Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy 2 free e-books on me- Last Day!
Valentine’s Day brings back fond memories of school parties, exchanging cards with classmates, Conversation Hearts, and running home after school eager to share my bag of Valentines with my mother. I would dump that bag out onto the table and my mother would read each card with me. Such wonderful memories! But for many children, Valentine’s Day is a painful time; being the kid that no one gives a card to or has a treat for. As you help your child make Valentine cards for classmates, be sure to talk to them about how important it is to include everyone in the day that love is celebrated.
Annie Mouse Meets a New Friend is the perfect book for teaching your children about friendship and bullying. Check it out on Amazon, where it will be offered as a free download for three days, from February 12-14. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051GT7NE
I am also offering Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure: A Photo Journal as a Valentine gift during that same time period.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050VDBPU
If you have young children, be sure to sit down with them and read their Valentines together. It’s a great activity that builds reading skills and warm fuzzy moments! Afterwards, keep the reading going by taking an adventure along Route 66 with Annie Mouse!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy 2 free e-books on me- Last Day!
Valentine’s Day brings back fond memories of school parties, exchanging cards with classmates, Conversation Hearts, and running home after school eager to share my bag of Valentines with my mother. I would dump that bag out onto the table and my mother would read each card with me. Such wonderful memories! But for many children, Valentine’s Day is a painful time; being the kid that no one gives a card to or has a treat for. As you help your child make Valentine cards for classmates, be sure to talk to them about how important it is to include everyone in the day that love is celebrated.
Annie Mouse Meets a New Friend is the perfect book for teaching your children about friendship and bullying. Check it out on Amazon, where it will be offered as a free download for three days, from February 12-14. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051GT7NE
I am also offering Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure: A Photo Journal as a Valentine gift during that same time period.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050VDBPU
If you have young children, be sure to sit down with them and read their Valentines together. It’s a great activity that builds reading skills and warm fuzzy moments! Afterwards, keep the reading going by taking an adventure along Route 66 with Annie Mouse!
Baby Brother Goes to the Hospital: A Free Download and the Back Story
With so much emphasis on the heart during the month of February, this Saturday, February 4, 2012, I am offering a free download of the Amazon Kindle version of my book that was inspired by my son’s open heart surgery as an infant: Baby Brother Goes to the Hospital.
The Back Story
My son was born with a heart defect and underwent open-heart surgery at 15 months. Needless to say, I was terrified at the thought of my baby having this surgery. I focused so much on my infant’s health that I neglected thinking about the impact on his older brother, who was only a toddler himself. In an effort to protect him from what was happening, I tried to pretend there was nothing out of the ordinary going on and didn’t even attempt to talk to him about the crisis, merely telling him that his brother would return from the hospital when he was “better”. Little did I know that he had interpretted “better” to be the opposite of “bad!” The poor little guy thought that I had sent his brother away as a punishment for crying too much! He developed all sorts of fears as a result, including wondering when I would turn on him and send him away, too!
Young children misunderstand things all the time and these misunderstandings may lead to behavior problems if we don’t stop and listen to children’s interpretations of what’s going on around them. A good book can invite such discussions and provide insights into their thoughts and fears. I wrote this book so that parents are reminded of the need to engage children in a discussion about their fears. Ideally, books of this nature should be read with young children BEFORE the family is embroiled in a crisis. Most young children will be faced with a beloved family member’s hospitalization in their lives and they will need to have coping skills in order to deal with the crisis in an emotionally healthy manner.
The focus of the story in Baby Brother Goes to the Hospital is on Annie’s fear and misunderstanding about what is going on. A young child does not need to have a baby brother to benefit from this book. The important thing is that the discussion is started about what happens when someone is hospitalized. Pediatricians, nurses, early childhood teachers, and parents of young children could all benefit from having a copy of this book on hand.
Enjoy! And if you’re so inclined, think about a donation to the American Heart Association and/or your local Children’s Hospital.
Free e-book: Where the Rainbow Touches Ground 1/22/12
I am offering a free download through Amazon of my book: Where the Rainbow Touches Ground for 24 hours only, beginning at midnight PST on January 22, 2012.
You can find the link to the book from my Amazon author’s page:
http://www.amazon.com/Anne-Slanina/e/B00515S5W4/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
In this episode, Annie takes Daddy’s words literally (“there’s a leprechaun guarding a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow”). Young children WILL take your words literally. Please read this book WITH your little ones and talk about words you have used that they might have misunderstood. Has this caused behavior problems or fears in your child? This book offers a great opportunity to discuss those types of misunderstandings and help reassure your children that your love is unconditional.
Enjoy this gift from Annie Mouse!
Free e-book: Baby Brother Goes to the Hospital
For 24 hours only, the e-book version of Baby Brother Goes to the Hospital, one of books from The Adventures of Annie Mouse picture book series, will be available for free on Amazon Kindle. This 24 hour give-away will begin at midnight Pacific time on January 14th. Remember, you don’t need a Kindle to enjoy the kindle e-books. You can download the kindle app for pc, mac, ipad, etc. and enjoy the books in full color. You can also sync a book you have download to all of your devices.
Baby Brother Goes to the Hospital is best read WITH a child. It is especially helpful for opening up a discussion about what happens when one child in the family is hospitalized. It is also useful for helping children develop empathy for others, even if they don’t have this situation within their own family. This book can be used as bibliotherapy.
This book is also available in hardback and softcover versions through my website: www.anniemousebooks.com
Annie Mouse Meets a New Friend: Free e-Book Today Only!
Yesterday I gave away 641 copies of Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure: A Photo Journal! I hope those of you who received a copy enjoy it and have hours of discussion with your children. I also hope that many of you also have a chance to make the Route 66 trip with your children. If you did download a copy and enjoyed it, I’d appreciate it if you would go back to the Amazon site and click “like” at the top of the page. Tags and reviews are also appreciated!
Today I am offering Annie Mouse Meets a New Friend as a free digital download through Amazon. Remember, you don’t have to own a Kindle device to enjoy a kindle download- simply download the kindle app for whatever device you have. The books can be enjoyed in full color on your pc or ipad/iphone.
http://www.amazon.com/Annie-Mouse-Friend-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0051GT7NE/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1
Enjoy!
Free Download of e-book: Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure: A Photo Journal
Now is a great time to start planning your next Route 66 trip! If you’ll be doing the trip with young children, you’ll want to take Annie Mouse along.
Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure will be available for a FREE download on Sunday, January 8, 2012 through Amazon Kindle. Now is a great time to check it out to see if you’d like to order the print version! This special is available for 24 hours only.
Also remember, if you’re a Kindle Prime member, any of the Annie Mouse Adventures can be downloaded for free. 
Happy New Year!
I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2012! I don’t know about you, but I am happy to say good-bye to 2011. While it’s been an exciting year in so many ways, it certainly has had its challenges! It seems like with every joy, there has been an accompanying challenge. For instance, my oldest son got married in February, but the joy of welcoming a new daughter-in-law and grand daughter into the family was marred by my son’s deployment in August. He is currently serving in Afghanistan. I celebrated the release of Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure: A Photo Journal, with my cross-country, Route 66 trip in May, but the trip was marred by the Joplin and El Reno tornadoes and Texas, New Mexico and Arizona wild fires. I arrived back home from the trip feeling more like I was experiencing post traumatic stress, rather than the usual post vacation exhaustion!
If you have had challenges in your life this year (and who hasn’t??!!), I hope you have scooped up the little ones in your life and have reassured them of how much you love them and that the stress you are feeling is not their fault. Children tend to think that everything is their fault. The holidays always seem to bring out the worst behaviors in young children. Their schedules are disrupted and we overstimulate them with all of the presents, candy, visitors and extended bed times. These things can cause stress for the entire family and parents may end up doing more yelling and punishing than usual. What a paradox! While we are lavishing them with toys and goodies (stuff) to show them how much we love them, we’re also yelling and screaming and even spanking! So, if you have been sending your children – your most precious gifts of all- mixed messages, please take time right now to tell them how thankful you are that they are in your life and that you love them! Take time to truly experience the joy that the smiles and giggles of a little one can bring into your life. Vow to read them a great bed time story, tuck them into bed and give them a hug and kiss every night in 2012!
May you experience many joys and fewer challenges in 2012!
Happy New Year!
Anne M. Slanina and Annie Mouse Books
Anne Mouse Books: American Made, Produced on a Printing Press
A fact that I don’t make known enough about my books is that they are not digitally produced. They are printed at a REAL, old-fashioned print shop on a printing press. I have the greatest respect and admiration for the owners and operators at Commercial Printing in New Castle, PA and also Mechling Book Bindery. As you are thinking about your purchases this holiday season, please do consider books printed in the USA. Also, keep in mind that there is free shipping through my web site and the Kindle versions are at specially reduced priced through the holiday season. Happy shopping!
Annie Mouse finger puppet craft
Enlarge page to full size and copy onto a stiff oaktag or postcard weight paper. Cut out and loop around the child’s finger to create an “Annie Mouse” finger puppet.
Enjoy!
