My Little Polar Bear is a great story for old and young alike. This story not only introduces your kids to polar bears, but also shows them a great parent/child relationship. The story is about a mother polar bear teaching her child (just like we teach our children about ourselves and the world). This is a great bedtime story, since the colors in this books are muted.  This is a great book for a new reader too.  The words are simple and the pictures explain everything.

This book is short and sweet and perfect for little kids!

I think I have found the perfect gift for the kid who has everything. Little Passports is a great personalized gift that will have your kids wanting more.

The first package you get comes in a fun travel suitcase (seriously, it does.  And it is super cute).  Your Explorer Kit has an introductory letter from Sofia and Sam (it’s quite lengthy but very interesting), a world wall map (which will look great in your little ones bedroom), a travel passport, fun stickers, an activity sheet, a boarding pass, and access to a series of online games and activities.  Madison and I got to work on the activity sheet together (since she can’t read).  My strongest suit is not geography, so I got a kick out of helping her find the different cities we needed to find on the map.  Madison adores getting mail (what kids don’t), and she thought it was awesome (her words, not mine) that it come personally addressed to her (the box and the letter).  We were even able to share the stickers with her 2 year old brother (which he was happy about).

Each month, your child will receive a package from Sam and Sofia as they travel to a new country.  They still get a personalized letter from Sam and Sofia, fun souvenirs, an activity sheet, a photo from the country, a passport stamp, a map marker, a suitcase sticker, and a collectible boarding pass to access more online games and activities.

Little Passports is really geared toward kids 5 and up.  They definitely deliver for fun, and they truly get your kids interested.  I highly recommend this!

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

This contest is over. The winner is flared0ne. Congrats!

Do you have stubborn children like myself? If so, the ParentSmart Kid Happy Review series of books from free spirit publishing is something you need in your house. I know that my kids are enjoying these books, and that my sister’s kids will too! Each of the books in this series tackles the battle of wills that we all encounter in our homes.  This is one of the first series of books I’ve ever seen that actually color code some of the words, so you know what you are teaching your children.  Green means you are validating their feelings, blue is about offering choices for them, and red words are for encouragement.  There is even a section in the back of the book explaining to us parents why we want to do these things!

Ready For Bed! is about getting ready for bed.  I love the tagline for the book “A Tale of Cleaning Up, Tucking In, and Hardly Any Complaining”.  Who wouldn’t want that in their house?  When you are struggling to get your kids to bed, that is a perfect time to whip this book out.   The illustrations in this book are awesome.  They take up the entire page and catch even the littlest ones’ attention.  It is a fairly short book that will actually hold even the shortest attention span.  The story also shows some parenting techniques that we can all try to use when putting our little ones to bed.  I know I don’t mind one less tantrum.

Ready For The Day! is book about getting up in the morning.  Nothing like finally getting our little ones to bed to have to drag them out in the morning.  Again, this book has an excellent tagline “A tale of teamwork and Toast, and Hardly Any Foot Dragging”.  Who wouldn’t want this either?  The illustrations in this book also are excellent and take up the entire page.  They engage your child.  The book is short enough to keep their attention span.  Again, there are some parenting techniques that definitely work like letting your kids choose what to eat for breakfast and what they are going to wear for the day.

Ready To Play! is the newest book in this series  This book is “A Tale of Toys and Friends, and Barely Any Bickering”.  Now, the color coded words in this book are slightly different.  Green words still validate feelings and red are for encouraging.  However, the purple words are to invite solutions and outcomes.  This book is about a playdate that could have been very bad, and how the mom handled it.  It’s about taking turns and sharing.  There is some behavior in here you definitely want your kids to model.  It definitely gives them ways to solve their problems.  Again, the illustrations are wonderful, and you wouldn’t even need the words to tell the story.  It is also short, so the shortest attention spans can enjoy it!

Now, I have arranged for one of my lucky readers to get all three of these books!  Here’s what you need to do if you’d like this:

Leave a comment on this entry.  Check out the Free Spirit site (books linked above) and tell me which of these books would be most helpful in your house and why!

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify. Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away ParentSmart Kid Happy books! http://urlbrief.com/fd85ec

2. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.

3. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

Each of these gives you 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed

4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

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This contest is for US residents and will end at April 1st at noon CST and is for everyone! Good Luck!!!

When you had your children, did you wish that they came with a manual?  Maybe the better question is who didn’t wish for that.  Now, no one has come up with an all inclusive version yet, but if you want one for naptime, the no cry nap solution is it!  I wish I had this book when my kids were born.  There is some great advice laid out in this book.  Even as a mom with two kids, I learned some things I didn’t know.  I love that they lay out exactly how much sleep your kids should be getting based on their age.  I love the chapter about what to do when you kid refuses to nap (where was this when Madison decided at 18 months she wasn’t going to nap anymore?!?!).  I love that the author does not guilt you into using every single method in the book.  It is often repeated that you need to do what works with your kids.

This is a book that every soon to be mom should read.  It definitely gives a lot of really good sleep advice that they can definitely use!

Didi & Ditto Preschool Mother Natural Visit was designed for the 2-4 age group.  Madison just turned 5 in January, and I have been having her play this game.  She loves it!

This is one of the few games on the market for the younger age set.  However, it is seriously geared for them.   This is one of the few games we have that Madison does not need any help playing at all.  The graphics of this are awesome.  It is like watching a cartoon while you are playing this game.  The game keeps your children completely immersed in the story.  There is  story component to this game, and they also play games.  Each last a perfect amount of time, so your child isn’t getting lost and bored with it.  Madison has one of the shortest attention spans ever, and she likes this game.  If the player guesses wrong on a question, it gives them hints and lets them keep picking until they get it right.  I found that Madison wasn’t getting frustrated at all even if she was getting the answer wrong.  She plays this game over and over, so she truly like it.

This is a great game for the younger age set.  It will hold their attention span, and they will enjoy playing it.  I highly recommend it.