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So was Monday awesome or what?

I don't know about you, but I've got enough books on my list to last me for months! And not only did I find out about a lot of new books, I discovered a lot of bloggers I'd never met before which made the whole thing doubly cool.

Something else I learned: I spend way too much time in sweats. Because when I pulled on a pair of jeans yesterday, my son asked me why I was getting dressed up. Apparently a wardrobe intervention is desperately needed over here!

But that's not why you're here today. I know you're dying to find out who won the copy of Marcelo in the Real World. I won't torture you. Random.org pulled up lucky #19 and according to my records, that would be:

Suzette Saxton

I'm happy to announce that WE HAVE A WINNER for the contest to win a Bedbug Book pkg.

Robert Martens of Nakusp, B.C. guessed the answer, with his entry: "pest."

The answer was a play on words and solved the question of why Bedbug couldn't "sleep tight." The answer was also contained in the story, because Bedbug tells the child: "Don't be a pest, 'cause I need my rest."

CONGRATULATIONS BOB!

• EACH BOOK IS HAND-BOUND WITH A SPARKLY ORANGE RIBBON
• EACH BEDBUG IS HAND-MADE WITH NON-TOXIC GLUE
• BOOK AND BUG COME IN A SEE-THROUGH, CARRY-ALONG BAG

• The rhymed text helps young ones to learn to read. 
• Repetition of certain lines helps to reinforce learning
• The Bedbug Who Wouldn't Bite is the first book in the series

WOW. The Spectacle received a total of 256 entries for our Big Box O’ Books Birthday Bash contest in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday earlier this month. Whew! We had entries from all four corners of the continental United States. New York was especially well represented, but it appears that every librarian in Nebraska must have entered — there were dozens of Nebraska libraries, both public and school, represented!

The odds worked in their favor, and we’re thrilled to announce that the Big Box goes to…

Arlene Alsmeyer

Scribner-Snyder Community School

Scribner, NE

Yay, Arlene!

We loved the many Seussian rhymes included with many entries, and will post a few of them right away so Spectacle readers can enjoy them, too, without having to scroll through the comment thread of entries.

And thanks are due to Sally Snyder, the Nebraska Library Commission’s Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, who did a GREAT job getting the word out to her state’s librarians. Sally (or one of Sally’s friends), please send your mailing address to [email protected] and we’ll send you a thank-you book you can keep or share with your favorite runner-up.

Some of the stories many of you shared about the needs in your library or community make it tough to give away only one prize. We’ll do our best to come up with another box of goodies for our next contest soon!

I think the luck of the Irish has been spreading around the blogosphere. So many people have been sharing their good news. In case you haven't heard, here's what's happening for just a few of my blogging buddies:

Everybody's favorite Story Queen, Shelley Moore Thomas, signed with the fabulous Joanna Stampfel-Volpe. Woo-hoo! Shelley's celebrating by sharing the love so visit her blog to enter for your own basket of luck.

High school teacher and blogger extraordinaire Beth Revis, sold her novel in a pre-empt to Razorbill as part of a three-book deal. Yay! She's also hosting a contest to celebrate so check out her blog as well.

Myra McEntire is dreaming about Brazil since she just sold rights there to her debut novel, Hourglass, coming from Egmont in 2011. Sweet!

Congrats to all of you fabulous bloggers and writers!

Now there's one more lucky person to add to the list because the winner of the autographed copy of Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater is:

The winner of Not Just Spirited by Chynna T. Laird is. . .

ELYSE!

Congratulations to Elyse! Enjoy this wonderful, hopeful, and inspirational memoir.

If you or someone you know has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), then don’t miss Chynna’s interview on Wednesday. She provides several resources and lists for parents and teachers as well as books to read about children and SPD. If you didn’t win Not Just Spirited, you can order it right from that blog post.

Thank you to everyone who read Chynna’s post and who left comments. It means a lot to both of us to know that we touched some people’s lives and provided information for a disorder that can be heartbreaking but improved with proper education!

Thank you.

Annie (Senfaye)

&

Kathleen Foucart

Are the winners of the 4 book prize pack.

Thank you to all who have entered.

They have been notified.

Today, I got an exciting email that one of the comments on this blog won a prize in Tilbury House’s Bear-ly There blog tour! Yea! Yea! Yea! Jennifer F. left a comment on the post about Bear-ly There, and she has won an original sketch by Rebekah Raye. Tilbury House will be sending that to her shortly. I want to thank everyone for leaving comments–it is always encouraging to the author and to me as a blogger when we see comments. I also want to thank Tilbury House for a great contest with exciting prizes. Rebekah is an amazing artist!

If you are interested in buying Bear-ly There or any of the other books written or illustrated by Rebekah, please check out the original post!

Thanks for stopping by and reading this Special Sunday post!

The winner is Brenda R. Brenda, thanks for leaving a comment for Danette on Thursday’s post, and your prize is a copy of her book! I think you’ll really love it.

Stay tuned for Monday when I tell you how to use a REALLY cute picture book. Are there any other kind?

In the meantime, I hope you are reading books and using them, and if you ever have any ideas for activities or books, send them my way with a comment on any post.

Good Afternoon:

Well, looks like we've got a contest winner...





Homer did her best to pick out a number with her nose, but she just couldn't bend down quite far enough, so she decided to use her paw instead...



and the winner is...




the writer of the 12th comment...



The winner has already been notified and will receive "Rabbit's Curious Day" within the week...



Thank you all so very much for participating. I will be back to my normal blogging tomorrow. I have some photos to share with you of phase one of my studio clean-up.

Until Next Time:
Kim
Garden Painter Art

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our site and entered our giveaway drawing that was part of the One World, One Heart Blogging Event that ended on February 12, 2009.

We electronically put all the names into a hat and let the computer pick three winners for us. Here they are:



1st - Martha Brown

2nd - C. Gibbs

3rd - Belinda

Each of these 3 winners will receive an autographed copy of Shoelaces, a Rookie Reader beginning reader written by Suzanne Lieurance.

Congratulations, Martha. C. Gibbs, and Belinda!

Your prize will be sent to you this week.

Happy reading!

It’s always exciting when a member of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club gets a book contract, wins a contest, or has other great news to share.

This week, CWCC member Dorothy Massey’s short story was selected as the winning entry in the Funny Halloween Story Contest sponsored by Swimming Kangaroo.

Congratulations, Dorothy!

As the winner of the contest, Dorothy will receive a Spooky Book Set from Swimming Kangaroo containing The Dead Detective by Lorene Robbins, Evil Reflections by Larion Wills and Spectral Rewind: Class of ‘81 by Terry Lloyd Vinson. Winning stories will also be posted on the SK Website and announced in their newsletter.

Read Dorothy’s winning story HERE.

Visit Dorothy’s blog at http://www.kidsbooksuk.blogspot.com to find out more about Dorothy’s writing as well as other children’s book authors and children’s books in the UK.

According to my fancy schmancy random number generator the lucky winner of the authentic navajo dream catcher is

pixie6690!

Thanks to all of you who entered. Look for an upcoming November contest soon. :)

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, author of the 1992 Newbery Medal winner, Shiloh, will present "Shiloh and Other Stuff" on November 16 at 7 p.m. in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax. Ages 8 and up.

For details and to reserve a seat, call 703-324-8428 or e-mail [email protected].

I won at MondayArtday! I won the contest for re-creating Monday Artday's logo in your "own" style. This challenge was a lot of fun, thanks Bearuh! You guys should come visit Monday Artday, it's super great and everyone is just awesome. Cool activities and themes every week! Visit Monday Artday hosted by Bearuh

Check out my winning piece!

Moving right along to week three of the Echelon authors interviews.

This week's interviewee is C.A. Verstraete.

Christine is the winner of The Fast and Freaky Fiction Writing Contest (October 2006)for her e-story, The Witch Tree; available at Fictionwise. See link right after Christine's interview!

She is also the author of the nonfiction e-book, In Miniature Style, available at Writer's Exchange E-Publishing: http://www.readerseden.com/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=243

I am very excited to welcome Christine to my blog! Check out our interview below!

Interview:

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and the genre you write.

Answer: I'm kind of a chameleon when it comes to writing. Being a journalist, I've written mostly non-fiction and then started to write short fiction. I enjoy writing mysteries and horror. My short story, "The Witch Tree," won a a "Fast and..." contest and was published by Echelon Press, LLC. http://www.echelonpress.com/. My young adult mystery, "Searching for a Starry Night," has some spooky elements and involves two other favorite elements, dogs and dollhouse miniatures. It will be published in spring '08 by Quake, http://www.quakeme.com/, a division of Echelon Press, LLC.

2. Did you choose your present genre; or did the genre choose you?

Answer: I've always enjoyed reading mysteries, and being a long-time dollhouse miniatures collector, it seemed natural for my book to focus on the search for a missing miniature painting. You can see some of my work at my website, http://cverstraete.com/.

3. Have you always wanted to write?

Answer: One of my favorite baby photos is of me with a newspaper and a pencil stuck behind my ear, kind of prophetic. I remember always wanting to write and began with newspaper writing in junior college.

4. What would be a typical day for you, as a day in the life of a writer?

Answer: I write pretty much every day so I can usually be found at my computer.

5. Where do you get your ideas for your stories?

Answer: I'm lucky to have a vivid imagination. Sometimes a news story or something I see will spark an idea. Other times, I will get an idea or know how to finish a story by having it unfold in an dream.

6. Are any of your characters based on real people?

Answer: I do picture certain persons as I write, but my characters are usually a composite of bits and pieces of different people. They're really figments of my imagination.

7. If you could be any one of your characters, which one would you be, and why?

Answer: Hopefully, I'd be the smart one. ha! It's bad enough making mistakes in real life without having to assume those of your fictional characters, too!

8. Do you do research for your novels? What was the most interesting person, place or thing you have researched?

Answer: It depends on what I am writing about. I do try to double-check facts to make sure the idea I had is right and my memory or idea of it isn't faulty. It is interesting to look up things you weren't sure of. I know I always learn something new!

9. Have you ever had writer's block? If yes, what have you done to overcome it?

Answer: There are times when I've been stuck or something is not coming out the way I want, but since I write every day, I've never really been blocked. With deadlines, you don't have time to be blocked. If something isn't coming out right, I simply move on to something else and work on a different story for awhile, then go back to it. If I have to get it done that day, then that is my motivation to finish.

10. Do you have any advice for the young writer just starting out?

Answer: Don't be afraid to write. Don't doubt yourself. You are usually your own worst enemy. If you have a talent, then don't let anyone, or anything, stand in your way of fulfilling your dreams.

11. And just for fun, if you could be a Transformer, which would you be? An Autobot (the good bots) or a Decepticon (the evil bots)? =D

Answer: I'd definitely be a good bot. There is enough evil in the world!

Thank you so much, Christine!

DOWNLOAD AND ENJOY YOUR COPY OF THE WITCH TREE AT: Fictionwise

Stay tuned!
And check back each week for a new interview!

Roxie and the Hooligans
Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Illustrator: Alexandra Boiger
Publisher: Aladdin
ISBN-10: 1416902449
ISBN-13: 978-1416902447

Recommended for grades 2-4

Roxie Warbler is 9-years old, happy at home and miserable at school. Her uncle Dangerfoot, world traveler, adventurer and companion to the famous author and fellow adventurer Lord Thistlebottom has inspired her with his wild adventure stories of survival in the oddest of situations. Lord Thistlebottom’s book, Lord Thistlebottom's Book of Pitfalls and How to Survive Them, Roxie has committed to memory. It’s almost a bible to her. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t explain how to deal with Helvetia's Hooligans, the gang of four mean kids at her school that pick on her unmercifully because of her big, pink, cup shaped ears.

One day the Hooligans chase her into a dumpster and follow her tumbling into it. The dumpster gets taken away and Roxie and the Hooligans end up trapped on a desert island with some very scary robbers and it’s up to Roxie and her survival skills to help get them food and water, off the island and safe from the robbers.

Roxie and the Hooligans is a marvelous book for young children just starting to read chapter books. The story is fast-paced and the character of Roxie is completely both loveable and believable. You really find yourself cheering her on. It’s also a great book for children who have to deal with bullies. We learn in the story that the bullies are all too human and that there is a reason for their meanness.

The book is also a good one for sharing by reading aloud – it will keep adults engaged as well as delight the children. The illustrations in black and white are completely wonderful, whimsical and fun.