Do you remember all those classic books we had as a kid?  Well, The Kids Bookstore has taken these loved books and made them even better!  How do you ask?  They take the book of your choice (and they have a ton to pick from and most of the classics that I remember.  There is even The Night Before Christmas.) and make it into a hardcover book.  They then take the first page of the book (even before the title page) and put a printed dedication.  This includes the child’s name, a meaningful blurb that you write to the child, and a photo that you give them.  If you are lucky (depending on the book), this dedication may even show up on the inner back of the hardcover.  This definitely gives the book a personal touch.  If you have more than one child, this should also help you to keep track of whose book it really is.

For the kid who has everything, a personalized book is something they most likely don’t have.  I know my daughter would love to see her picture in a book.  The books offered cover a wide range of ages — from 2 to 9.  You can find everything from the classics like Wind In The Willows and Alice in Wonderland to newer titles like Pinkalicious.  Reading is a gift we must pass onto our children, and this is a great way to pass that on.

Back in April, I wrote a review on the That Baby CD and DVD.  They both are still a huge hit in my house.  The part I love most about the songs that are on there is that they aren’t kid songs.  You won’t find yourself climbing the walls with some sing songy tunes.  These are covers written by some of the best artists of our time:  Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Natalie Merchant, The Beatles, and The Pretenders.  You will find yourself singing along with a lot of these songs.  This CD is played every time Will goes to bed (naptime or nighttime).  That is how great I think this is!

Now, they are sure you are going to love this DVD and CD.  If you don’t, they have a money back guarantee.  They also offer free replacement of scratched or damaged discs too.  (This is worth its weight in gold!).  For those of us who want to be enviromentally friendly, they are made in the US with recyclable materials.  If you do purchase them, free shipping and handling in the US (you all know how much I adore free shipping!)  Also, if you need it quickly for a baby shower or birthday that you forgot about, call them.  They will figure something out to get it to you in time!  How awesome is that customer service?

Now, I have kept in touch with the awesome company who makes these unique baby gifts, and the owner agreed to give away a copy of the That Baby DVD and CD away to one of my lucky readers!!!  This contest will be open to all my readers.  To quote the owner:  “Kids around the world need to rock, so we’re open to all of them!”  I am going to run it until the end of the month (July 31st) till 8 PM CST.  So what do you need to do to enter?

Each one of these give you one entry:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know which song you think you’ll like the best.  You are able to actually listen snippets of each song right on That Baby DVD’s site (I’ve linked the page, so you can easily find it), so that should help you make your decision.  One comment only please and let me know everything you did for your entries in that comment.  If you do not leave which song in your comment, your entry will not count.
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. Vote for this post on other social media sites. One extra entry for each social media site you vote for this on.
3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed.

For 5 additional entries, blog about this on your blog or add it to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

Good luck to all!

UPDATE:  The winner has been chosen for this giveaway.  However, if you use the coupon code LISASENTME, you can get 20% off your own copies!

Five Rubber Duckies is a book in my house that gets read often. It is just as popular with Will (my one year old) as with Madison (my 4 year old). Will enjoys the books for several reasons. First, he likes the duckies. The pages aren’t like normal book pages; they are half pages with ducks on top. The pages are thick cardboard, so even if he chews on them (and he has), they will not get wrecked. He also can’t rip them. Madison likes this book because we can work on her math skills. As you turn each page, there are two lines which rhyme. It is a story about duckies, and as you turn the page, we lose a ducky (have no fear — they don’t need foreclosure help, they are just busy doing other things).  It is a cute story and ends with 1 rubber ducky being left with a clean baby.  My kids completely adore this book and I highly recommend it!

I took Madison to Burger King yesterday, and we went through the drive thru.  Burger King has a new product or two that they added to their menu.  You now can order apple fries or macaroni and cheese with your kids meal.  I thought this was great since I really don’t like getting Madison french fries.  Needless to say, I was a little surprised when I saw my receipt and found out that they charged me extra for the apple fries.  Of course, the huge sign in front of the drive thru did not state that. You know, I am not asking for it to be on sale or anything. However, I would have liked to see something on that sign letting me know that the apple fries were going to be 49 cents more. The other thing that irritated me was that, for free, McDonalds gives you way more apples.  Needless to say, we won’t be frequenting Burger King any time soon.

It is the small things in life that can make the biggest difference. Did you know that by brushing your teeth with Recycline Toothbrush, you can help save the world? Ok, you aren’t going to be Superman. However, the Recycline Toothbrush uses recycled plastic and when you are done with it, send the toothbrush and case back to Preserve using their postage-paid label. It will then be reprocessed into plastic lumber for picnic tables, boardwalks, and decks.

Now, I did the ultimate test in my house to see how good this toothbrush really is — I switched my husband’s toothbrush without telling him.  This is the same guy who didn’t notice for around six hours that I had cut off six inches from hair, so he isn’t the most observant person out there.  However, he knew immediately that I changed his toothbrush out.  When I ask him what he thinks of his new toothbrush, he just replies “awesome”.  He thought it had a great design, and he likes how it feels.  When I told him how we were saving the enviroment, he like it even more.

This toothbrush passes the mom test for me just because of the enviromental factors involved.  Any time I can make the world a better place for my kids, I am going to do it.  These toothbrushes are super easy to find — just head to your nearest Target.  Since my Target is just down the street from me, that works great.  They are also only $2.04 which is not a bad price for a toothbrushes.  Of course, they have coupons you can use too for $1 off.  Lastly, these come is sizes for both adults and kids, so the whole family can save the world!

Charlie the Can-do Choo-choo! is one of those books that you have to buy for all the little boys that you know.  Will got it for his birthday, and it is one of the coolest books I have seen for a long time.  Charlie the Can-do Choo-choo! is about having optimism and knowing that you can do whatever you set your mind too.  The part that impressed me was that this book is not like a normal book.  The book opens up like a train on the tracks. On one side, you have the story;  on the other side, you have pictures and lights.  When you press the train’s nose, the train lights up throughout the book.  Both  my 4 year old and my 1 year love to play with this book.  I have never seen two kids have so much fun with a book before!

As you all know, I love reviewing kids books and kids toys on here.  With having a 4 year old and a 1 year old, I have great product testers, and I really get to see how products hold up.  That being said, at my house, we have been playing with the Nana Star books and plushies, and we have a winner at my house.

Before I go to far into the books, I need to give you a little background on how Nana Star came about (and I got a little teary-eyed myself when I found this all out).  The authors of this series of books are Elizabeth Sills and Elena Patrice.  The illustrator is Linda Saker.  The original creator of Nana Star is Elizabeth Owens (Elizabeth and Elena’s grandmother and Linda’s mother).  She had a grandson named Vance  that she made up Moonman and Nana Star for.  When he moved away, she often sent him hand made cards with her characters, so he always knew she was with him.  Unfortunately, Vance now “dances with the stars“, but she has allowed us into her fantasy world, so our children can have that sense of belonging too.

The first thing I have to do is warn you. You need to read the Nana Star book first. Trust me, it all makes more sense if you do (**blush** won’t tell you how I figured that out). This is a truly entertaining book. Not only can I read it to my kids, there is a CD that comes with it.  When you listen to the CD, make sure you get comfortable.  They have really awesome background music behind the narrator.  There is also an additional song on there.  Madison was singing along after the first time listening to the songs.

The other really cool thing that they do with these books is that they have a Nana Star’s Little Twinkles Club.  On purpose, they have a spellling mistake in the book.  You are able to write them and tell them what the mistake was, and you can then join the Twinkles Club!  This is such a cute idea to engage their little readers.

The second book we read and listened to was Nana Star and the Moonman. Now, in the first book, we learned that a little star fell out of the sky was looking for her Nana. Now, the second book is the start of the journey the little girl (Nana Star) takes to help the little star get home. I truly can see this being an awesome series of books. As an adult, I’m wondering what happens next.  The other nice thing is that the CDs that come with the books are held by a pocket that is attached to the book.  You don’t have to worry about losing the CDs.

Now, I highly recommend these books.  Madison was engaged with them.  The thing I noticed and loved about the books themselves (besides the CD pocket) was that the paper is a thicker paper.  It does not rip easily which is a huge problem normally in my house.  You also get a bookmark with each book.  Amazingly, we don’t actually own any bookmarks, so it is a welcome addition in our house.  I also like that I am not the only one who thinks these products are great.  They have gotten numerous awards including Mr. Dad Seal of Approval and Great Dad Recommends Awards, Nominated by Mom’s Choice Award® for Most Inspirational Story, and iParenting Media Award for Excellent Products of 2007.

Not only did we try out the books, we even had some fun with the plushies that they offer.  Now, I’ll be honest, I didn’t quite know what to expect.  I really am not good with measurements and figuring out how big things really are.  However, this Moonman was quite a bit larger than I expected!

Now, if you push on Moonman’s belly, his head lights up and it plays a lullaby (which you can kinda tell with my picture of Will and Moonman).  Will likes walking around with him (and let me add that is kissing him not biting him in the second picture!).

Now, this Nana Star plushy is a huge hit with both kids.  Its cute, easy to carry, and even has bloomers on under the skirt (yes, I checked).  Madison immediately made the connection between the doll and the books.  She talks about Nana Star quite often now.  You can also tell that this is not a small doll either.

If you need a great children’s gift, this is the way to go.  The books are for 3-7 years olds and they have such a postivie message.  In some of the books to come, they will learn about good manners and courtesy, friendship and fun, and giving and sharing just to name a few.  Now, if you’d like to win a copy of these books and plushies for yourself, they are running an awesome contest.  All you need to do is comment on their Got Lemons post and tell a story about how you turned lemons into lemonade.  The best story they get by July 7th will win you a copy of the books and they will also donate a copy of the books to your favorite school, childcare center, library, children’s hospital, or doctor’s office.  How awesome is that?