Books | She Scribes

Help spread the love of reading and win great prizes (Giveaway)

There many things in life I am passionate about… writing, photography, my family, social causes… One social cause I am passionate about is reading. I think that all children should learn to read and have access to books, regardless of where they live, their social status or parent’s income. Reading opens up a whole new world. Books are a great resource when it comes to education. They also help to encourage children to have an imagination. I can’t tell you how many books I read as a child that whisked me away to far away lands. That is the beauty of books.

I like the world that Reading is Fundemental does to help get books into the hands of children who might not otherwise have books to read. When I learned that the Gerber Life College Plan was working with Reading is Fundemental on a campaign called the Project Open Book I knew I had to get involved.

If you are unfamiliar with the Gerber Life College Plan, it’s a plan created by the Gerber Life Insurance Company. These are the same people who bring you Gerber products with the adorable iconic baby face.

The Gerber Life College Plan was designed to help busy parents like you save for tomorrow – safely and easily. With guaranteed growth, life insurance protection, flexibility, and fixed monthly premiums payments, this program is the smart choice for your child’s future.

Through Project Open Book, Gerber Life Insurance will donate $1.00 towards Reading is Fundamental (RIF), up to $10,000, for every photo that is uploaded on it’s picture mosaic.

You can even win PRIZES – up to $1,000!

Head over to the Gerber Life Insurance Company Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/GerberLife for your chance to contribute your baby’s photos to the Project Open Book picture mosaic. It’s that easy! By uploading a photo to the mosaic you can help ensure that a child is given books to read, learn and explore with.

To encourage you to participate in Project Open Book I have a $25 Snap Fish gift certificate. At Snap Fish you can create photo cards, photo calendars, photo books and other great products.

To enter please comment on a favorite book of yours when you were growing up.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each that you have done. Extra entries are optional.

- Subscribe to She Scribes via RSS or E-mail. Both options are found on the right side bar.

- “Like” Gerber Life on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/GerberLife.

- Upload your child’s photo to the mosaic. Please let me know if you did. Remember, ever photo upload is an other $1.00 to RIF.

- “Like” She Scribes on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/SheScribes.

- Follow She Scribes on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/She_Scribes and tweet about Project Open Book and/or this giveaway. Please include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too. This is limited to three tweets per day.

- Share information about Project Open Book and/or this giveaway on Facebook, Digg, Technorati or other social networking sites/forums.

- Leave a thoughtful comment on a non-giveaway post on She Scribes and tell me which post you commented on. There is a limit of one comment per post, but you can comment on as many posts as you want for an unlimited extra entry option.

- Post information the Open Book Project and/or this giveaway on your site and please link back to this post. Please provide the URL.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on January 30, 2012 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Box). Failure to do so will result in a new winner will be chosen in their place.

Other cool giveaways can be found on the right side bar under “Win It”.

Kimberly

*I will be receiving a Snap Fish gift certificate as compensation. There is no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Heaven’s Not a Place by Cheryl Clayborn

I just finished reading a novel by Cheryl Clayborn. It’s called Heaven’s Not a Place.

Heaven’s Not a Place is the story of a single mother name Annie Harrison. She lives in Ohio with her young daughter Jenna. Jenna is Annie’s world. She doesn’t know what she’s going to do while Jenna is vacationing in Hawaii with her ex-husband and his current wife. Annie figured she’d have to keep herself occupied. Thankfully her mother lives close by so she can always lean on her when she’s feeling lonely.

Late one night Annie was awakened by a mysterious light. The light seemed to be coming from her next door neighbor’s home. Abby, who lived in the home, was an elderly lady and a very dear friend to Annie. When Annie tried to figure out what the light was it suddenly disappeared.

The next morning Annie received some tragic news. Her beloved neighbor, Abby, passed away in her sleep the night before. The loss of her friend, and the absence of her daughter, left Annie feeling lost and alone.

A few days after her passing Abby’s son Jack arrived in town to take care of his mother’s funeral arrangements and to take care of her estate.

During this time strange things were happening to Annie, especially in her dreams. Unbeknown to her Jack was experiencing the same thing.

One night Annie received a phone call from her daughter. Jenna had a bad dream and wanted to speak with her mother. Begrudgedly Annie’s ex-husband called and let Jenna talk to her mom.

Annie asked Jenna what her dream was about. Her response startled Annie. Jenna dreamed that Abby was on a beach with her and told her that she had to go away and she was never coming back. Some how Annie’s daughter dreamed of Abby’s passing.

What is going on with all these strange dreams? Is Abby trying to speak to her dear friend Annie and her son Jack from the other side? To find out you’ll just have to purchase a copy of Heaven’s Not a Place which is available as an e-book or Kindle download on Amazon. You can find the book here, http://www.amazon.com/Heavens-Not-a-Place-ebook/dp/B0061NB3FG. It’s available for only $3.99. The novel is approximately 200 pages long.

You DO NOT need a Kindle to read the book. You can download the application here, http://amzn.to/aUZMHP, which allows you to read e-books on your iPhone and PC (computer/laptop) or Mac.

I have had some personal experience with people “speaking” to others beyond the grave. I think that is why I was able to “connect” with this story.

When my son was 3 years old he told me that my mother had passed away (he told me she was sleeping on the mountain). About 20 minutes later my father called to tell me that my mother passed away.

Twice my son had dreams where my mom (technically his great-grandmother, long story…) spoke to him. One night he woke me and my husband up in the middle of the night holding two books in his hands. He wanted to show us that they were the books that Nanny gave him. It was odd because they were the last two things she bought for him and we had hundreds (no exaggeration) books at that time. So for him to wake up in the middle of the night and dig out those two books, then wake us up to tell us they were from Nanny, was very odd.

The last and final time she spoke to him (in his dream) was a few months after she had passed away. He told me that he had a really bad dream. I told him I was sorry to hear that and asked him what the dream was about. He said he dreamed our home was on fire. I told him that was a scary dream, but thankfully it was just a dream. He said it was ok because Nanny woke him up.

Because we have experience with a loved one who passed on finding their way to communicate with it, I can find the story Heaven’s Not a Place beleiavable.

The only things with the story that didn’t sit well with me was a part where two people make love. I’m NOT a prude (not in the least). I just think it wasn’t necessary for the story.

The other thing is how it ended. It literally had me wanting more. I was hoping there was another page or two that I might have missed, but I didn’t. Either the author, Cheryl Clayborn, plans on making a sequel or you are left to draw your own conclusions.

Heaven’s Not a Place is an interesting read. Check it out today!

Kimberly

*I received a free copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

My Monster Burrufu

You may not know the name Alberto Corral, but you most likely know of his work. He worked as an animator for the movies Kung Fu Panda 2 and Shrek Forever After. Alberto also has another entry on his resume – author.

Alberto Corral has written an adorable children’s book called My Monster Burrufu. It is illustrated by Alessandra Sorrentino. I’m surprised that he didn’t illustrate the book himself since he also does animation.

My Monster Burrufu is the story of a 7 year old girl name Olivia. Olivia lives with her father Steven who is a successful author.

Steven decides that he would write better out in the country so him and Olivia pack their bags and move far out into the country. Their new home reminds me of the Adam’s Family house, based on the illustration.

Olivia doesn’t have much to do in the new house so she roams the hallways with her dog Tula.

Late one night Olivia had a late night snack of milk and cookies. When she was finished she returned to her bedroom, only to realize she neglected to put the milk away. So she headed back downstairs to the kitchen. As she got closer to the kitchen she saw something unusual – a monstrous, hairy arm reaching for the cookies from the shadows. Without thinking about it Olivia started to chase after the mysterious being, only to have him disappear into the darkness.

The next day Oliva sets out to find their house guest. She happens upon a secret door into the attic. Is is there that she meets the creature she saw the night before – a huge, hairy monster name Burrufu.

Burrufu has lived in the attic for a very long time. He used to go outside but people taunted him, forcing him to hide away in the attic. To pass the time away Burrufu wrote stories. Olivia was impressed by the wonderful stories he wrote.

Olivia new that she couldn’t let her father, or his agent Mark, know about Burrufu. She knew he would have to be her secret friend.

On the days that her father wasn’t around Olivia would try and persuade Burrufu into leaving that attic. At first it was outside of the attic to enjoy some cookies. Not long after that she was able to convince him to go outside into the tree house. Burrufu was almost discovered when her father’s agent, Mark, showed up.

How long will Olivia be able to keep Burrufu a secret? What would happen if he was discovered? What does Mark take from the house that might expose who Burrufu really is? To learn the answers to these questions you’ll have to pick up a copy of My Monster Burrufu.

This is a charming story that is sure to delight any young reader. The book is around 100 pages long so it can easily be read in a day or two. There are chapters within the book making it an ideal bedtime story too.

I love the illustrations. Burrufu is not scary at all. He’s adorable!

I thought I knew the direction the story was going but it actually had a few twists and turns that I didn’t expect. The ending was unexpected too.

I think the reading level for this book would be from 6-10 years old. Younger children might need to have it read to them.

Look for My Monster Burrufu where ever books are sold including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Kimberly

*I received a free sample copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

She Scribes

Help spread the love of reading and win great prizes (Giveaway)

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