The Five Fish: Cheerios Spoonful of Stories Prize Pack

Over the past eight years, Cheerios has given away more than 40 million children’s books by distributing them free inside cereal boxes and has donated $3.2 million to First Book, their non-profit partner, which provides books to children from low-income families. The program is part of Cheerios’ ongoing commitment to helping parents provide their children with a healthy, nutritional and educational foundation.

Beginning this month, Cheerios is again bringing books to the breakfast table, by providing six million children’s books free inside Cheerios boxes. The books are for children ages 3 to 8 years old, and include a brand new book in the popular “Trucktown” series, available only inside Cheerios boxes. And for the first time, all five books have been specially printed in both English and Spanish. This year’s book offerings from Cheerios – all by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – are:

Junkyard Fort, written by Jon Scieszka, and illustrated by David Shannon, Loren Long and Dave Gordon: Join Gabriella, Jack, Melvin, Ted, Lucy and the other Trucktown characters as they make their own fort, using things found in the junkyard. Ages 4-8.

Tea for Ruby, written by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser: Wherever Ruby goes, a bit of disaster seems to follow. But one sunny morning, things change when the postman brings Ruby an amazing invitation: would she like to have tea with the Queen? Ruby needs to polish her manners, and quickly. Ages 4-8.

Sleepyhead, written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by John Segal: In this rhythmic bedtime story, a cat is the parent and a teddy bear is the child who doesn't want to go to bed. All ready for bed with teeth brushed and story read, Sleepyhead teddy tries anything to prolong his bedtime; books and his quilt provide ample fodder for his imagination. Ages 3-7.

Ballyhoo Bay, written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Derek Anderson: Mira Bella, an artist who teaches painting and sculpture, loves Ballyhoo Bay and what it offers: sun, sea, sand, and sky. But one gray day a billboard arrives, announcing an impending development that would take all the fun out of the place. Read along to see if Mira Bella and her art can save the day and Ballyhoo Bay! Ages 4–8.

What’s Under the Bed?, written and illustrated by Joe Fenton: Young Fred cannot stop worrying about the scary creature that might be hiding beneath his bed. Finally summoning the courage to peer under his bed, Fred, with his cumbersome glasses, sees that the only thing there is Ted, his friendly Teddy Bear! Ages 3–7.
[Courtesy of MyBlogSpark and Cheerios (a General Mills Brand)]

We here at The Five Fish LURVE Cheerios. My kids had Cheerios as their first finger foods, my son eats Cheerios for breakfast because of the low sugar content, and who doesn't just love a handful as a snack on a road trip. In no way did this program affect us, other than the additional reading material we received as part of this wonderful promotion.

DH and I strive to read and sing to our kids all the time. We think reading helps to foster imagination, improve educational strengths, and reading is a fabulous hobby. I mean I blew through the Twilight series in like four days flat. Non stop reading. We want our children to enjoy reading as much as we do and we also encourage Big G to read as much as he can on his own. Especially since he is doing the Harcourt reading program at school!

The Spoonfuls of Stories books we think fit into his Harcourt reading program. The books are great short stories that engage a child and their imagination, not to mention the cool activities at the back of the books. Grant is a HUGE fan of reading on his own now and as a parent the most wonderful feeling is seeing the lights click and the bulb light up when your child begins to read on their own, without the phonetic and parental attempts and assistance. Truly an indescribable feeling. Since he is such a new reader he has lots of fun books to read from educational to story-time books, so no specific favorite just yet. My favorite books as a child were Ramona, The Box Car Children, Charlotte's Web, and as I got older I became a fan of novels, poetry, prose, and comedies. (Yeah I am a bit of a literary snob at times)

So in an effort to promote a strong educational foundation with reading and healthy eating with Cheerios, The Five Fish are bringing you a Cheerios Spoonful of Stories Prize Pack which also includes a $25 Gift Card to Barnes and Noble!

PRIMARY ENTRY: Tell me your reading story ritual with your children or maybe the importance of reading in your children's lives or maybe tell me your favortite character from your favorite book (childhood or otherwise)
(Please make sure you have an email address or your Blogger account is public, I like Sherlock Holmes, but I don't like to play detective.)

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CONTEST ENDS NOVEMBER 8TH @ MIDNIGHT