Book Review, Linky Party, & a Giveaway Too!

I was so excited and so happy when a friend of mine, Maria Dismondy, sent me a surprise in the mail! Autographed copies of two of her books AND a tiara cookie cutter. Now being a mom of boys, anything pink or girly just doesn't happen so that cookie cutter was the best surprise ever.

I am so gonna make Pink Tiara Cookies!

The boys have even agreed to eat them. 

I have rarely seen pink in the last 13 years. I own one pink shirt, I bought it a few months ago when I had nothing to wear for a job interview. It was the only color they had and after 4 hours of not liking anything I bought it.

You should have heard the boys!

Every month Maria challenges us to think about a different character trait and how we can make a difference in the lives of our own children as well as our students. She takes this a step further by creating books for parents and teachers to talk about these traits in an easy to use format.

The best thing for me is that while they look girly they appear to both boys and girls. These books arrived at my house YESTERDAY evening. They have been read at least 6 times over so far and by BOYS!

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun is about a little girl who is different from everyone else. She has big hair (I LOVE her hair!) and eats strange foods. She is an easy target for bullying. She ends up crying but because she doesn't want to be a tattle-tell (I know the feeling! I am the same way!!) she suffers in silence.When she finally gets the chance to be the bully she reaches deep down inside to find courage and remembers the words of her Papa - everyone has a heart! 

Pink Tiara Cookies for Three is by far my favorite. (And not just because I get to make pink cookies!) I have three sons. They also have a best friend triangle issue where one is left out just like these girls. I have tried so many times to explain it but they never got it .... until now!

This book is the story of two best friends who share everything and the new girl in town who wants to be friends with them. How can 3 people be friends? It will never work laments one of the girls. After much heartache and tears they figure out that three people can really be the best of friends and no one gets left out!

Now.... my sons can read and I have taught them to read about the author. They said "She wrote three books and we only have two!" Oh whatever shall we do! I know.... we will just have to order up her last one to read as well!

So I will be reading and reviewing this book at a later time. In the mean time, you should pick up these books and share them with all the kids you know as well!!

This month Maria is talking about fairness. This is a tricky character for me as I do not believe that anything can be fair. Fair is getting what each of us needs to succeed. I often hear from my boys that it is not fair that one receives a different punishment than the other.But the each need something different to learn the lesson. 

I am more of a "Life isn't Fair" kinda girl and try to teach my children and students to make the most of every situation even if it isn't ideal to you. 

Taking turns, following the rules during the game, dividing a treat equally - these are things that we can also use to demonstrate fairness but I have to emphasize fairness is not necessarily identical. Have you heard the fairness song? It has lots of examples of how to be fair. 

Did you hear I have 400+ followers? 

You know its giveaway time right? 

Soooo... I am giving away an autographed copy of

Speghetti on an Hot Dog Bun

AND

$25 Gift Card to Olive Garden

not sure that they will serve the Speghetti 

on a hog dog bun though =(

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So what could be better than a giveaway?? TWO GIVEAWAYS!! Stop by Maria's Blog to learn how you can get a free drink at Starbucks!