Congratulations to Kate, winner of yesterday’s Monday is One Day giveaway! Here’s the last of three giveaways this week.
First, let me say thank you to all of you who commented on the previous giveaway posts. I encourage all of you to go read what others have written about balancing work and parenthood and their favorite kids’ books.
If you missed the info about the giveaway before, here’s the scoop: Monday Is One Day, by Arthur Levine, is a gay-inclusive (but not exclusive) poem from a working parent to a child. “The hardest part of going to work is being apart from you,” it begins. “Let’s count the days till we’re both at home with a special thing to do.” Each page then shows a different family and a different activity—splashing in puddles, playing with dinosaurs, enjoying cuddles—as they name the days of the week and count down to and through the weekend.
The families are white and black, with moms and dads, gay dads, single parents, and one older couple who could be the child’s grandparents. They live in cities, suburbs, and on a farm, and all delight in each other.
Levine, a gay dad himself, has been a children’s book editor for 25 years, and has authored seven books of his own, although this is his first in 15 years. He is also a vice-president of Scholastic Inc. and publisher of his own imprint there, Arthur A. Levine Books. You may have heard of a few of its titles—they involve some kid named Harry Potter, for whom Levine is the American editor.
Levine has also penned an open letter to readers, which is indeed worth a read. He describes the experiences with his own son that led him to write the book.
You can buy Monday Is One Day at the Scholastic site, Amazon, or other major online (and offline) bookstores. But first, you can enter for a chance to win a copy here.
Just leave a comment on this post about your favorite kids’ game (board game, playground game, etc.—interpret it broadly), and I’ll enter you in a drawing to receive a free copy of Monday Is One Day. Comments must be left before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, Friday, April 15, 2011. (That’s 2:59 a.m. Eastern Time, April 16.)
Further rules and restrictions after the jump.
Additional rules and restrictions: U.S. and Canada residents only, please. One entry per person. Don’t worry if your comment is moderated; once I approve it, it will appear based on the time you submitted it. Spam comments, including off-topic or commercial comments, will not count. If you win any one of the three drawings for this book, you cannot play again. (You can leave a comment to participate in the discussion, but I won’t enter you in the drawing.) If you are or have been a paying advertiser (or an employee of a paying advertiser) on Mombian, you can’t play.
You must also leave a valid e-mail address with your comment. Don’t leave a postal address, though. If you win, I’ll contact you by e-mail about shipping. I will then share the winner’s name and postal address with the publicist, for the sole purpose of allowing them to mail you your prize directly.
I am a member of the Amazon Associates program, and get a small referral fee from all purchases made at Amazon.com via links on this site. You are under no obligation to purchase through them.
I have a lot of favorite children’s games but I’ll speak as a teacher this time around and say I really love the game “Around the World.” Kids love it and it’s a good way to practice and review almost any kind of knowledge.
My favorite game to play with my son is hide and seek. He’s only two so this really just involves him running into a corner where we pretend to find him and tickle him silly. As a child, I loved Red Rover. I understand the reason for banning it, but it’s still too bad kids aren’t supposed to play it anymore.
Now that spring weather is finally coming, one of our favorite things to do is draw chalk pictures on the sidewalk. We have one of those “stamped concrete” patio areas, which Noah especially likes for me to wet with a hose, so that he can blend and mix chalk colors like paint. He calls it “doing science” — which I think is somewhat accurate and somewhat hilarious. It *is* experimenting!
My favorite games are the really elaborate ones my son makes up for us to play. The have names like “monkey school” and “robot parachute” and very long and intricate sets of rules which I never quite master. Listening to the rules and regulations of the game us even mire fun than playing it. Especially hearing his answers to questions like “well what happens if monkeys fly out of bounds?”
That’s so funny–my son does the same thing. He’s fond of making up card games by drawing pictures on index cards and them coming up with elaborate rules. Pokemon gone wild!