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Tuesday Tales – Battling Reluctant Summer Readers (Giveaway)

Posted on July 24, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a teacher, I loved helping my students to locate books that THEY wanted to read. Sure there was required reading, but young readers also need to have items that they want to turn the pages of. It is so important to find books that connect with children, especially if they are reluctant readers. I know it may be hard to believe, but some children do not adore reading. Last summer, I battled my own reluctant reader. My son, who had just finished second grade, did not want to touch a chapter book. Thanks to online resources, we found books that helped us to crack this problem.

Recently, SourceBook contacted me with a fun new campaign:

Your mission this summer, should you choose to accept it: Combat The Reluctant Reader Epidemic that is sweeping the nation. The only cure: books that disguise reading as something fun for unsuspecting kids!

To help parents, teachers, and children out, they have created a Field Guide to Young Readers. Included in this are the four readers shown above and others. They then point people to a book suggestion that would fit their styles.

The Make-Believer has more imagination frequent flier miles than a Pan Am stewardess! The best cure for this case of Reluctant Reading is Elliot and the Last Underworld War by Jennifer Nielsen (Author of The False Prince). The Make-Believer will be thrilled to join the sarcastically hilarious Elliot in the Underworld. As the King of the Brownies, Elliot has battled Goblins, tricked Pixies, and trapped a Demon. But now, the Demon has escaped and he’s ready for revenge. So, the Pixies, Shapeshifters, Elves, Goblins, and Brownies must join forces to battle the Demon head on before he has the chance to destroy Earth.

The Daredevil thinks trick-or-treating should apply to everyday life, especially the tricks! Cure their hunger for trouble with Horrid Henry and the Zombie Vampire by Francesca Simon. Not even your daredevil will believe what Henry is up to next in these four new wonderful and wacky tales. The international bestselling Horrid Henry series provides readers with a prankster whose relentless antics create a laugh-out-loud read. WARNING: Do not allow daredevils to consume milk while reading or milk may spray from the nose!

The BFF has matching bracelets with all her friends and wins Miss Congeniality every year. This is a case of Reluctant Reading that can only be cured with Hailey Twitch and the Wedding Glitch by Lauren Barnholdt. Hailey Twitch and her spirited sprite Maybelle, return in the fourth installment to the fab, fab, fabulous series. The BFF will be delighted to read as Hailey gets ready to be a flower girl in her cousin’s wedding! Maybelle’s mischief and fairy magic is back and might land the duo in trouble!

Bruce Lee 2.0 can quote Enter the Dragon from start to finish and has broken table lamps with leg kicks. The only cure for such readers (and your house) is to follow the UK’s youngest secret agent in Jason Steed: Revenge by Mark A. Cooper. Set in a fast-paced 1970s Britain with non-stop excitement and martial arts fight scenes, Revenge is perfect for kids who aspire to be the next martial arts master and are looking for adventure stories and heroes who aren’t afraid to take action. In the thrilling follow-up to Fledgling Jason is sent on a new undercover mission and must infiltrate a shadowy criminal organization –but his luck is running out.

SourceBooks would like to help your family to bust the Reluctant Reader Blues with a chance to win the four books listed above (I am jealous since I have not had a chance to read them yet).

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – Which category of reader would you and/or your child fit into and why? (1) EMO Valley, (2) Reluctant Reader, (3) Status Updater, (4) Bruce Lee 2.0, (5) Jake Ryan, (6) Make-Believer, (7) Daredevil, (8) Future Newbery Winner, (9) Mini-Martha Stewart, (10) Gamer, (11) BFF, or (12) Leonardo DaVinci (Field Guide to Young Readers has more information on these types)

The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter and leave a comment with your Twitter name below.
1 Bonus Entry – What are you and your family reading this summer? What have you read recently? Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway: #Giveaway for #SummerReading package for reluctant readers from @Sourcebooks @jabberwockykids & @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/M6YQPK #win (May be done once a day – leave link to Tweet in comment below for new entry)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Giveaway begins July 24, 2012 and ends July 31, 2012 at 10:59 EST. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US and Canada residents only.

Disclosure: This post was not compensated in any way. The information about the books was provided by Sourcebooks. As a teacher and parent who has worked with children that are reluctant readers, I wanted to share this information and opportunity with my readers.

Categories:
books giveaway Tuesday Tales

Personalize Father’s Day Cards with Treat – Giveaway

Posted on May 24, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

June is just around the corner and with that thoughts of summer, time with family, and Father’s Day come into my mind. For Father’s Day, the day is all about the special men in our lives. Since the boys were born, the focus has moved to celebrating the day as a family for TechyDad.

In past years, we have gone mini-golfing, to see a movie, and the amusement park. I’m not too sure what TechyDad will want to do. Of course, we also make sure to spend time with Papa. He is such a special part of our lives as well.

I know I will be spending time with the boys before Father’s Day to create some special cards for the men in our lives. We are excited to try out the new partner site from Tiny Prints called Treat. Treat offers personalized greeting cards that are fun to design for Father’s Day. Just looking around I already see something referencing Elvis that will be perfect for Papa, and a bunch that the boys will love to add photos to for TechyDad. Our photos from Disney World will be perfect additions to many of the cards that we can have shipped right to them, Grandpa, and uncles that live a distance from us.

Did you know that you can try Treat Cards for free? You can and perhaps it could be for Father’s Day. Simply use the code FREETREAT at checkout and the card will be sent right to the recipient for the time that you specify. This day and age, we often forget how special it is to receive a card in the mail. Treat Cards now helps us to do this by allowing you to schedule cards up to a year in advance and ship them out in time for a Birthday, Anniversary, or holiday that you are celebrating.

For more information on Treat, you can follow them via Social media on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. Now for some other fun thanks to Treat Cards.

Treat Cards would like to offer a giveaway to one of my readers for 10 free tokens to use for your own personalized card purchases. Think about how easy it will be to design them at home, have them sent, and the happiness you will provide to the person on the receiving end of the card.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – Leave a comment letting me know what type of Father’s Day Card you prefer to send. Do you like silly, sentimental, or some sort of combination and why?

The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

1 Bonus Entry – If you win who will you be sending cards to with your tokens?
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway: Enter to #win 10 tokens from @TreatCards & @TheAngelForever so you can get creative when sending cards http://bit.ly/KNAicg. #giveaway. (May be done once a day – leave link to Tweet in comment below for new entry)
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the months of May/June. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. The giveaway begins May 24, 2012 and ends June 3 , 2012 at 10:59 EST. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but you must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US residents only – Treat Cards does not ship outside of the US at this time.

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a Global Influence campaign. I will be receiving tokens to order cards to send to my family and friends in return for writing this post. As a customer of Tiny Prints, I look forward to trying out Treat soon.

Global Influence Network

Categories:
family giveaway looking back photos shopping TechyDad Web business

The Cupcake Club – Book Giveaway

Posted on April 17, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Cupcakes and books are two topics that I love to talk about on my blog. I often write about baking, taste testing, and observing beautiful cupcake creations.

Most Tuesdays, I write about books that we are reading, or something related to a literacy topic. Last week, Tuesday Tales meshed both of these topics into a delicious new book review for The Cupcake Club: Peace, Love, and Cupcakes. In my review of the new book, I explained that this new series is written by a 9 year old girl and her mother.

CupcakeClub_cover.indd

Sourcebook has graciously offered a giveaway for one lucky reader of The Angel Forever to receive your own copy of The Cupcake Club.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – If you could invent your dream cupcake, what would it be. Let me know the type of cake, frosting, filling, or beyond that would make it a reality.

The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

1 Bonus Entry – Who would you like to read The Cupcake Club with and why?
1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter and leave a comment with your Twitter name below.
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway: Enter to #win a copy of The Cupcake Club from @Sourcebooks @jabberwockykids & @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/HUmYP3 #giveaway #cupcakes (May be done once a day – leave link to Tweet in comment below for new entry)
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the months of March/April. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.
3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and/or add me to your blogroll. Be sure to leave a link with the location.
1 Bonus Entry – Head over to TechyDad’s blog and say hello to him. Let me know where you posted a comment. May be done once a day.

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Giveaway begins April 17, 2012 and ends April 25, 2012 at 10:59 EST. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US and Canada residents only.

Disclosure: Sourcebooks offered me a review copy of the book and to give one away to a reader. No other compensation was given and all opinions are mine. Sourcebooks will provide shipment of the book to the winner and The Angel Forever is not responsible for fulfillment of the prize. An Amazon Affiliate link is included in this post for the book mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy the book through that link

Categories:
books food glorious food fun giveaway yummy

Hair Cut Fun for Kids at Snip-its – Giveaway

Posted on February 23, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Getting hair cuts for the kids is NOT one of my favorite things to do. This is probably why you will see photos of the boys hair getting a bit longer than it should be. Yes, I would rather let them get shaggy at times than brave taking them for a hair cut. I am hoping that this will soon change.

Up north of us, there is a location that a lot of my friends bring their children to. It is called Snip-its. It is a child centered destination for hair care and more. Just look at this photo and you will understand.

We could never justify traveling to that location for a hair cut. The good news, though, is that Snip-its just opened a new Capital District location in Guilderland. Since it is winter break, I am hoping to take the boys to check out the new Snip-its today! Here is what they have to say on their website since we have never been:

Snip-its Haircuts for Kids of Guilderland, NY is the premier destination for your kids’ haircuts in the area, providing Guilderland, Albany and surrounding communities with quality haircuts in a fun environment! We have specially-trained stylists to proudly provide quality haircuts as well as kid-designed spa and cosmetic services in a fun and safe environment! Snip-its is also the perfect location for a unique birthday party, with plenty of themed parties where your children can feel like the star they are!

Giveaway:

Snip-its contacted me to offer a fun giveaway for Capital District readers. One lucky winner will receive a free haircut at the Guilderland store and three hair care products of your choice. We actually received a package of their hair care products for my boys to test out while we were waiting for the grand-opening of the store. FYI: The Guilderland store has a Facebook page where they also have specials listed.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – Who would you love to bring to Snip-its in Guilderland and why?

The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter and leave a comment with your Twitter name below.
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway: Enter to #win a free @SnipitsSalons hair cut and three products. For the new Guilderland, NY store http://bit.ly/yHXWxL #Giveaway (May be done once a day – leave link to Tweet in comment below for new entry)
2 Bonus Entries – Stop by The Angel Forever on Facebook and let me know what you would like me to add to my page there.
1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the months of February/March. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.
3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and/or add me to your blogroll. Be sure to leave a link with the location.
1 Bonus Entry – Head over to TechyDad’s blog and say hello to him. Let me know where you posted a comment. May be done once a day.

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today February 23, 2012 and ends at 10:59 EST on March 4, 2012. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to those in the Capital District area willing to travel to the Guilderland, NY Snip-its location.

Disclosure: Snip-its provided my family with a product package. We have never been to their store yet, but hope to go one day soon. This giveaway was made possible by Snip-its. The opinions are mine and I received no other compensation.

Categories:
giveaway Local Business

Chanukah Fever with Mama Doni – Giveaway

Posted on December 1, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, we had one main song that we heard for Chanukah. It was the dreidel song that everyone knew. Of course, our Hebrew School teachers introduced us to others, but they were a bit boring. These days, we are lucky to have many more amazing options.

Thanks to Waldmania! my family was introduced to The Mama Doni Band when they released the Shabbat Shaboom CD in the spring. Now my family is rocking out to a classic Chanukah CD from Mama Doni called Chanukah Fever.

About Chanukah Fever:

Chanukah Fever contains 14 songs by Doni Zasloff Thomas (Mama Doni) that show off her love for embracing Judaism, holidays, and traditions. She uses words and song to teach lessons while exposing families to new types of music. Doni blends her musical talent with reggae, rock, disco, Latin, klezmer, and more. The topics of the songs include latkes, dreidels, Yiddish expressions, and a lot of humor.

Tracks on the CD include:

Intro
Chanukah Fever
Latke Man
Honey, This Ain’t Money!
The Legend of Sour Cream vs Applesauce
The Funky Gold Menorah
Bubbie’s Mi Yimalel
Eight
A Land Called Sufganiyot
Dear Hanukah Harry,
Mac A. Bee
I Say Chanukah (You Say Hanukah)
La Vida Dreidel
Ma-oz Tzur Finale

Thanks to YouTube, I can also share the “Chanukah Fever” video so you can hear what at least one of the songs is like. Here is The Mama Doni Band with “Chanukah Fever” – get ready to dance!

What We Thought:

To say that we loved this CD would be an understatement. The weekend that we received it, it stayed in my car and we drove around listening to it. Within a few listens, the kids were singing along. TechyDad and I could not help laughing and loved how it integrated traditions, Hebrew/Yiddish, and more. NHL is eight and knew some of the items from Hebrew School so it gave us some fun items to chat about. Even JSL, 4, loved rocking out to the catchy tunes.

I think my favorite song on the CD is “I Say Chanukah (You Say Hanukah)” because it pokes fun at the need to use the chhhhh (pretend you are trying to clear your throat) sound. It isn’t every day that words like Chanukah, l’chaim, chupah, and tuchus. I literally had tears in my eyes thanks to reading the words to this song.

I’m not sure if the boys have an absolute favorite since they enjoy the entire CD. Just the other day, NHL randomly started belting out “The Legend of Sour Cream Vs. Applesauce” while riding to school without the music on. I am sure that this CD will be played a lot in the upcoming weeks as we get ready for the Festival of Lights and try to keep family traditions alive.

For my local readers, The Mama Doni Band will be in town this weekend. On Sunday, December 4 they will have a concert at Congregation Agudat Achim in Schenectady, NY. For additional concert dates, head over to The Mama Doni Band Facebook page for updates.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Waldmania!, one lucky reader will have a chance to win their own copy of Chanukah Fever.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – Which song from Chanukah Fever are you most excited to share with your family and why?
The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter
- 1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway (May be done three times a day, but at least an hour between each Tweet): Enter to #win a @MamaDoni Chanukah Fever CD from @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/rF7JNu #Giveaways #Chanukah
- 2 Bonus Entries – Stop by The Angel Forever on Facebook to say hello and leave me a comment on a status message. Let me know you have done so here.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the months of November/December. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.
- 3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and/or add me to your blogroll. Be sure to leave a link with the location.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Head over to TechyDad’s blog and say hello to him. Let me know where you posted a comment. May be done once a day.
To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today December 1, 2011 and ends at 10:59 EST on December 11, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US and Canada residents only.

Disclosure: This review and giveaway was made possible by Waldmania!. They provided me with the Chanukah Fever CD to facilitate this review. The opinions of this review are mine and I received no other compensation.