Back to School Book Review & Giveaway

Grams has gone back to school this week. It's the second week of school here in South Texas and I've substituted four days in a row. That means I'm behind on everything. My laundry is not done. In fact, I'm down to wearing that underwear that I don't like to wear. (Admit it, you know you have some.) I had hoped to launch my Etsy store this weekend, but it's going to be a few more days because I haven't sewn a stitch this week. In the meantime, I've got a treat for you. 

Once again, Grams is teaming with Scholastic Press to review a new book and bring a giveaway to my readers. Meet Bailey by Harry Bliss, the dog who goes back to school.

About the Book (from the publisher)

Meet Bailey, a dog who surprises and charms his fellow human classmates with his irrepressible antics.

Follow Bailey the dog as he gets ready and goes to school. Should he wear the red or blue collar? Both are so fashionable! Will he be late? That squirrel is a distraction! And what about Bailey's homework? Would you believe he ate it? That is what dogs do, after all.

In this funny new book from the best-selling children's illustrator Harry Bliss, school proves to be an unexpected place for Bailey to do all sorts of things he loves: reading, fetching, painting, digging, singing — and making friends!

Grams Review

Harry Bliss, cartoonist and cover artist for New Yorker magazine, has written a fun and beautifully illustrated book for primary school aged children (ages 4-8). It covers the basics of going back to school; everything from the importance of  good grooming and punctuality to remembering to have fun and make friends with your classmates.

I love that Bailey uses "the dog ate my homework" excuse and his school day ends with reading time. And I love that Bailey loves books. He loves reading them as well as eating them. You'll find that Bailey's day ends, pretty much like it starts, with Bailey running for the bus.

I haven't shared this book with Our Little Princess yet, but I'll be seeing her next weekend and you can be assured we'll be reading Bailey. We'll be at her Uncle Nick's house. Coincidentally, Uncle Nick has a dog named Bailey and I think she'll really get a kick out of reading a book about a dog named Bailey. 

Giveaway

Scholastic Press will give three lucky readers a copy of the new book Bailey by Harry Bliss. Entry is simple. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post before Midnight (Central Time) on Thursday, September 8, 2011.  Make sure your entry includes either an email address or a link to your blog so I can notify you if you win.

Disclosure

Grams received a copy of Bailey in exchange for writing and posting this review. Scholastic is also furnishing the three copies which will be given away to my readers.

You can buy the book at The Scholastic Store.

Grams Made A Book Wreath

Grams and Grandad have lived in the same house since 1984. We moved here just before our oldest child started kindergarten. We weighed our options which were Catholic school or a new house and chose the new house.

We chose the plans for this house out of a book at the architect's office. There are a lot of things that I would change if I could.

First and foremost, I let Grandad choose the kitchen style he wanted, because he was the chief cook in those days. Now that I'm the cook, I hate detest his galley kitchen. It's too small and there is not enough cabinet space.

Our master bathroom is roughly the size of a postage stamp. We bump into each other anytime we're both trying to get ready at the same time. And the door opens into the tiny room, which means, if you're standing at the sink and someone opens the door, you get hit in the butt. As soon as our last child left home, I moved my stuff into their bathroom on the other side of the house. It's bigger and I don't have to share it with Grandad.

We don't have a separate dining room. Our living room, dining room, and kitchen are basically one room with the kitchen separated from the living room by one wall. The dining space is too small for our growing family.

Our kid's rooms are very small. Well really, all our rooms are small except for our great room. The great room is 20' x 20' which has proven to be just perfect. But, now that our kids have kids, the whole house seems tiny when everyone comes home.

For the past 25+ years, I have tried to find something to hang in the space above our entertainment center. I tried several things over the years and nothing looked good there. I've hung photos, paintings, textiles, shelves, and various other things there, but nothing ever suited me. 

Then, a few weeks ago, I started seeing some Pottery Barn inspired wreaths that were made out of the pages of old books. I saw several different styles on numerous crafty blogs and decided that I wanted to make one of my own. I chose this one from Lee La La because she had an easy-to-follow tutorial.

This wreath cost me absolutely nothing. I used an old paperback book that we got from my husband's grandparents' house. We saved it merely because it was old and looked aged. The print was actually in Czech, which was kind of interesting. It was some kind of Catholic almanac, but had no value other than sentimental.

Cardboard, pencil, scissors, glue gun, hatbox lid (for tracing a circle) ribbon for hanging, and book (I only used the smaller one on the right).

Close-up of the finished product.

Here's how it looks above the entertainment center. I love it!

I was so pleased with how the wreath came out. Katy liked it too and I had enough supplies left from the one book to make a second wreath, so she has one hanging in her dining room. It looks great there too.

I'm not going to re-write the instructions from Lindsay's tutorial. Go over to Lee La La and use her's. They're perfect!