Spoonfuls of Stories Gift Set Review and Giveaway

I have a confession to make: I am a bibliomaniac! Now, before you get too worried, that just means I have an extreme preoccupation with collecting books. My husband sarcastically asks once and a while if we need a couple of more bookshelves. I say to him 'Don't tempt me!'.
Seriously, I have to read every day. The only time I do not read is when I have a bad headache. When it goes away, I make up for lost time!
So, when I got the Spoonfuls of stories Gift Set in the mail, I was pretty excited. My kids were too. They have also been diagnosed with bibliomania. Hopefully, it is incurable!
We read all the books together and I asked them each to choose their favorite one.
Here are the results:

Dixie chose The Great Dog Wash.


Redd chose Duck for President


Rusty chose when Dinosaurs came with everything

Elijah chose Mono y yo, Monkey and Me

Over the past seven years, Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories has given away more than 35 million children's books by distributing them free inside cereal boxes and has donated nearly $3 million to First Book, their non-profit partner, which provides books to children from low-income families.

In addition to encouraging children to read, Cheerios is looking for anyone interested in writing children's books. Now in its third year, the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories New Author Contest is a way to encourage previously unpublished, up-and-coming children's book authors and to continue to nurture a love of reading. Entries are being accepted March 16 through July 15, 2009 and will be judged on appropriate story and content for children ages 3-8, emotional connection, writing quality, uniqueness, and read-aloud potential. More details on the contest can be found here.

Shellie Braeuner, the first year's winner, won for her book "The Great Dog Wash". This nanny from Nashville won a $5,000 cash prize and the opportunity to have her book reviewed by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing. Simon & Schuster offered Shellie a book deal - and will publish her book, illustrated by Robert Neubecker, in hardcover this summer. In addition, Cheerios will be featuring "The Great Dog Wash" free inside 1.5 million boxes of Cheerios. The book has been specially printed in paperback in both English and Spanish and will be available free inside boxes of Cheerios this spring.


My Blog Spark has generously offered me to give one of these gift sets which includes all 4 books to one of my readers! You may earn one entry for doing any or all of the following:
1. Let me know you are a subscriber.
2. Follow this blog.
3. Follow me on twitter @onceuponaqpon and leave a comment with your twitter name.
4. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link.
5. Answer the following question:If you could be a character from a children's book, who would it be?
This contest will end May 3rd, 2009.
Good Luck! I hope that you too will become a bibliomaniac!

April