Giveaway winner of Katie and Kimble Winner of Moms Choice Award

Congrats to Kerrie for winning the Katie and Kimble Series!!!!

Katie & Kimble Series by Linda Thieman honored with Mom's Choice Awards *Giveaway*

 

PRESS RELEASE

Mom’s Choice Awards® Names the Katie & Kimble Series by Linda Thieman among the Best in Family-friendly Media

The Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble (A Ghost Story) series by Iowa author Linda Thieman among the best in family-friendly media, products and services. The MCA is an annual competition known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in these areas.

When the great flu pandemic struck America’s shores in 1918, it took with it an estimated 675,000 men, women and children.

In her imaginative first book in the award-winning chapter book series, Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, author Linda Thieman follows one of the young victims, named Kimble, and her nine-year-old friend, Katie, who just moved into Kimble’s old house.

Though ghostly in its viewpoint, the story does not fit into its genre’s stereotype. Rather, Thieman’s ghost is a funny, adventuresome little girl who not only helps Katie, but receives help from her friend in return.

Written to inspire the 7- to 10-year-old set, Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story is an educational adventure for the parental set, too, giving insight into the worldwide pandemic, Kimble’s Jewish customs, and even a bit about the supernatural.

Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on MCA evaluations when selecting quality materials for children and families. The Mom’s Choice Awards® seal helps families and educators navigate the vast array of products and services and make informed decisions.

MCA judges are bound by a strict code of ethics which ensures expert and objective analysis free from any manufacturer association. The evaluation process uses a propriety methodology in which entries are scored on a number of elements including production quality, design, educational value, entertainment value, originality, appeal and cost.

To be considered for an award, each entrant submits five identical samples of a product. Entries are matched to judges in the MCA database. Judges perform a thorough analysis and submit a detailed assessment. Results are compiled and submitted to the MCA Executive Committee for final approval.

The end result is a list of the best in family-friendly media, products and services that parents and educators can feel confident in using.

Other past Mom’s Choice Awards® recipients have included Meredith Vieira, Founder of Club Mom and Today Show Co-Host (Celebrity Mom of the Year) and O, The Oprah Magazine (Magazine of the Year).

Thieman graduated from Storm Lake Community High School and received a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa. She now resides in Sioux City, Iowa.

For more information on the awards program and the honorees, visit MomsChoiceAwards

For more information on the Katie & Kimble series, visit http://www.katieandkimbleblog.com

I'm a very excited mom today! My daughter, Emily, loves this book series.  What a thrill to have already read this book series and then hear of it honored Award! 

Thanks to the author, Linda Thieman, she is offering the two books for a giveaway on my blog! Come enter and get a set your set for that someone special!  Don't let the "ghost story" scare you away from wanting these books for your 5-10 year olds.  Kimble is not a scary ghost! She is more of a kindred spirit to Katie and helps her on a quest that is very engaging and heartfelt.

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How to Enter: (leave separate comments for each entry)

Visit the Katie & Kimble Blog and have a look around. Then come back here and make a comment on something from her blog. This is your entry to the giveaway.

BONUS entries

1) Follow @LindaThieman on twitter for 5 entries

2) Tweet this blog post up to twice a day for 2 entries each
"Come win Katie & Kimble" honored by Mom's Choice Award @susieqtpies http://bit.ly/boTY7e"

3)  Click each of the above pictures of Katie & Kimble to read more from my blog about the books. Comment on those blog post and come back here and get 5 entries per comment!

4) Follow my blog on Google Friend connect and Networked blogs 1 entry each

5) Follow me on twitter @susieqtpies 2 entries

6) Go to my other blog, Scraps of Life and follow on Google friend connect, Networked blogs and fan on Facebook (all in left side bar) Get 2 entries per each one! 

7) Go enter FEDDIE GIRL BOOK GIVEAWAY on my Scraps of Life blog  http://bit.ly/9wYT8l

Leave a message there and come back here and claim your 10 BONUS ENTRIES!!!! 

GIVEAWAY is for US and Canada. Must be at least 18 to enter. 

Ends February 22.

WordToons allows you to play with your word!

WordToons is a fun way to play with your words!  Sounds like a NO NO, right?  The developer of WordToons use to get sent to his room (imagine that) when he was a kid and when he did he would play with his words, making cartoons.  Parents are so silly to think that getting sent to your room is a form of punishment. 

UFO

The WordToons ebook is $17 and full of detailed step-by-step instructions on making Word Cartoon.  The ebook allows you to print off the pages you want to work with.  We had the book up on the computer and worked from it there.

I was very impressed with how easy it was to make these drawings.  I would suggest teachers include WordToons into their weekly planning.  Have the children make a WordToon for one of their spelling or vocab words.  I've always encouraged my homeschooled daughters to make visual drawings when listening to the history lesson.  Drawing is a great way to take notes.  WordToons enforces this.  Thank you! 

 

UFO

My daughter and I used Wordtoons as a creative outlet one afternoon.  She loves words! What a fun way to reinforce spelling.  My daughter got creative and started making up her own word cartoons.  She doesn't consider herself artistic although I consider her to be very crafty.  She was able to draw  word cartoons without complaining that she "can't draw".  She was focused on the word she was working with that she forgot that she was actually drawing a cartoon.

 

FRUIT

After awhile she discovered that she could make up her own WordToons using words of her own.  She wanted to see if she could make up one and teach me how to make it!  She did! Below is the octopus she made on her own.  

 

 OCTOPUS

What a fun project to use in the car.  I recommend taking it along if you know that you are going to be sitting around waiting, too!

 

WITCH

Would you like to try WordToons before you purchase the ebook? Click WordToons and you can get a free sample of the book.

Thanks to WordToons for givnig me a review copy of this book.  The opinions expressed here are mine and my daughter's.  We loved the book and plan on using it weekly.

Snow much Fun! Giveaway Wii Winter Fun

Kids love snow! I like snow if I'm inside my home!  Here are fun pics of the girls making me a snowman! I love snowmen!  Isn't he cute?  

Robyn over at Robyn's Online World is giving away 5 copies of Wii Winter Fun! Now this is the winter fun I want to have!  This is one Wii game we can all play together and not freeze! There are 30 games on this disk!  One of them is curling!!!  I really want to learn  how to curl before the Olympics! It always looks very cool!