And the winner is....

And the winner is...SARA!

Congratulations, Sara! Emmy is so excited to put the Book Giveaway package into the mail. She LOVES all of the surprises that are included for you and your little ones.

Choosing a name out of a hat was very funny to Emmy. She really wanted to send a book to everyone so plans are already underway for another Book Giveaway! Thanks to all who entered our contest.

Emmy's choice for her favorite Thanksgiving book is One is a Feast for Mouse - A Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox with illustrations by Jeffrey Ebbeler. As we all know, our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner and Mouse is no different. When everyone in the house falls asleep after sharing their Thanksgiving feast, Mouse comes out of his hidey-hole in search of leftovers. He spies a "teensy-tiny toothsome green pea all by itself under a plate. Give thanks, he thought. One will be a feast for me." As Mouse makes his way across the table with the delicious pea he sees six leftover cranberries, "I'll just take one, he said to himself. One is a feast for me." and continues across the table balancing the cranberry on top of the pea. This journey across the table allows Mouse to add more things to his stash: an olive, a carrot, a plate of mashed potatoes, gravy in a boat, pumpkin pie and a platter of turkey - all balanced strategically on top of each other. As Mouse nears the edge of the table, he meets CAT! What follows is catastrophe as Mouse tries to keep his loot, run from the cat and get back to his hidey-hole. He manages to escape, but without his Thanksgiving feast. As he sat trembling in his hole, he spotted that teensy-tiny toothsome green pea in the corner. And so the story ends with Mouse gratefully cutting into that luscious green pea. "Give thanks! One is a feast for me!"

As the story unfolds, Emmy is delighted in Mouse's attempts to balance all of the food. She likes Mouse's solution of placing the carrot stick into the hole of the olive to make it easier to carry. Just like Emmy, your little one will chime in when the food items are repeated in a similar style as the story The House That Jack Built.

Click here for the video trailer for the book One is a Feast for Mouse - A Thanksgiving Tale with the soundtrack provided by the illustrator's rockabilly band!

If you LOVE this book as much as Emmy and I, then get ready to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Judy Cox and Jeffrey Ebbeler as they also created the book Cinco De Mouse-o!

Stay tuned for our next Book Giveaway!!!

Book Giveaway!

Spread the word - Emmy's giving a book away!

Just add a comment to this post about a book that you remember from your childhood. Your name will be put into a hat with all the other entries and a name will be pulled out by Emmy herself.

I've been asked to keep the book a secret, but Emmy wants you to know that it will be one of her favorite Thanksgiving books and included with the book will be a poem, recipe and craft project.

The drawing will be the afternoon of November 12th.

The winner will be notified by email and announced on Emmy's Book of the Day.

Best of luck!

Not So Creepy Halloween Stories

"Mitzi liked creepy things.

Creepy bedroom slippers

Creepy breakfast cereal.

Creepy relatives.

So, naturally, when she

decided to get a pet,

she wanted the creepiest

pet possible."

Despite Mitzi being a witch and loving all things creepy, the book Hoodwinked, by Arthur Howard, is a wonderfully non-creepy book for those of us just getting into spooky things. After several attempts at finding the perfect creepy pet at the Cackle & Company pet shop, Mitzi discovers her perfect pet is an adorable orange cat she names Hoodwink.

"And strange as it seems, she didn't mind one bit

that he was adorable. After all, she said,

looks aren't everything."

I have read this book to Emmy every day for weeks, but the best reader of this creepy book is Emmy herself. So listen in as she reads aloud Hoodwinked.

(By the way, anytime Emmy starts to read a book to me, she will say..."I'm going to read it differently." I find this so cute. She usually has the character's names and the plot down pat, but will add her own lines and voices which makes listening to her read a complete joy.)

If you have a beginner reader at your house, you may be familiar with Arthur Howard's illustrations as he draws the pictures for the Mr. Putty and Tabby books written by Cynthia Rylant.

If you are looking for another Halloween book that is a bit scary, but not too much, try There Was An Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Emmy LOVES this one especially when the the pumpkin head says "BOO, BOO!" The assorted items of clothing found in the story have a calling to scare something, but when the old lady bravely says, "I'm not afraid of you." the unhappy look on the pumpkin head gives the the old lady an idea. I won't give away the ending, but here is a hint in the form of a song:

Scarecrow

(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little scarecrow

Stuffed with hay,

Standing watch in my field all day.

When I see a crow

I like to shout:

"Hey, Mr. Crow, you'd better get out!"

Oh, and one more sweet book that is a bit of a creepy Halloween story and a

great book for bedtime - Who Wants a Dragon? by James Mayhew. An adorable pink dragon is lost in the night looking for his home and his adventures take him around the kingdom where he ends up frightening most everyone until his Mommy flies by... "She'll cuddle him, and kiss him, and help him sleep tight."

Emmy and I really enjoy books by James Mayhew. You may remember our post on Katie in London. Mr. Mayhew writes a wonderful blog where I just found out his struggle in creating another series of books based on his son during the boy's younger years. The first book is titled

Boy and is set to be republished next summer. It looks so

endearing! If you are interested in finding out about the struggle to get this series going and published check out this post on Mayhew's blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Happy Halloween!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~