the story more through pictures than words, Ruzzier engages children and allows even the most distracted child to stay still long enough to finish the story. My three year old son Lucian caught on quickly and was reciting, “Hey Rabbit!” along with me before we were done. He loved looking at the illustrations and describing what Rabbit pulled out of his suitcase for his friends.

Check out the Hey Rabbit! book trailer and this fun Hey Rabbit! online drawing activity which allows you to create your own masterpieces emerging from Rabbit’s suitcase.

Now for the exciting part. I have an adorable Easter basket to give away which includes a hardcover copy of Hey Rabbit!, an original signed ink and watercolor framed drawing of Rabbit from the book, a Lindt chocolate bunny and of course some Easter eggs.

Buy it: Hey Rabbit! is a great alternative to traditional Easter books as it features an adorable rabbit yet is not written around an Easter theme. Perfect for year round enjoyment, this hardcover book retails for $16.99 but can be purchased on Amazon for even less than that with free super saver shipping!

{ Giveaway }

I have the amazing basket featured above worth $295 to give away to one of my very lucky readers.

MAIN ENTRY: Tell me why you’d like to win and who would be the lucky recipient if you won!

Want more entries? (Don’t even try to deny it!) After answering my question do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.

-Leave a comment on a Hey Rabbit! blog post
-Become a fan of Sergio Ruzzier on Facebook
-Become a fan of Baby Loving Mama on Facebook
-Follow my blog publicly
-Subscribe to my feed in a reader or by email
-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway

Win an Easter basket w/ Hey Rabbit! by Ruzzier, signed illustration, Lindt bunny $295! @babylovingmama http://is.gd/axXCr #giveaway PLS RT!

-Add my current button to your blog
-Add my Spring into Spring event button to your blog
-Blog about this contest and link back here and to Ruzzier.com (3 entries)

This contest will end on 3/28/10 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S. and Canada residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org and will have 72 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner or do a live giveaway.

Disclosure: I received the book for the purposes of this review but no other type of compensation was received. This has no bearing on my completely honest review above. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.

Hallmark has done it again and given us all some very unique and thoughtful ways to show that we care. Any of these options would be especially nice for family and friends whom you won’t get a chance to see this holiday season.

One of my favorites is The Night Before Christmas Recordable Storybook! We got a chance to try this out first hand and I love it. The instructions in both written and spoken form make it super easy to figure out and I really like the traditional story and look of the book. It was easy to record and rerecord each page as needed. Simply open the battery pack and flip the switch to lock and you are all set!

When your child turns the page it automatically plays your recorded voice for that page.  Even if you turn the page before the recording for the previous page is over it stops and starts with the new page’s recording. I love that feature! The volume is at what I would say is the perfect level and you can hear my voice clearly, even if I have a slight cold. Here is a just a quick sampling of what it sounds like.

My only complaint is a slight rustling sound at the end of each recorded page. I didn’t do anything to jostle the book when I would hit stop to end the recording. I think this occurred simply because the microphone is very sensitive.

I haven’t yet given this to my boys as I plan to make it a special Christmas Eve gift. I thought another great idea would be for my husband and I to alternate pages so we both read them the story. My husband’s family is all across the country so I know how wonderful this would be from a grandparent who won’t have the chance to read a bedtime story in person.

This recordable storybook retails for $29.95 which isn’t bad when you consider it can become a timeless keepsake. I just received a $10 off coupon for this in the mail a few days ago so keep an eye out for it!

There is also some other great options for showing you care across the miles like this Digital Scrapbook.

The Digital Scrapbooks incorporate music, photos and text with personal photos which can then be displayed on a digital photo frame, computer screen, television or anywhere a USB drive can be used.

Another fun option is this DVD Greetings Card. How cool is this for only $9.99?

Hallmark DVD Greetings are an interactive approach to the holiday newsletter. Each DVD Greeting hosts a template that can be edited and customized with personal photos, burned to the included DVD and sent with a coordinating greeting card (also included)

And of course there is always the Recordable Greeting Cards which is the least expensive but still special option at $6.99.

More than 30 holiday Recordable Cards both With and Without Music are available from Hallmark. Each allows the sender to record a 10-second voice message directly into the card which the recipient will hear when opened. The Recordable Cards with Music also feature a 30-second song clip which plays after the message.

You can purchase any of these items directly from your local Hallmark store. Use the store locator to find the nearest one to you!

{ Giveaway }

Hallmark would like to give TWO of my readers a $25 Hallmark gift card!

MAIN ENTRY: Visit Hallmark and tell me what you’d love to spend the gift card on if you won!

Want more entries? (I know you must!) After answering my question do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.

-Tell me the item mentioned in this post that interests you most and why!
–Follow the Hallmark’s PR team on twitter to stay in the know
-Follow my blog publicly
-Subscribe to my feed in a reader or by email
-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway

Win one of two $25 Hallmark Gift Certificates to show you care @babylovingmama from @HallmarkPR http://tinyurl.com/yl5ano8 #giveaway PLS RT!

-Add my button to your blog
-Add my Holiday Splurge event button to your blog
-Blog about this contest and link back here and to Hallmark (3 entries)

This contest will end on 12/10/09 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S. residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner or do a live giveaway.

Disclosure: I received a sample for the purpose of this review . This has no bearing on my completely honest review above and was not influenced by any type of monetary compensation. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.

Do you have anyone on your gift list this holiday season that would appreciate hilarious books which bring out their immaturity? This may be your 12 year old son , your 9 year old granddaughter or perhaps like me you have a 37 year old brother in law who still has not lost his own sense of immaturity and enjoys sharing it with those around him. Then The Encyclopedia of Immaturity and The Encyclopedia of Immaturity Vol. 2 from Klutz would be the perfect humorous gift this holiday season, guaranteed to get a laugh.

When the Editors and Klutz published The Encyclopedia of Immaturity in 2007, we knew it would make a great gift for someone’s nephew. And, sure enough, people gave it to their nephews — but also to their grandparents, brothers-in-law and accountants. Soon we were flooded with letters, e-mails and calls sharing one common theme — “”More! More! More!”

So here’s a second helping of skills, activities, and secret knowledge — suitable only for those whose maturity stopped developing around the age of 12. In addition to thought-provoking topics like What We Talk About When We Talk About Wedgies, the book includes detailed directions for how to: fake a cold, slide down a banister, balance a ping pong ball on your nose, send a toiletgram, throw a sloshie, and more. It’s all new and all hopelessly goofy.

For years we’ve felt like the only kids at the grown-up table. Now it turns out the world is populated by a lot more people who are lot less mature than they look. Well, duh!

Looking through The Encyclopedia of Immaturity Vol. 2 I couldn’t help but chuckle and even laugh out loud at some of the suggestions. How could I not when I’m viewing step by step instructions on how to create orange peel dentures, how to make a juice box straw rocket and how to fake a sword fight?  All of this is written with tongue in cheek humor and fun pictures.

This would make the perfect gift for that hard to buy for anyone with a good sense of humor or someone would appreciate some new material in which to showcase their immaturity!

{ Giveaway }

Klutz would like to give THREE of my readers The Encyclopedia of Immaturity and The Encyclopedia of Immaturity Vol. 2!

MAIN ENTRY: Visit Klutz and tell me another item you found that you’d love to buy!

Want more entries? (You know you have someone who would love this!) After answering my question do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.

-Become a Klutz Insider by subscribing to their newsletter
-Tell me why you’d like to win this and who it would be for
-Follow my blog publicly
-Subscribe to my feed in a reader or by email
-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway

Win The Encyclopedia of Immaturity Vol 1 & 2 from Klutz *3 winners $40 value @babylovingmama http://tinyurl.com/ycqf8tp #giveaway PLS RT!

-Add my current button to your blog
-Add my Holly Jolly Holiday Splurge event button to your blog
-Blog about this contest and link back here and to Klutz (3 entries)

This contest will end on 11/25/09 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S. residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner or do a live giveaway.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review . This has no bearing on my completely honest review above and was not influenced by any type of monetary compensation. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.

No one likes talking about cancer. Certainly nobody enjoys trying to explain cancer to small children and yet in 2008 alone over 1.4 million cancer cases are diagnosed. Undoubtedly those people had family who loved them, some of them young children who were confused by the word cancer.

Someone I Love is Sick was created by The Gathering Place, a well-respected cancer support center in Ohio.  It is a customizable binder book with removable pages which adapt to multiple scenarios and allow you to add to the book over time, depending upon what your family is currently experiencing.

After a series of focus groups in October 2008 among professional caregivers, The Gathering Place had found that parents were often too preoccupied with their own diagnosis and overlooked the emotion needs of their children. They felt an ideal book for helping children would be customizable, age appropriate and emphasize visuals. Parent panelists appeared most concerned about their ability to communicate without creating fear or uncertainty. The books they had found were too grim or not age appropriate. Thus, Someone I Love is Sick was created to fill this void and was made with both a version for parents and grandparents.

I received the parents version to review. Thankfully we have no use for this at this time but I look forward to donating it locally to someone in need. This is a very well made book that will certainly stand up to hard times. The pages are laminated and won’t be easily ripped and are simple to add and remove.  A vinyl sleeve is also included to store unused pages. It is intended for ages 2-6 but the age range could easily be extended.

This book is illustrated with very simple images of children of all races who are sometimes doing very simple things like bringing Mommy some juice (above) or heavier subjects like picking out something of Daddy’s to keep (below). Subjects vary from treatment and hospital stays to missing their parent and noticing everyone is grumpy.

I will admit reading this wonderful tool was a bit heartbreaking. Cancer is prevalent in my family and imagining my children having to bear this heavy burden is heavy on my soul, especially with the last page stating “I will always have wonderful memories of Daddy.”  I wish that not a single child should have to go through this but the truth is, they do. They do every day and as hard as it may be, a child needs to understand and not feel scared. I think Someone I Love is Sick is a blessing for both the child and the parent who won’t have to wonder how to address a heavy subject like cancer.

This book has been endorsed by Lance Armstrong and members of the healthcare community. It would be fabulous for anyone you know currently in this situation or for donation at your local cancer center.  All proceeds support benefit those touched by cancer.

{ Giveaway }

I have a copy of Someone I Love is Sick for one of my readers in their choice of the parent or grandparent version.

MAIN ENTRY: Visit Someone I Love is Sick and tell me something you like about the book or site.

Want more entries? (I know you must!) After answering my question do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.

-Tell me what you would do with this book if you won
-Follow The Gathering Place on twitter
-Follow my blog publicly
-Subscribe to my feed in a reader or by email
-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway

Win “Someone I Love is Sick” a tool for kids to understand cancer @babylovingmama @touchedbycancer http://tinyurl.com/yhyq3wx #giveaway RT

-Fave me on Technorati
-Add my button to your blog
-Add my It’s in the Bag! event button to your bog
-Blog about this contest and link back here and to Someone I Love is Sick (3 entries)

This contest will end on 10/23/09 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S.  residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner or do a live giveaway.