Usborne ABEA Giveaway! {closed}

{The giveaway is now closed, thanks to everyone for participating! The Shine-a-Light books can still be purchased through the links below!}

It's GIVEAWAY DAY at ABEA, and I'm excited to offer a free book to one of my readers!

I've really enjoyed being part of Usborne Books & More for the last 13 months! From buying and earning books for my own kids, to helping others earn free books through Facebook and home parties, to book fairs at local schools, it has been a GREAT business to be involved with. Read more of my journey here, and my Usborne book reviews here.

Thinking Outside the Box

Discussion for ABEA Day 3 revolves around moving beyond 1) reading traditional books and 2) discussing books through blogs.

I love talking about Myers-Briggs (thank you SortaAwesome podcast), and identify most as ISFJ. One of the things I've come to learn about myself is that tradition and reliability are hugely important to me. Not that I'm opposed to things changing, but it takes me some time and research and dipping my toes in before I commit to a change.

When it comes to books, I love paper books and I love ebooks. That's it. I've tried audiobooks a couple of times, but have a hard time stopping and starting and remembering what happened. With a book it's easier to flip back a few pages if I need to.

Ebooks are great for travel... but I like them any other time too. :)

And the times when I would be able to listen to an audiobook (house cleaning, out for a walk, driving) I've become a podcast-listener instead. They're shorter and I don't have to remember a storyline if I stop and start frequently because of interruptions.

As for thinking beyond the blog for discussing books, I've often wanted to join a book club. Like a real, in-person book club. I'm part of an online family book club, and previously a young adult book and movie club. Groups like SortaLiterary are fun places to discuss books too, from the comfort of my own home, on my own time!

My library offers two in-person book clubs, that meet monthly on a weekday. I haven't joined because I still have Ellie with me. Maybe once she is in school full-time I'll look into it. Though when we've visited the library during book club hour, I've noticed the group is 90% retired ladies...

I'd love to attend something like BEA someday. I've been drooling over the Instagram feed all week, and kicking myself for not realizing sooner that it would be held in Chicago this year (only 3 hours away from home -- New York is much farther away from Michigan!). Though I'm an introvert and the thought of being forced to make small talk while standing in lines makes me shudder, at the same time my introverted-ness thinks I could very easily disappear into the crowds and be lost in my own thoughts. :)

What non-traditional forms of books do you enjoy? Do you prefer discussing books with people in-person or online? 

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

I don't usually judge books by their covers, but these Illustrated Originals from Usborne are just beautiful.
I'm sad they're now out of print, hopefully they're just planning to re-release them with better binding...
#armchairbea #bookcoverperfection

The topic up for discussion at ABEA today is all about aesthetics. One definition of the adjective "aesthetic" from dictionary.com is "Having a sense of the beautiful; characterized by a love of beauty. Relating to, involving, or concerned with pure emotion and sensation as opposed to pure intellectuality."

Pretty Books

I honestly don't judge a book by it's cover very often (except when I do it on purpose). I read a lot on Kindle, and borrow from the library based on other's recommendations. Even when skimming lists or shelves I look at book titles and especially authors. Whatever image is on the cover is the last thing I see! 

However I do follow LOTS of book-ish people on Instagram, and I like and drool over some of their photos (like this one and this one, and of course this one and this one). 

Since my bookshelves are more practical than beautiful, they're filled with reference books and non-fiction, where I don't have an option to find a prettier version of a book. I almost never buy fiction, because I know I will read it once and be done. Maybe someday I'll have the money and the space to fill bookshelves with series like these. 

Pretty Blogs

So while I don't judge books by their covers, I definitely judge blogs (and websites) by their "covers" (blushes sheepishly at how harsh that may seem).  One of my favorite classes in college was an elements of design course. I loved learning about white space and colors and repetition... And am now thrilled any time I get the chance to create a flyer or brochure for something. 

Once upon a time, I had another blog where I went all-in and used the full Wordpress.org options to customize everything. I loved it. :) But after my first year of cheap domain and hosting, I wasn't getting enough traffic to justify spending the money to renew. So I pulled the content back to a free Blogger space and eventually parked it, while the pretty Wordpress site disappeared. :(
(the Blogger site is still out there if you want to take a look). 

When I set up this site, I started with the header image (my own kids' bookshelf and stuffed lion :) and drew out yellow/brown colors to match. I've been considering switching to Wordpress again, because I do think they look so much more professional. But again, there's the cost factor... I do use Wordpress to maintain our church's website, so I'm still familiar with the program. 

Maybe I'll set a goal for myself of jumping to Wordpress after I have xx months of posting consistently and have increased my number of readers. 

Do you judge books and/or blogs by their covers?

ABEA Introductions

My "armchair" is actually a sofa. I need lots of space for all
those adult and kid books. :) #ArmchairBEA #myarmchair
@armchairbea #bookstagram #instareads

It's that time of year again when the BookExpo America event is going on (in Chicago this year). But for many of us book lovers and book bloggers, we can't make the trip. And so we're grateful for the committee who organizes ABEA -- "Armchair BEA" -- so we can participate from home!

Day One is all about introducing ourselves. So... read on for a little about me.

Usborne Book Giveaway! {closed}

As an Usborne Books & More Independent Consultant, I've already been exposed to hundreds of amazing kids books. And I want to give you the opportunity to win one!

ABEA's writing prompt for today is Book to Movie Adaptations. One of the things Usborne is known for is their books have NO tie-ins to media. With the fairy tale book shown below, my kids have learned that there is often more to the story than what Disney portrays.

Giveaway Rules:

• Only open to residents of the US. Sorry my international friends!
• This giveaway will run from Saturday May 30 through Friday June 5, 2015. 
• Once I notify the winner, that person will have 48 hours to respond before I choose a new name.
• One entry per person please.
• You do not need to have participated in this weekend's ABEA to participate in this giveaway. 
• I have the titles below available, let me know in the form which one you would choose if you win (and if you don't win, you can always purchase them through the links provided!)

1001 Animals to Spot

Sticker Dressing Heroes

Usborne Book of Fairy Tales

Secrets of the Seashore

Quality Kids Book Characters

Character Chatter Prompt: "It's time to give your favorite characters some love! Characters are essential to a story, and they can make or break a book for some readers. Now's your chance to shine the spotlight on your favorite characters, or maybe your least favorite. Who's your favorite couple? What are the components of a well written character? What are you favorite or least favorite cliches associated with characters?"

It's easy for me to think about the adult and young adult books I've enjoyed over the years and the characters that have stuck out to me. They're always people I can relate to, that think and talk and act like me (or think and talk and act like I want to be!).

But this prompt today got me wondering about characters in kids books. Not juvenile chapter books, but actual kids picture books. I worked in the children's area of the library for two years and have a 3- and 5-year-old, so picture books are huge in our home.

Picture books don't leave much space for true character development, unless they are part of a series (Fancy Nancy, Llama Llama, and Ladybug Girl come to mind as current favorites around here). So does that mean a stand-alone picture book can't have a well written character? I don't think that's true. Many picture book authors do focus more on the storyline (understandably, with often only 32 pages or less to start and finish the plot!), but I do think it's possible to have both in a single book.

Typically I notice one trait is revealed about a character. Eric Carle's The Greedy Snake goes so far as to mention it in the title. In Loreen Long's Otis and the Puppy (part of a series, but we only have this single book), we see Otis afraid of the dark but overcoming his fear to help his friend. Ferdinand is not your typical mean bull, but loves to smell flowers.

What kids picture book characters can you think of who actually have personality? 

Introduction from My Armchair

Apparently in the book world there is this big thing happening this weekend called BEA (Book Expo America). Since there are many many book bloggers around the world who can't come to New York to participate in the expo, there is a wonderful thing called Armchair BEA -- "Book bloggers unable to attend the BEA Bloggers Conference or Book Expo America (BEA) in New York City, but would like to ‘meet’ other book bloggers and publishers to discuss books and book blogging can participate in this virtual event."

My intro post was supposed to happen yesterday, but hey better late than never right? :)


Introduction Questions

Tell us a bit about yourself: How long have you been blogging? Where are you from? How did you get into blogging? Hi everyone, I'm proud to be from Michigan all of my life. (As in the State of. Not the University of. Those of you from around here will understand.)

I've been blogging off and on since 2007. My old blog was a mish-mash of things as I tried to find my niche, from my favorite songs to gardening and cooking to random thoughts and life as a new mom. In 2013 I started my part-time job as a youth services parapro at our local library, so I started this here blog to document my storytime plans and other fun things I did. Then April 1st of this year I left the library to stay at home with my kids more, and so my posts have looked a little different recently!


Share your favorite blog post on your blog. (aka written by you!) Ooo this is a toughie. The majority of my posts over the last two years have been storytime plans so they're not all that exciting. But now I have the time to write more in-depth posts, and just in the last week I wrote a mini-series I've called Raising Readers, with literacy tips for preschoolers and babies and some fun pictures of me as a kid.

What is your favorite genre and why? I've gone through seasons of enjoying fantasy (Harry Potter, Eragon) and dystopian YA (Divergent, Legend), but what I fall back on and enjoy the most is historical fiction. See the next question...


What book are you reading right now? I'm in the middle of Lynn Austin's Keepers of the Covenant (Restoration Chronicles #2). This series is set in the ancient middle east, during the time when the Jewish exiles begin to return to Jerusalem. Austin is one of my all-time favorite fiction authors.

Take a picture of your bookshelf and share it with us! :) (#ABEAShelfie) How about my kids' shelves??

Do your kids shelves always look like this too?!

Library Love
Prompt: "Librarians are awesome. Not only are they helpful, they're very fun to talk to and give great recommendations. Show your library some love, and the wonderful men and women that run it. Why is your library fantastic? Got any funny stories? Feature your library on your blog? Do an interview with a librarian?"

I'm probably a little biased, since I got to work in the most beautiful library around for two years.

The main building was built in 1918, and the addition with the children's area came in 2007. It backs up to a river, and my desk faced the giant windows that overlook it.

It was really really hard to leave -- I loved what I did there -- but I came to the realization that my own kids needed me more during this stage of their lives. I can always go back to a library someday, but I can never return to my kids' childhood. In the meantime we're still patrons, though we don't stop in as frequently as the librarians would like. :)


Thanks for stopping by, sorry I arrived late! I hope to blog hop around others who are participating in ABEA this year!