Monday, February 8, 2010

Over the Rainbow with CD - Book Review & Giveaway

Over the Rainbow Book coverThe timeless song, Over the Rainbow, sung by the legendary Judy Collins has now been transformed in to a beautiful book that any young child would be happy to own. Included with the book is a three-song CD all sung by Judy Collins which includes 'Over the Rainbow', 'I See the Moon' and 'White Coral Bells'.

I was beyond excited to find out that I was receiving a copy of this book to review. The illustration on the front cover alone drew me in and I have become very fond of books that include music as I find it is a great way to spark young imaginations while introducing them to music and reading.

The first time Baby Bird and I sat down to read the book, we played the CD at the same time. The book in itself is beautiful to look at, but reading the book while listening to Judy Collins sing the song brings the pages to life.

The story line of the book is based on the first verse to "Over the Rainbow" which, even though it was originally recorded by Judy Collins, was never actually used in the film, The Wizard of Oz. It goes like this, "When all the world is a hopeless jumble and the raindrops tumble all around, Heaven opens a magic lane. When all the clouds darken up the skyway, there's a rainbow highway to be found, Leading from your window pane to a place behind the sun, just a step beyond the rain."

I have to admit, this book made me tear up a couple of times (especially when I played the music and read the book at the same time). It's full of wonder and imagination and I had tears because it took me back to a time when I was younger and daydreams were a daily occurrence for me. Now that I am older, and I'm the 'adult', I don't get those opportunities as often as I would like. I thought about Baby Bird and how happy I am that she still has so many years of adventure and innocence ahead of her. So I'd say they were tears of happiness.

The illustrations are beautiful paintings by Eric Puybaret who has illustrated a number of wonderful books. I am told that the artwork was painted on linen and then scanned. The paintings are so soft and flow so beautifully across the page. It takes the reader out of the daily grind to that magical place that you can only imagine, somewhere over the rainbow.

This book will be released in March 2010, but you can pre-order and buy this book online at Amazon.ca or at Amazon.com. This is a great chance to introduce your child to classic music that never goes out of style.

McAllister Rowan Communications has generously offered to give two (2) of my readers one (1) copy of this book each as a giveaway...

To enter: Leave a comment at the end of this post telling me what your favorite book as a child was. Please also leave a way of getting a hold of you should you win. *You must do this for any additional entries to count.

After you have completed the first entry, you can enter an additional comment one time for each of the following:
  • Become a public follower of This Bird's Day (either in the right sidebar or through Facebook at the bottom of this page).
  • Follow This Bird's Day on Twitter AND tweet about this giveaway linking to this post. Please include your twitter id in your comment (you must do both for this one to count).
  • Be a confirmed email subscriber to my updates (at the bottom right of this page). Simply enter your email address, confirm it and you will receive email updates when I make a new post. This will let you know when there is new content and giveaways on my site.
This contest is open to US and Canadian residents and runs until 12pm MST on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

* I received a copy of this book for free to complete my review. The opinions expressed in this post are mine only and are in no way influenced by any outside factors.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love Review and Giveaway

I have another book from Chicken Soup for the Soul titled Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love: 101 Heartwarming and Humorous Stories about Dating, Romance, Love and Marriage. Just in time for Valentine's day, this book is filled with wonderful stories .

Chicken Soup Logo
I have a few favorite stories from this book that stand out but my favorite is titled "Married to a Metrosexual" by Delia Lloyd. Papa Bird is far from a metrosexual and at times his 'guyness' can irk me (just as I'm sure my 'girliness' can irk him) so it was quite funny to read about the ups and downs of having a metrosexual partner.

Chicken Soup for the Soul True Love book coverHere is a brief description of this book: Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love (Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, December 2009) This fun new book about dating, romance, love, and marriage, will make you laugh and make you cry, and is guaranteed to inspire you to renew that search for your soul mate or open your heart a little more to the one you already have. Read about how couples met, when "they knew", good and bad dates, proposals, maintaining the relationship, second chances, and all the other ups and downs of love, romance and marriage.

This book and all of the other Chicken Soup for the Souls are available for purchase online from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com for approximately $10.


Chicken Soup for the Soul has offered to give two of my readers a copy of this book as a giveaway...

To enter:
Just leave me a comment below with a way of getting a hold of you if you win. *You must do this for any additional entries to count.

After you have completed the first entry, you can enter an additional comment one time for each of the following:
This contest is open to Canada and the US and runs until 12pm MST on Friday, February 12, 2010.

* I received a copy of this book for free to complete my review. The opinions expressed in this post are mine only and are in no way influeanced by any outside factors.

Friday, February 5, 2010

NPD Online Surveys Canada (English, Male)

NPD Online Surveys Canada is currently looking for English speaking, Canadian males for some of their surveys. With every survey you complete you are entered to win cash and prizes.
If you would like to give your two cents or if you know of any men out there who love to give their opinions, have them sign up to complete these surveys for their chance to win.

Men, just click the logo image to sign up.

And women - just so you don't feel left out. You too can make your voice heard! Click Here.

Danone DanActive Bzzz Campaign and Contest Code (Giveaway)

I work as an agent with BzzAgent and I was recently selected to spread the word about Danone DanActive. For those of you who have been with me since last year, you may remember that I've done a campaign for DanActive before. I was super excited to do it again because since trying it last year, I have become quite the fan of this delicious healthy drink.

I received some coupons and some scratch cards to hand out to win a one-year supply of DanActive.

So for those that are not familiar with DanActive, It is a probiotic drink that helps strengthen your natural defenses because of its unique bacterial culture L. casei DefensisTM which is exclusive to Danone. DanActive is also good for kids over the age of one year. Baby Bird shares my drink with me at times and she loves it.

Since trying them last year I have three favorites; pomegranate, blueberry and strawberry. They come in a small bottle because you don't need much to get your daily dose and they are perfect for grabbing while on the go.

So here's the deal. To enter the contest I spoke about at the beginning of this post, you need a contest card. I have 20 of them to give away. You can only enter once per person on the site. I will give one unique code away to the first 20 people to comment on this post with their email address.*

There is no limit on this, it's first come first served and the contest closes on May 30, 2010. Open to Canadian residents only.

* I will not be mailing out your contest card, I will email you with your unique code to enter, then once you receive the code, you will go to the DanActive contest site to enter their giveaway. Once the comment number reaches 20, I will be out of codes to give away.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

POM Wonderful (FPC Giveaway)

I was sent some free product coupons (FPC) from POM Wonderful to try out some of their 100% Pomegranate Juice.

Sure, I saw the bottles in my grocery store when I shopped, but I didn't really know enough about the juice or the company to try them out. I would think to myself, "I'll google them when I get home to check them out more", like I do with a lot of products, but then I get home, and life gets in the way and I forget about it -- until the next time I am in the grocery store.

Well, here was my chance. With my coupons I bought two bottles of the regular 100% Pomegranate Juice and one bottle of the POM Mango Juice.

Here's what I learned about POM Wonderful. Their juices:
  • do not contain added sugars, preservatives or colors
  • are filled with antioxidants and have the ability to neutralize harmful free radicals
  • are a good source of potassium
  • are gluten-free
  • are flash pasteurized to retain both flavor and nutrients
  • are certified kosher
You can also check their website for more health benefits.

As for the taste. I find the 100% Pomegranate Juice to be a little tart on it's own but I love the POM Mango Juice. Don't get me wrong, I still like the Pomegranate Juice, it's just on the tart side -- totally worth it though for the health benefits. I have been on the look out for the other flavours as well.

So, for the giveaway. I've kept back one of my free product coupons to share with one of you so you can try it as well. That's how I roll!

To enter: Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post with a way of getting a hold of you if you win. Simple as that.

This giveaway is open to Canadian residents and will end on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 12:00pm MST.