Children’s Literature for Both Parent and Child
March 7, 2010 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 1 Comment
Written by Maya Bisineer from Memetales.com
As parents, we constantly have to make sure that our kids are stimulated and learning. As individuals, we want to connect with our own communities and pursue some of our own passions too. Finding the time to tend to our children’s as well as our own needs seems like a challenge too many of us are familiar with. That is exactly what happened to me when I stayed home after my second daughter was born.
I LOVED my kids. After all, THEY were the reason I chose to stay home. But I also stayed home to do a few other things that I wanted to do for years and years like give more energy to my blog and write children’s books. Somehow, I assumed I could do everything all at once! When I figured out how disconnected my two worlds were, I determined that somethings had to change.
That was when I started working on Memetales. At Memetales, we believe that while we try to be the best parents for our children, we owe it to ourselves to share our own creativity. Memetales allows you to do both by showcasing great children’s picture books in a space where parents can not only select quality books for their kids, but also share their own creativity.
Memetales helps parents tap into their creativity and love of reading in a variety of ways:
- Write and/or illustrate a children’s book.
- Choose a book for your child(ren) and create and share educational activities to accompany it. For example, crafts, activities, blog posts, and/or videos!
Moms, dads, crafters, artists, homeschoolers …we are an incredibly talented community inspired by our children every single day. A number of us have blogs rich with content that other parents and educators would love to use. So why not brand ourselves around the great things we are already doing?
Memetales is a website where you can read books, discover activities and crafts, and show off your creations. At Memetales, you will be inspired by the books and the awesome contributions from the community. We hope you will even join our Creator Community and share your own creations! We also hope you take back just a little bit (or perhaps a lot!) of richness and inspiration to share with your own children. We are about the stories we all have to share and the people that share these stories.
So hop over and check out Memetales. Do give us lots of feedback and help us grow, since Memetales is just a little baby with a bright and shiny future!
Check out this post from Allison, a creator at Memetales, from the blog No Time For Flash Cards to learn more about Memetales.
Photo courtesy of Flickr.Join #gno Tuesday on Twitter to Celebrate Reading and Children’s Literature
March 4, 2010 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 7 Comments
Helping your kids fall in love with literature is a fun process for both parent and child.
Join the #gno Twitter party this Tuesday, March 9 from 9-11 ET (8 CT, 7 MT, and 6 PT) to chat about and celebrate reading and children’s literature!
- What: Girls’ Night Out (#gno) Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)
- When: Tuesday, March 9, 9-11 p.m. EST (8CT, 7 MT, & 6 PT)
- Where: Party with us here on our very own Custom Tweetgrid! (Use hashtags #gno and #memetales.)
- Topic: Let’s Play—Getting Our Kids to Love Books and Reading
- Who: @ajpassey @booksbyTara @carissarogers @cindyhopper @Gyldenege @inevergrewup @memetales @momtriedit @noflashcards @reneeAtShens @seanplatt @simplekids @teach_preschool @thinkmaya
- Party Favors: Click here to enter for a chance to win this week’s giveaway. Deadline: 3/10
- RSVP: Use Mr. Linky below (enter the twitter URL and your twitter ID (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_momIF). If you would like to include your blog, please enter it next to your name. Make sure to include your twitter URL in the URL line. Please do not enter your blog URL there.
Note: Mom It Forward accepts paid sponsorships for most #gno Twitter parties. During the parties, brand sponsors provide tips, techniques, expert advice, and information on party topics. Mom It Forward is grateful for the giveaway prizes, coupons, and discounts that sponsors also provide to the Mom It Forward community in conjunction with #gno Twitter parties.
Giveaway! $300 in Gift Cards & Goal-Setting Online Service
January 5, 2010 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 421 Comments
Have you set your New Year’s Resolutions already? This week’s giveaway offers services and products to help your resolutions become a reality.
Prizes
- One Grand-Prize Winner—will receive:
- 1 Lifetime Membership to Mindbloom—online goal-setting and tracking services
- 1 $100 Gift Card to Barnes & Noble
- 1 $100 Gift Card to Lucy Athletic Wear
- 1 Year Subscription (10 issues) to Body + Soul Magazine
- Four Runners Up—will each receive a lifetime Mindbloom membership.
Entry Requirements
Please do the following three things to enter for a chance to win this week’s giveaway:
- Follow @mindbloom on Twitter.
XX - Visit http://mindbloom.com and leave a comment on this post, identifying one branch you’d like to add to your Mindbloom tree.
XX - Post these two messages on Twitter and leave comments here with a link to your tweets:
GIVEAWAY! Enter 2 win $100 Barnes & Noble gc, $100 Lucy.com gc & @mindbloom goal-setting membership http://bit.ly/7DpaDO #gno PLS RT
X
Wanna make ur NY Resolutions stick this yr? Check out @mindbloom’s goal-setting & tracking services: http://mindbloom.com PLS RT
Extra Entry Requirements
The following five entries are completely optional and will earn you one extra entry each. Simply do any or all of the following and leave a separate comment on this post for each completed optional entry.
- Sign up for a 14 Day Trial Subscription to Mindbloom and be on your way to achieving your New Year’s Resolutions.
- Follow @momitforward on Twitter.
- Become a Friend of Mom It Forward’s Google Friend Connect (see box in right sidebar).
- Subscribe to the Mom It Forward RSS feed (click on orange heart at the top of the right sidebar).
- Join the Mom It Forward Flickr group and leave a picture here of how you plan to “Mom It Forward” during the New Year!
The Fine Print
No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Mindbloom and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Wednesday, January 6 at midnight PT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older. One entry per person.
Mindbloom will provide for the Sweepstakes one lifetime subscription worth $250. This prize is not transferable. It may not be redeemed for cash. The winner will be notified by e-mail and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the prize before another winner is selected.X
Full disclosure: Mom It Forward, Inc. offers brands sponsorship opportunities, which include giveaways.
GIVEAWAY! Enter for a Chance to Win a Kindle!
November 6, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 314 Comments
Kindles are all the rage! Holding more than 1,500 books, newspapers, magazines, and even blogs, they make the perfect way to catch a little “me time” for carpooling moms and women on the go!
Prize
One lucky winner will receive a kindle, which makes the perfect gift for yourself or for another right in time for the holidays.
Entry Requirements
To enter for a chance to win, you are required to do the following two things. Make sure to leave a comment here linking to each one:
- Follow @EileenGoudge on Twitter.
- Retweet and/or post the following two messages on Facebook and Twitter and comment here, linking to your update/post:
Join #OnceInaBlueMoon author @EileenGoudge Wed 11/11 @ virtual book club 9 ET on @momTV & 10 ET on #gno http://bit.ly/3rfwoO PLS RT
GIVEAWAY! Enter 2 win a Kindle just in time 4 holidays: http://bit.ly/3d6mrC #gno #OnceInaBlueMoon PLS RT
The Fine Print
No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. One2OneNetwork and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Wednesday, November 11 at midnight PT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older. One entry per person.
Spoonfuls of Stories—How Cheerios Is Helping Get Books to Families
October 11, 2009 by Cheerios · 2 Comments
For the past 8 years, Cheerios has been helping parents make reading with their child part of their daily routine. They do this by helping to get great children’s books into kids’ hands, and encouraging families to read together, by distributing popular and award-winning books free inside boxes of Cheerios.
Starting this month, Cheerios is again distributing 6 million children’s books inside boxes. The books, which Cheerios had specially printed in both English and Spanish, are five different titles from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. There is a cut-out window on the front of the box so you can see which book is inside and select the book you want. In addition, Cheerios is also making a financial donation to the nonprofit organization, First Book, to help get brand new books to children from low-income families—many of whom have no age-appropriate books for their children in their home. Over the past 8 years, Cheerios has distributed more than 40 million books free inside boxes and donated $3.2 million to First Book.
The Story About Kids and Reading in the U.S.
Here are some statistics about kids and reading:
- Children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and perform better in school.
- Across the nation just under half of children between birth and five years (47.8%) are read to every day by their parents or other family members.
- Dr. Marilyn Adams (Beginning to Read) points out that a child with 15 minutes of read-aloud time each day from six months to six years benefits from 500 hours of “reading” exposure, three times what a first grade teacher can provide with an hour of reading instruction each day.
- 41% of fourth grade boys, and 35% of fourth grade girls read below the basic level, and in low-income urban schools this figure approaches 70%.
- For America’s poorest children, the biggest obstacle to literacy may be the scarcity of books and appropriate reading material. In fact, in a recent study of low-income neighborhoods, there was only 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.
Why Is Cheerios Doing This?
Reading with your child can be the quiet moment in the day that you and your child both look forward to the most: the opportunity to snuggle together and explore the pages of a great book. Just as important as the bonding time that reading together provides, studies continue to show that read-aloud time is important to children’s reading development. Yet, for many families, books can be expensive or are not readily available. Cheerios is committed to helping parents provide their children with a healthy, nutritional, and educational foundation. They believe good nutrition and mental development work better together. With just 1 gram of sugar and 100% natural whole grain oats, Cheerios already is a staple in many households; it’s also the first finger food for many children. Through this program, Cheerios is using its place at the family breakfast table to help make books more accessible to families, both with books inside boxes, and through the annual donation to First Book.
What You Can Do?
To help get more books to kids and make reading a priority, you can:
- Pick up a box of Cheerios with a book inside to read with your child.
- Donate directly to First Book through www.firstbook.org.
- Learn more at www.spoonfulsofstories.com.
RSVP for This Tuesday’s #gno Twitter Party Sponsored by Cheerios
October 11, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 62 Comments
What are your favorite books from your childhood? What are story time rituals you have with your kids? What are tips for helping the reluctant reader?
These are just a few of the topics we’ll cover in this week’s #gno party. Join in and chat with some great folks from Cheerios, some terrific children’s book authors and illustrators from the Spoonfuls of Stories team, as well as fantastic Mom It Forward moms.
Don’t forget to enter to win Cheerios’ giveaway this week for 10 lucky winners! Click here to check out the details. The contest ends Sunday, October 18.
- What: Cheerios is sponsoring this week’s #gno Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)
- When: Tuesday, October 13, 9-11 p.m. EST
- Where: Click here to party with us on our custom Tweetgrid. (Use hashtags #gno and #cheerios.)
- Topic: Children’s literature
- Who: @banteringblonde @cheeriosbrand @childhood @derek_author @cheeriokeeper @LeighannMMM @oohamanda, @robinglasser @karmawilson
- Party Favors: Click here to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Cheerios.
- RSVP: Please leave your Twitter ID in the comments to follow and be followed (on Twitter, of course!) by other #gno gals. The best format is as follows: http://twitter.com/jylmomIF.
Giveaway—Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Gift Pack (10 Winners)
October 11, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 165 Comments
This week’s Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories giveaway has prizes the whole family can enjoy! And not only that, but there’s lots to go around!
Prizes for 10 Lucky Winners
Each of the 10 winners will receive the following:
- A box of Cheerios
- A set of the five Spoonfuls of Stories children’s books
- A $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble
This giveaway has an approximate retail value of $65.00.
Entry Requirements
To enter for a chance to win, you are required to do three things (make sure you leave a separate comment for each of your entries).
Note: Entries that do not follow all of these requirements will not be considered.
- Leave a comment here, sharing your favorite children’s story either that you liked as a child or that you love reading with your children.
- Follow @cheeriosbrand on Twitter.
- Post these messages on Facebook and/or on Twitter and leave comments here, linking to your messages:
Join #gno Tues 10/13 (9-11 ET) 2 discuss children’s lit 4 #Cheerios #SpoonfulsofStories prog RSVP http://bit.ly/cvM8S PLS RT
GIVEAWAY! Enter 2 win #Cheerios #SpoonfulsofStories gift basket! Fun 4 whole fam! 10 Winners! http://bit.ly/EpBEb PLS RT
Extra Entries
You can earn up to two extra entries for this week’s giveaway.
- Join the Mom It Forward Google Friend Connect. (See right-hand sidebar.)
- Follow @momitforward on Twitter.
The Fine Print
No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. General Mills, Cheerios, and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Sunday, October 18 at midnight PT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older.
Full disclosure: Mom It Forward, Inc. engages with clients to perform social media consulting and to provide sponsorship packages, which include giveaways.
