September 14, 2009

Giveaway!!! What's New at the Zoo?

Our zoo hosted a special event this weekend, including a visit from illustrator Joan Waites. Having illustrated more than 40 books, Joan was in town from D.C. signing copies of her latest publication What's New at the Zoo?. She kindly agreed to donate one for my very first giveaway!

What's New at the Zoo: An Animal Adding Adventure moves through a zoo, visiting the different exhibits and counting the animals. At each exhibit a short rhyme asks your child to add the animals and includes the equation. The addition begins simply (2+1=?) but becomes increasingly difficult (12+8=?), providing a challenge for even young math whizzes.

After our morning at the zoo, Little Page and I read the book together. She enjoyed counting the animals and solving the equations (with a little help from me), but we both really enjoyed the illustrations. There are examples on Joan's website, if you'd like to check them out. Full of color and details, but not overly bright or garish - I wish our zoo looked this good! The kangaroos look ready to leap off the page; the elephants seem to be having the time of their lives splashing in the water; she even managed to make sleeping bats look cute. Each picture is framed with a colorful and appropriate border (zebra print, snakeskin, bamboo), and hidden within the illustrations floats a single red balloon. These extra details lend mileage to this book, providing children reasons to flip through it long after they've mastered the simple math.

Giveaway Details

You can win a copy of this book! Here's how:
  • Post a comment letting us know your favorite animal-themed children's book.
  • For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway and then email me the link to your blog.
  • Sorry, I love my international readers, but I can only afford to ship the book within the continental United States.
  • Please enter by Sunday, September 20th. The winner will be picked randomly and announced on Monday.

19 comments:

  1. Yay! I get to be the first to comment. My favorite animal themed book would have to be Animal Orchestra. It was both boys' favorite at sometime and it saved me on a plane trip when Asher was a baby.

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  2. thought I can't enter (canada) :( I'll tell you our favortie animal book:
    it's a book about a fish looking what's under things.
    He looks under a rock (the child has to lift the rock) to see a shrimp, an octopus behind a barel, etc.
    at the end its the fish itself hidding behind corails.
    It's in french, called "L'Océan" and its my 14month old favorite :)

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  3. We have several that I would rank as favorites for different reasons:
    ~Brown Bear Brown Bear is a favorite for my children to read. I enjoy watching the older two read it to their baby sister.

    ~Harry the Dirty Dog and Corduroy books are some that I enjoy reading with them.

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  4. My favorite animal themed book is Fish is Fish by Leo Leoni. The water colors are fantastic and the story is a beautiful reminder that though you may admire the wonderful attributes of your friends, you should be proud of your own.

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  5. I really enjoy The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn and Time for Bed by Jane Dyer/ Mem Fox. I mostly like them because of the fond memories I have of reading them to my children :)
    Marybeth

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  6. "If you give a Pig a Pancake", for sure!

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  7. Brown bear, brown bear by Eric Carle. He's one of my favorites

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  8. I'd have to second Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle for my entry...we also have Oso Pardo, Oso Pardo so my little kiddies get both Spanish and English! :) I'm loving reading your blog; you're doing such a great job! And for the record, I bought those alphabet trays...your craft idea is totally going to be our Christmas presents to all the kids in our lives!

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  9. I've been putting off entering so I could choose the "just right" animal book...but who cares? I'll just say my fave would be "Noisy Zoo". It won't win any awards anytime soon, but it's been Caedmon's favorite book for close to 10 months now--he always goes for it when I ask him to pick a book.

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  10. I blogged about your blog and giveaway here: www.thejordanhouse.blogspot.com

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  11. I love the book Hippos Go Beserk...by Sandra Boynton. I have read it many times to my now grown neices and nephew and to my own son as well. Love the illustrations!

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  12. Congrats on your first giveaway. My favorite animal themed book is "Guess How Much I Love You" with the nutbrown hares. Such a precious story with beautiful illustrations.

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  13. Good Night Gorilla and Time For Bed are the 2 bedtime classics in our house!
    Sharon
    theleakinglife.blogspot.com

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  14. Christianna,
    I love your blog and all the fun activities. Eve's favorite animal book is Naughty Little Monkeys. She loves going through the name of each of the monkeys and what they are doing that is naughty. I think she has most of it memorized.

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  15. How fun! I hate to "copy" other readers' books, but two of our favorites have to be Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Goodnight Gorilla. My oldest is also really into some Clifford easy readers right now.

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  16. I blogged about it here: http://thesinks.blogspot.com/2009/09/book-giveaway.html

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  17. good to see you all last night :) I love "talking book" with you even though I don't know as many. :) Don't forget about the book sale at Pretlow this weekend. not sure if it goes through today too. See ya!

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  18. I like Are You My Mother? by PD Eastman. If I happen to win, the book will be for Maddi. :)

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  19. We love The Fox & the Hound in our home. This would be a great book to add to my son's collection.

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