A celebratory giveaway!

by | | 28

**This giveaway is now closed**

johnny_automatic_children_reading_1Yesterday, astonishingly enough, saw the 100th post here at Playing by the book!

When I started this blog last summer I had no idea where it was going to take me, but here I am 100 posts later, and I’m in a celebratory mood 🙂 This blog has so far managed to do exactly what I had hoped it would do – it has helped me to read more books with my kids, it has encouraged me to play more creatively with my kids, it has acted, on days when the going’s gotten tough, as a precious reminder of so much joy that I’ve got in and around my family.

I’ve “met” some wonderful fellow book lovers, who have introduced me to some magical stories I might not have found otherwise, and together I feel we’ve created a little space of happiness that I love coming to everyday! So THANK YOU to all of you who have visited, left comments, read and played alongside us where ever you are in the world. Here’s to the journey through the next 100 posts!

Anyway, to celebrate all of this, to celebrate having wonderful readers, I’m having a giveaway!

Here’s the deal. There will be 2 winners:

  • One winner (the first I draw) will win one copy of the book of their choice from any* of those that I’ve reviewed here on Playing by the book.
  • A second winner will win a children’s book of my choice – to be sent as a surprise (well, I’ll tell you if you’ve won, but I’ll keep the identity of the prize a secret ;-)).
  • I will also donate £10 to The Book Bus.

    • To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment on this post with the title/author of any picture book you adore – I’m on the look out for some fantastic new books to read with M and J!

  • The giveaway is open worldwide.
  • The giveaway closes Friday 9th April 6am UK time. I’ll announce the winners (randomly selected) later that day. If you’ve won the 1st prize I’ll ask you when I get in touch for your choice of book from those I’ve reviewed.
  • The following actions will each gain you an extra entry to the giveaway if you let me know about them:
    *Tweeting about this giveaway/this site.
    *Linking back to this giveaway/site on your own blog.
  • *The giveaway include books mentioned in the Fantastic Fiction for Kids series but does not include books which are out of print or rare.

    • To leave a comment click on “Comments” just below the title of this post. Good Luck!

    28 Responses

    1. jojoebi
      | Reply

      the Barefoot books are popular in this house, ‘we are sailing to Galapagos’ is one we are having fun with at the moment. I have actually been to the Galapagos so it is easy to suppliment with my photo album :o)

    2. Christianne @ Little Page Turners
      | Reply

      “When the Sky is Like Lace” by Eleanor Horwitz is a favorite of ours. Any book that’s gutsy enough to make up a word (“bimulous”) gets extra points with me. The illustrations are beautiful, the story is fantasy and fun, and the girls look like mine (or how mine will look in about 5 years). As soon as they’re old enough, I’m vowing to wake them up in the middle of the night for a moonlit picnic of spaghetti and pineapple!

    3. Lynn
      | Reply

      The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper has become the before bedtime/naptime book here for the past few months. I’m getting a little tired of reading it, but it is beautifully illustrated and written, and nothing warms the heart like hearing a two year old shouting “I tink I can! I tink I can! I tink I can!”

    4. Crystal
      | Reply

      My favourite picture book is one we haven’t read yet in our home, as my daughter is a little young yet, but as a kid I always loved
      “The Jolly Postman” by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. It’s actually filled with little letters and booklets that he delivers to fairy tale characters. From a kid perspective, it’s totally awesome to open up all that mail! Our current favourite book at home is “First Picture Action Rhymes” from Usborne books because it’s filled with SONGS (and we love those here)! It has illustrations that show all the actions that go along with each song and keeps us singing for a good fifteen minutes! I’ll be posting this giveaway on my blog!

    5. Kristie
      | Reply

      My daughter loves “The Monster in the Bubble” by Andi Green. It has a great lesson, it flows really nicely through rhyme and has wonderful pictures! 🙂

    7. Choxbox
      | Reply

      We’re having an ‘Australia week’ in these parts – previously did a ‘Mexico Day’ – http://choxbox2.blogspot.com/2010/03/hola-mexico.html,
      and so the current favourite is Kangaroo’s Cancan Cafe by Julia Jarman : http://www.juliajarman.com/books/booksfortots/107-kangaroocancan.html
      The illustrations by Lynne Chapman are funny!

      We had much fun attempting to mimic the dancers by kicking our legs high up. We saw some cancan clips on youtube – my lil one thought they should wear pajamas under their skirts if they want to dance like the way they were!!! We listened to Offenbach’s Cancan. And we read up all about Australian animals again.

      All started by Kangaroo’s Cancan Cafe!

    9. Brit In Bosnia
      | Reply

      I love the Oliver Jeffers Books. But my boys adore the Usborne 1001 things to look for – with pirates being their particular favourite at the moment.

    11. Natalie
      | Reply

      Great giveaway! It’s hard to select one picture book that is our favorite. We are reading so many! The one that we loved lately was Follow the Line Around the World by our fellow European Laura Ljungkvist. By the way, is your giveaway open worldwide?

    12. Cathy at NurtureStore
      | Reply

      Congratulations on your 100th and many happy returns! We love The Bog Baby by Jeanne Willis. It’s about sisters, secrets and doing the right thing. The bluebell wood it features is just like the one near my childhood home. Since reading it we’ve been back to see if we could find bog baby of our own – no luck so far!

    13. Linda Kish
      | Reply

      Mortimer K Saves the Day by R. Gelman

      lkish77123 at gmail dot com

    14. AZ
      | Reply

      Congrats to you! Happy 100!

      I’ll pick a more recent title to share… “Wave” by Suzy Lee, a beautiful wordless book.

      zenzart at hotmail dot com

    15. Steph Burgis
      | Reply

      My two favorite picture books right now are Jonathan Allen’s I’M NOT CUTE and Margaret Wild’s PIGLET AND MAMA. The first one is really funny (MrD laughs and laughs, and so do I), and the second one ALWAYS inspires real-life cuddles. 🙂

      I also retweeted your contest announcement when I first saw it, a few days ago – my tweetname is @stephanieburgis .

    16. Kristine
      | Reply

      Congratulations 100 posts is a fantastic achievement and I plan to follow you on your next 100! (I actually typed 1000 then but I don’t want to put too much pressure on you. Today I read my daughter Richard Scarry’s “goodnight little bear”. It was a favourite of mine and my husbands growing up and she loves it.
      PS If you know the story – my little one does think the baby had tricked his parents.

    17. Swati
      | Reply

      Here is to many milestones crossed with ease!

      You do have “A house is a house for me” I think – it is 3am, and I am not checking the author now 🙂 I like it a lot! And we do have some kid favourites here, but I will have to wait till morning to confirm with the young reader, won’t I?

    18. Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com
      | Reply

      Oh my goodness, if I win, please make me the surprise person. I love surprises.

      Anyway, that said, I love tons of picture books, but a current favorite is “The Circus Ship” by Chris Van Dusen (I think that’s his name?) SO. CUTE.

    20. Swati
      | Reply

      The author of A house is a house for me is Mary Ann Hoberman. Then, some of our other favourites – randomly picked up from the shelves –

      There is a monster at the end of this book: starring lovable, furry old Grover

      Bathtime Piggy Wiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox

      Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

      I don’t want to go to bed by Tony Ross

    21. Amy Pertl-Clark
      | Reply

      Congratulations on your 100th post!!!! Your blog is always an inspiration to me. Thanks for all of your insight and wonderful ideas. At the moment, Emmy and I are loving Millie’s Marvellous Hat by Satoshi Kitamura. It’s going to be my next post on Emmy’s Book of the Day. It’s an amazing book focusing on the power of imagination with a bit of kindness thrown in! All the best to you and your family ~ Amy

    24. Kristen
      | Reply

      I love books of all kinds and I’m so glad I stumbled across your blog. I’ve used some of your ideas in my preschool co-op group. I just wish my local library carried more of the books you review!

    25. Kristen
      | Reply

      Sorry, forgot to add a favorite picture book to my previous post. Can’t think of an absolute favorite, but we do find ourselves quoting lines from Silly Sally by Audrey Wood even months after returning the book to the library.

    26. Maria
      | Reply

      May just be getting this in under the wire….
      Thanks for the lovely giveaway, and happy 100!!

    27. Clover
      | Reply

      My son’s favourite picture book at the moment is ‘The Little Old Lady Who Cried Wolf’ by Simon Puttock. He finds it to be HILARIOUS and I can’t tell you how many times he’s had me read it to him!

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