DEAL ALERT: Personalized Necklaces & $1 Calendars at Eversave {DISCOUNT}

I've posted about Eversave here before and in case you can't tell, I really like this site.  It's a great way to score discounts on from some great companies, and they have a fantastic rewards program.  More on that later!

Here are two great Saves going on today - one of which you might be able to score for free!

Simply Been Today's Save:$15 for $30 worth of personalized charm necklaces from SimplyBeen.com Expires 11:59 PM - Jan 17, 2011

You can get $30 worth of personalized jewelry from Simply Been for just $15!  Simply Been has so many pretty hand stamped necklaces that would make amazing Valentine's Day or Mother's Day gifts, or just as a treat for yourself.  This Save is good until December 2011, so you can even use it for holiday gifts.  I bought three (the most I could buy!) to use on presents throughout the year.  Get your Simply Been Save HERE.

Vistaprint Today's Save:$1 for a personalized calendar and 50% OFF all shipping from Vistaprint.com (BONUS: 30% off all other products) Expires 11:59 PM - Jan 18, 2011

Yes, you read that right - you can get a personalized photo calendar from Vistaprint.com for just $1!  And on top of that, you'll also get 50% off shipping (or free shipping on purchases of $20 or more) and 30% off all other products you buy.  Business cards, photo cards (perfect for Valentine's Day!), note pads, clothing - you name it, you can personalize it at Vistaprint!  Get your Vistaprint Save HERE.

And remember that Rewards Program I mentioned?  Well, here's how it works.  When you sign up at Eversave for the first time, you get a $2 credit to use (so if you buy that $1 Vistaprint Save, it will be FREE!  That's right - free!).  And for every new member you refer to Eversave that makes a purchase, you get $12 in credit.  Eversave makes it really easy to share your referral link via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter so it's so simple to suggest your friends sign up, and with deals like these, you can bet they'll be buying and you'll be earning in no time.

If you have any questions about how Eversave works, feel free to ask.  It really is a terrific site that I use regularly and if I couldn't vouch for it, I wouldn't share it.

Please note that this post does include affiliate links.  As I mentioned above, if I didn't believe in and use this site, I wouldn't be posting about it here.    

Valentine Freebie Festival, Day 5! {FREEBIES}

Yesterday's pick from our VALENTINE FREEBIE FESTIVAL focused on cards for boys and we've got one more dude-cenric freebie for you today - the You Rock Valentine from Zakka Life.

So fab!  Just print out the templates and punch a hole in the center..

Take a lollipop and tape the wrapper down.

Then insert the stick through the hole in the card and fold the guitar sides down....

And you've got a double sided badass boy-friendly Valentine.

Rock on!

Download the printable guitar template here at Zakka Life and if you have a free Valentine's printable you'd like to share, enter it into the link up below!

*If you are reading this in via our e-mail newsletter or RSS feed, the link up won't show up. You have to visit the post on our website to view it.

Valentine's Freebie Festival: Day 4 {FREEBIES}

Wowza!  We've already got more than 50 free Valentine's day printables linked up to our VALENTINE FREEBIE FESTIVAL.  There's no excuse for not showing a little love now, is there?

I've gotten a bunch of e-mails from readers asking for suggestions for Valentines their little guys can hand out.  You know, that aren't all heartsy and filled with XOXO's and words like love.  Luckily, Staci from Lizard & Ladybug has your dudes covered with her boy-rific Robot  printable cards. 

She even included this set of robot graphics that can be printed on sticker paper or cut out and used as a memory game.

Bag them up and give them out with the Robo-tastic cards and you have a Valentine's treat that's oh-so-boy friendly.

Download the printable Robot Valentine's cards and images here at Lizard & Ladybug and if you have a free Valentine's printable you'd like to share, enter it into the link up below!
*If you are reading this in via our e-mail newsletter or RSS feed, the link up won't show up. You have to visit the post on our website to view it.

Jack Attack: An Original Fairy Tale Poem

Here’s another poem about Jack and the Beanstalk from my unpublished collection Excerpts from the Fairy tale Files. I posted a different poem about Jack last month. You can read it here.


JACK ATTACK

Jack traded Milky White for beans.
His mother went ballistic.
She scolded him, “You numbskull,
Magic beans? Be realistic!
There’s no such thing as magic beans…
Or broccoli or peas!
Now all we have to eat tonight
Is this last ounce of cheese.

And don’t start spreading stories
Of a giant ten feet high
Who lives in some grand castle
In a kingdom in the sky.
Jack, go to bed without your meal…
And stop all this pretending.
You’d better pray this fairy tale
Will have a happy ending.”

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At Blue Rose Girls, I have Winter Wonderland: Original Snow Poems & Pictures

Laura Salas has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Writing the World for Kids.

Valentine's Freebie Festival: Day 3 {FREEBIES}

Another day, another pick from our VALENTINE FREEBIE FESTIVAL.  Today's featured freebie looks like a simple art print:

But this poster from It Is What It Is can also be trimmed and used as a candy bar wrapper.

A goodie bag topper.

Treat tags.

A card.

Or a sweet favor bag.

Talk about multi-purpose!  Download the printable Valentine's poster here at It Is What It Is and if you have a free Valentine's printable you'd like to share, enter it into the link up below!

*If you are reading this in via our e-mail newsletter or RSS feed, the link up won't show up. You have to visit the post on our website to view it.

A Pocketful of 2010 Children's Poetry Books

Hip, hip, hooray! A children’s poetry book received a Newbery Honor Award this year!!!
The book was Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Welcoming her readers into the “wild, enchanted park” that is the night, Joyce Sidman has elegantly crafted twelve poems rich in content and varied in format. Companion prose pieces about nocturnal flora and fauna are as tuneful and graceful as the poems. This collection is “a feast of sound and spark.”

You can read my review of Dark Emperor here.

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The Association for Library Service to Children has announced its 2011 Notable Children’s Books.


Here are the poetry books that made the list this year:

In the Wild. By David Elliott. Illus. By Holly Meade. Candlewick, $16.99 (9780763644970).
A joyful collection of brief poems paired with dynamic woodblock prints celebrates favorite animals from every continent.

Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. By Salley Mavor. Houghton, $21.99 (9780618737406).
Familiar and lesser known nursery rhymes, illustrated with superb needlework and appliqué, create a charming dollhouse of a book.



Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. By Bob Raczka. Illus. by Peter H. Reynolds. Houghton, $14.99 (9780547240039).
Six haiku for each season of the year, celebrating the interaction of boys and nature, combine with loose, expressive cartoons to make a winning combination.

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. By Beckie Prange. Houghton, $17.00 (9780618717194).
Three books in one! This amazing book of poetry is also a beautiful picture book and a nonfiction tribute to the adaptability of life on earth.
(You can read my review of Ubiquitous here.)


Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. by Rick Allen. Houghton, $16.99 (9780547152288).
Twelve elegantly crafted poems celebrating the night are accompanied by prose pieces about nocturnal flora and fauna. Newbery Honor Book



Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. By Marilyn Singer. Illus. by Josee Masse. Dutton, $16.99 (97870525479017).
What fun! Read the poem in one direction and it tells the folktale from one point of view. Read it in the opposite direction and the point of view is reversed.

********************

I must admit that I was surprised and disappointed that Jeannine Atkins’s wonderful Borrowed Names: Poems about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie, and Their Daughters didn’t make the list. I loved that book!

**********

There were two stellar poetry anthologies published last year.

Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems

selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by David Diaz

and

Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems

collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters and illustrated by G. Brian Karas.

I am happy that these last three books are all 2010 Cybils Poetry Finalists--as are Dark Emperor, Ubiquitous, and Mirror, Mirror.

There were other fine children's poetry books published in 2010. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to writing reviews of most of them. I hope to write more reviews this year.

Valentine Freebie Festival, Day 2! {FREEBIES}

It's day two of our VALENTINE FREEBIE FESTIVAL and today we've got another great non-candy option your kiddos can hand out at school on the 14th - bookmarks!

Sanquanetti Design created these five freebies for MG Party Impressions and the cute animal-themed sayings are perfect for boys or girls.

Not only will kids love them but the other moms will thank you for giving out something that won't result in a trip to the dentist!

You can download the five free Valentine's bookmarks and get the how to for assembly here at MG Party Impressions and if you have a free Valentine's printable you'd like to share, enter it into the link up below!

*If you are reading this in via our e-mail newsletter or RSS feed, the link up won't show up. You have to visit the post on our website to view it.