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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Modern Art Books for Babies

As I mentioned earlier today, we are celebrating the fact that our adoption of our youngest child was finalized yesterday! In celebration of that fact, I have a fun little surprise for FIVE of you!

As I have also mentioned before, our youngest was not really very interested (at all) in books upon his arrival. I've been constantly scouting out books that I think might have some appeal to him. These days - I am delighted to say! - it's quite normal to find him with a book in hand. He seems to have dived into the book world with gusto (making me one very happy mommy to two very happy readers!) Naturally when I went to the Book Expo, I was on the lookout for books that I thought would be bright and appealing to Bookworm2. I was looking for something that would grab his attention and engage him. When I came upon the Tundra Books booth and saw a series by Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter, I had a feeling they were onto something, not only for reluctant readers, but babies in general. Check these out:






This is a series of book written and designed by husband and wife team, Tom Slaughter and Marthe Jocelyn. The first book in this series - 1 2 3 was put together by Tom Slaughter, a New York City based artist whose works are featured in the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. The rest of the books followed in quick succession with his wife's participation and partnership.

The books are illustrated with paper cuts, using primary colors which create bright, bold pictures. The books are described as "deceptively simple" and they are that. They are very attractive to the eye and draw children in. I held up one of the books in this seven book series for Bookworm2 to see and he was instantly and visibly excited about them. Bookworm1 enjoyed them also, as they feature a lot of animals (including a sperm whale!)

Each book in the series teaches a different concept. Out of the seven, these three were our particular favorites:

ABC x 3 English, Espanol, Francais - Teaches children the alphabet in three different languages: English, Spanish and French! (I cannot confess to being able to pronounce a single syllable in French, but the concept of the book is pretty awesome!)

One Some Many - Teaches the concept of counting multiple objections. How much is "some?" How much is "many?" These are the questions the young reader is asked in this book which is filled with bold, simplistic pictures which represent the concepts in discussion.

Eats - In this book we see what different animals eat. Bears eat fish, bees eat nectar, a whale eats a squid. While this book is one of our favorites, I must also point out for Bookworm1's sake that they didn't give the squid ten tentacles. "They got it wrong, Mommy!") SO...it's more like a jellyfish, really. To be all technical about our sea life and everything. But other than that, this book was a true delight.

Each book in this series is interesting in some particular way. We enjoyed the paper cuts of the bees most especially and looked for them throughout our reading.

Slaughter's goal is to introduce children to the concept of modern art and develop an appreciation for it at an early age. These books also serve a significant educational purpose as well, by introducing children to basic concepts (such as counting) at the same time. I think these books fulfill their purpose perfectly and we've enjoyed them.

I am therefore delighted to let you know that Tundra Books has very, very generously offered up FIVE SETS of these seven titles to Reading to Know readers. Yes. You read that correctly. Five of you will each win the seven books in the Slaughter/Jocelyn series.

I'm so happy to be able to host this contest on a day of celebration around here and am glad to pass these along. To win? Simply leave a comment below. This contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through July 1st.

I know that many of you are adoptive parents and so, if you are connected to adoption in some way that is close to your immediate family's heart - then please leave a second comment for a second entry!

In the meantime, if you get a chance to check out these books - do!

To learn more about Tundra Books you can visit their website (by clicking on their name.) You can also follow the Tundra Books blog and for the rogue Twitter-ite, you can catch Tundra on Twitter and stay up to date with what they have to offer and stay in the loop regarding a variety of giveaways.

Good luck and have fun!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!

38 comments:

Happy Birthday Author said...

These are awesome books. We have read EATS and ONE SOME MANY at our house. The bright colors allow these books to stand out! My kids would love these!

Congrats on the finalization of the adoption! Awesome!

Melissa said...

These look like wonderful books! I don't have little ones in the house, so no need to enter my name in the drawing.

I stopped by to tell you that I have something for you at my blog:
http://www.frugalcreativity.com/2010/06/prolific-blogger-award.html

morninglight mama said...

Wow- these look gorgeous- and would make a LOVELY baby shower gift. :)

Annette W. said...

These are beautiful books! THanks for a chance to win again!

apple blossom said...

Love to win thanks

ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com

Stephanie Kay said...

These look great!! My oldest is taking a intro to Spanish class this fall so the alphabet in 3 languages would be a lot of fun for us.

Stephanie said...

Very cool!!

Jen @ Happy Little Homemaker said...

I would love these for my new little one!

Barbara Glickstein, RN, MPH, MS said...

I love this series and have purchased copies numerous times. Always a winner. Love their work.

Heather VanTimmeren said...

What a wonderfully generous giveaway! I'd love to be entered, and I'm rejoicing with you on the finalized adoption of Bookworm2!

marthejocelyn said...

Thanks for a LOVELY review!!

Jules@MoonCatFarms said...

My nephew has one of these books and absolutely loves it. I'd love to get the set for him. He's already a booklover! Thanks for the chance.

Jules@MoonCatFarms said...

Congratulations on the adoption. That is so exciting! My husband (who is adopted) and I are starting the process and are hoping to add to our family very soon. Congrats again :)

Alison said...

These books look wonderful and like something my son would enjoy reading.

Sky said...

I have three babies coming into my realm! I would love to win a set!

Queen of Carrots said...

Those look like they'd be perfect for the twins. If they have enough cars. :-)

wmmahaney said...

These books are great! Congrats on the adoption!

wmmahaney(at)att(dot)net

skkorman said...

These books would be great for my granddaughter—please enter me to win!

skkormanj AT bellsouth DOT net

Amy @ Hope Is the Word said...

Oooh--we need these for the DLM!!

Amy @ Hope Is the Word said...

I don't know if this counts as "immediate family," but my aunt and uncle have four adopted children. Three are grown now (and one has adopted a daughter of her own), and they've started over again with a 10 year old. They have also fostered for as long as I can remember.

Anonymous said...

Congrats!

I think these would be great for my nephew.

--Anna
diaryofaneccentric at hotmail dot com

Beth said...

I love concept books like this even to take into my first and second grade classroom.

Anonymous said...

These look delightful! I know my younger kiddos would love them!

Anonymous said...

These books look incredible...thanks for the giveaway.

Congratulations on the finalization of your adoption.

A family at church just adopted 3 children from Estonia...it would be fun if I were to win...to pass them along!

Sarah M. said...

Oh wow, these are really cool too. What a lot of great giveaways this week! :)

And congratulations on the finalization. How very exciting and definitely a time to celebrate!!! :)

Many of the families within our church have adopted or are in the procss of adopting so we hear how difficult and lengthy the process can be. Praying for you and your family as you continue on in this exciting journey together. So glad the toughest part (the wait, etc.) is over.

ibeeeg said...

What a fantastic giveaway! These books look very cool.

ibeeeg(at)gmail(dot)com

Amy DM said...

Congratulations on your adoption!

I would love, love, love to win those books!

(I have a U.S address!!!)

Amy DM said...

I don't know if this counts:

I have 15 non-adoptable foster children.

Please say it counts!

Mikaila said...

I don't have a small baby but I have LOTS of friends with small babies who I know would absolutely love these books!

AStarrA said...

Congratulation!!! What a great giveaway, please count me in and thanks for the chance!
disintegratingstarr@hotmail.com

Julie said...

What a way to celebrate your new addition! By giving US presents!! LOL!! Congratulations!

I would definitely love to have these books on hand for "Gigi Read To Me" storytime, as my own bebe boy just turned 10, and his children's books have already almost all been passed to the grandchildren for THEIR houses!

knittingandsundries(at)gmail(dot)com

Megan said...

We posted about your giveaway at Winning Readings.

insiredbyfiction[at]gmail[dot]com

Renee G said...

These look like a great series. I'd love to have these.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com

Linda Kish said...

I love to give books as gifts. These would be great.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Jennifer, A Self-Confessed Foodie said...

Congratulations on finalizing the adoption!!

These books look great!

jlsemon at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

these look like wonderful books. I would love to have them in my house.
trishbazin@yahoo.com

busiemommie said...

I am due in October, and I would LOVE to have a set of these books!

Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com said...

Thank you so much for this opportunity =) I'm not an adoptive parent, but I know that my daughter would love them. We're big readers in our house =)

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