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Showing posts with label 04/16/10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 04/16/10. Show all posts

Sunday, April 11, 2010

$25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway - CLOSED

Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card from Springpad over at All Because Two People Fell In Love.

Giveaway ends 04/16/10 midnight

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Custom Blog Design Giveaway - CLOSED

Enter to win a blog design by Army Wife Jesse Mac over at Who Doesn't Love Coupons.

Giveaway ends 04/16/10 11:59pm EST

Monday, April 5, 2010

Shushybye Sleepover Surprise Book and CD, and Close Your Eyes CD Review and Giveaway - CLOSED



For my very first product review, I was excited to get the chance to review a copy of both the Shushybye Sleepover Surprise book and CD and Close Your Eyes CD from over at Shushybye.

Here’s some general information I learned about Shushybye from their website for those of you don’t know anything about who they are, and what they’re trying to accomplish over there. Over at Shushybye, their main goal is to encourage babies, toddlers and preschoolers to look forward to sleep time. They want to help parents prepare children for sleep in a fun and imaginative way, so instead of dreading getting ready for bed, children are actually excited for it.

Shushybye currently has books, CD’s, DVD’s, plush dolls, sleepwear, and a television show called Shushybye Baby (airing on BabyFirstTv and Comcast Video on Demand), all available to begin making bed time a positive experience for both children and their parents. New to Shushybye this summer, the Shushybye band is going on tour! Check out their website to see dates and locations for shows.

Here is my personal, unbiased review of the two products I received from Shushybye.

Shushybye Sleepover Surprise Review

The first thing I noticed after opening the package I received from Shushybye was how nice the book was done. The book is hardcover (which I think is easier for kids to handle) and it was obvious there were glow in the dark features on the cover. The very first thing I did was hold it under a lamp, followed by turning off the lights. I thought this was a great idea to get kids interested right off the bat. I don’t know about you, but when I was young, I loved glow in the dark stuff. Obviously, I still think it’s pretty cool.

Before beginning my read, I opened the pages just to check out the illustrations. Let me tell you, the pictures are so well done. The characters and background are done in a fun cartoon way and the colors used are beautiful and bright, sure to capture children’s attention.

After skimming the pages a bit, I went back to start over and read the book. I’m just going to come right out and say, I really enjoyed this book! Let me tell you why. First, I loved the characters and their names. The book is all about sleep time, and the creator really incorporated this into naming the characters. The three main ones are Snoozles, Dozie, and Zeez, with supporting roles from Snort, Wheez, and Bay B. King, the blues singer over at the House of Snooze. Very cute play on words! Next, I really liked the plot of the story. The story starts off with two children who go to their Grandmother’s for the night and are looking forward to their dreams of Shushyland. Meanwhile over at Shushyland they are discovering how wonderful it is to do nice things for friends just because. Together, the Shushies and the children help pull off a wonderful surprise for a friend for no special occasion at all. This brings me to my next reason for liking this book. Throughout the book, they use the theme of doing nice things for people just to do them. I think this is a wonderful lesson to teach young children and Shushybye incorporated it into their book, in both a fun and easy way for children to understand.

The book also includes a CD which features the story and three Shushybye tunes. The read-along part has a pleasant storyteller with added voices making the characters unique and fun. The songs are nice and my favorite is Shushybye Blues, which has a great lesson to learn about how if you don’t go to sleep, you’ll miss out on your dreams and have the Shushybye Blues. Very catchy! This song in particular also has the words in the back of the book for easier learning. As I’ve already written, I really enjoyed the book/CD combo, and I look forward to reading this and other Shushybye books with my daughter. I really think the lessons they have to teach and the fun and creative way they do it, will encourage children to want to go to sleep instead of avoiding it.

Close Your Eyes CD Review

Let’s just face it, a lot of children’s music is just plain terrible. Not to children of course, but to us adults it’s often miserable to listen to. I don’t know how many times over the past few years I’ve heard myself or someone else say, “Please don’t let my children be into this!” Before I began my review for this CD, I was actually pretty nervous for this part, what if I hated the music Shushybye was putting out there? Well, I’m extremely happy to say I didn’t!

I listened to it a few times through, just to get a better feel for it before I wrote my review. It begins with upbeat songs about getting ready for bed, ending with songs closer to lullabies and falling asleep. The CD includes many genres, certain to have something that appeals to everyone, including rock ‘n roll, blues, jazz, Latin and Country. My two favorites are Pillow Park Rock, which reminds me of swing music, and Shushybye Boogie Tonight, a rock ‘n roll song that really had me bobbing my head and tapping my foot. And that’s just me! While my daughter is a bit young still at only 6 months, I can only imagine her dancing around and singing these songs as well! Overall, I was really pleased with this CD, and I will encourage my daughter to listen and learn from these songs.

Head on over to Shushybye’s website to check out their great products available to help your child enjoy sleep time tonight! If you aren’t up for purchasing it just yet, you’re in luck! Shushybye has offered one of my readers the great package I’ve just reviewed. One winner will receive the Shushybye Sleepover Surprise book and CD, as well as the Close Your Eyes CD.

*Main entry – To enter this giveaway there are two things that must be done. One – follow my blog publicly via Google (over on the right tab bar). Two – head over to Shushybye and let me know what other product you’d love to get for your child (besides the book and CD being given away.) That’s it! Please leave your email address in the comment so I am able to contact you if you win.

Now, for extra entries, you can do any of the following. You do not have to do these extra, they are completely optional if you’d like extra entries. You must do the main entry before these extra entries to be eligible to win the book and CD, I will check to make sure. Remember to leave a separate comment for any and all entries and to leave an email address so I can contact you.

1. Follow me on twitter and leave your twitter id
2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave the url
3. Blog about this giveaway and leave the url so I can check that you did it
Thanks and good luck!

Giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada residents, and will end on April 16, 2010 11:59pm EST. A comment number will be drawn at random from random.org. Winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond. If I don't hear back, another winner will be selected.

I was provided with this product free of charge by the highlighted company and/or its PR agency in order to test the product first hand and to provide you with my personal opinion on it. The opinions I have provided are mine and mine alone. I am in no way required to write a positive review and my review was not influenced in any way by monetary means. Please investigate before any and all purchases as I am not liable nor responsible for any losses or damages you may incur. Please read my Terms of Use before entering this contest.