A Giveaway for Bibliophiles (um…book-lovers)

I had a problem.

The budding bibliophile

I should have known it was going to happen when my daughter’s first words were, “Read it! Read it!” and she showed up at the hospital to meet her new brother with books for me to read.

“It’s great you just gave birth…so, can you read to me now?”

I should have known when she could tell me the shortest route to Barnes and Noble using grunts and hand motions from her rear-facing car seat.

I had created a Bibliophile.

bib·li·o·phile

/ˈbiblēəˌfīl/

Noun: a person who collects or has a great love of books

This was a great problem to have, generally speaking. A daughter who loves books will never have enough money for makeup or enough time for boys. She will always have adventures and the very best friends. She will read to her younger siblings and teach them to love books until the entire family is one big, giant pack of book-lovers.

Oh my goodness, there are more of them

Which is exactly what happened. As my daughter grew, so did my problem. She out-read me. She read all the books I recommended and some I didn’t. She burned through a Kindle and would check fifty books out of the library at once—and read them all in two days. She taught her younger siblings to do the same until we were surrounded by books and yet had nothing to read.

I could not keep up with them, but my kids were too young to have carte blanche at the library. Not every book written for adolescents is worth reading, you see. Many are horrifying, especially in the genres that should be the most delightful of all: fantasy and adventure. They often had to wait for me to Google a review before plunging into a new series. But even then, how could I know my kids were reading the very best books, the ones that would enrich (not just entertain) their minds and hearts?

Enter my friend Gretchen, who graciously sent me a series of fantasy books for my kids to read. The Tales of Larkin, written by Alan Harris, a veterinarian and homeschool dad of six, are not just safe—they are rich with biblical truths and packed with the best kind of adventures of all: our adventures.

Hawthorn’s Discovery

Every chapter of Hawthorn’s Discovery, the newly-released first book in the series, captivated my kids with its breathtaking escapades and witty humor. The parallels between this tiny world and ours left them chattering long into the night.

It is a gift to find a book that elevates my children’s understanding of spiritual things in such a fun way. ‘Mom! Listen to this!’ they exclaimed every time Larkin’s tale illuminated another portion of our own Story.

Nothing makes this mama happier than a book series I can wholeheartedly entrust to my bibliophiles. These are exactly the kinds of books I want my children to consume, and I’m happy to share them with you!

A bibliophile in her natural habitat, reading Hawthorn’s Discovery

I am hosting a Friends of Bibliophiles giveaway! The prize package includes a freshly-printed copy of Hawthorn’s Discovery for a favorite reader AND a $25 Starbucks card for you. Maybe you and your book-lover can sneak away and read together?

Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below to be entered to win.

BUT WAIT! Bibliophiles need all the books! If you would like one more chance to win, head over to my Facebook page. I’ll be giving away another copy of the book over there. Enjoy!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Getting Big: 100 Beautiful Days of Motherhood {21}

Today, I held a little boy on my lap. He grasped a book in his hand and kept some by his side for back-ups.

He came to me while the lunch dishes were being cleared and asked me to read him a book. “Two or three books,” he corrected when he realized I might be inclined to say yes.

I sat on the floor and a little boy who no longer has dimples on his hands sat in my lap. A little boy who used to fit there as if in a little nest sprawled out his legs in front of him because he doesn’t quite fit there anymore.

We read Are You My Mother? and a book that was far too scary for him but he said it wasn’t. I don’t know how going on a bear hunt can not be too scary. But he’s big.

He’s getting so, so big.

I smelled his hair and kissed the back of his neck. He smelled sweetly sweaty, the way little boys do after they’ve been wrestling their brothers, the way baby boys do when you nurse them in the summer and the heat from their bodies against yours makes the sweetest smell you’ve ever known.

Someday, he’ll smell big-boy sweaty, and that’s a different thing entirely.

But not now. Now, he is still a bit of my baby boy. He wants to climb up on my lap and read stories. And on this beautiful day, I think this is the part of motherhood I like best.

Save the Broken Books!

If you are a parent, you have undoubtedly come upon a crime scene like this:

Oh, the carnage!

The victim: A perfectly good book

The perpetrator: Chubby Hands

The crime: Shredding pages when Mom thinks Chubby Hands is sleeping

It’s hard to know what to do with books once they’ve been victimized. Tape? Staples? Sometimes that’s the best way to go. But we have some books in our library that have been taped so many times, they resemble a collection of Egyptian mummies. Any reasonable person would throw those books away.

But I’m a bibliophile, and I can’t stand throwing away books, especially since the most abused books in our library are my favorites.

So instead of throwing out those beloved books, I turned them into magnets! Every day, I get to enjoy these little reminders of the many sweet times I’ve spent reading to my children. That’s much better than tossing them in the trash!

Guess How Much I Love You? I love you so much I can’t throw you away.

Here’s what you need:

1 ruined book (The Very Hungry Caterpillar makes darling magnets!)

1 (or more) packages of bubble magnets (see below)

Modge Podge (you can buy it at the craft store or make your own using equal parts Elmer’s and water)

Scissors or a 1″ paper punch

Craft glue or a hot glue gun

Here’s what you do:

The process is very simple. I picked up a couple packages of bubble magnets at Staples for about $1.99 each. You can get the clear plastic bubbles at the craft store, but they’re way more expensive and don’t include the magnets!

Staples magnets=cheap and effective

It is very easy to peel the magnets apart and remove the previous graphic.

Using the magnet, find images or words from the book that you’d like to magnify under the bubble and trace it with a pencil. Cut it out with a sharp scissors. If you have a 1″ punch, you could use that to punch out the images instead, but the punches don’t work on board books.

Brush modge podge on the underside of the bubble

Brush modge podge on the underside of the acrylic bubble, being careful not to get it on your fingers or on the top of the bubble. Place your circle cutout face-down into the goop and flip it back over onto some aluminum foil or parchment paper. You should be looking at your image under the plastic bubble! Press out any air pockets and continue with the rest of the circles until you are finished.

Modge podged and ready to dry!

Double check to make sure you didn’t get any modge podge on the tops of the bubbles. If you did, wipe it off with a damp sponge. Double check for air bubbles as well, and then use a heavy book to weigh down the tops of the magnets while they dry. This may take several hours.

Once dry, glue the magnets to the back of the bubbles using a hot glue gun or heavy-duty craft glue. Allow to dry completely.

That’s it. You’re done! Aren’t they adorable? I love them so much, I actually look for broken books at thrift stores. They make great gifts for baby or bridal showers, teacher appreciation gifts, or even a travel tic-tac-toe game for the kids (just use two different books for the pieces and a metal tin to serve as both the game board AND storage container). Have fun!

Book magnets make a great Valentine’s Day or teacher appreciation gift!