Contest: The World in Your Lunch Box!

The World in Your Lunch Box is an entertaining look at the rich history and astonishing science behind everyday staples in the North American diet. Who knew ham sandwiches and macaroni and cheese had such complex (and delicious) back stories?

To celebrate the book's release, illustrator Sa Boothroyd has generously donated some tea towels, coasters, and magnets featuring her original artwork. And author Claire Eamer is pitching in with a signed, personalized bookplate!

Two prize packs are available at SMS Book Reviews (click here to go enter!), and the third is available right here! Details below.

Prize pack contains:

• One paperback copy of The World in Your Lunch Box
• A signed, personalized bookplate from the author
  
• One tea towel (design: "Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers")
• 2 magnets ("People watching what they eat" and "Families are like fudge")

Rules:
Contest open to residents of Canada and the U.S.
E-mail annick AT annickpress DOT com with the subject line "World in Your Lunch Box Contest" to enter.
One entry per person/household.

Winner will be drawn at random.
Entry deadline: April 19, 2012.

Good luck!

Winners of How Do You Read to a Rabbit Contest!

To celebrate the release of Andrea Wayne von Königslöw's charming picture book How Do You Read to a Rabbit? we ran a contest asking children to tell us which animal they thought would be hard to read to, and why. The winner would receive an original illustration of their entry from Andrea. In the end, Andrea received so many great submissions that she decided to choose three winners rather than just one. Here are the lucky winners, along with their illustrations.

Sarah, age 6 when she entered, said that "It would be hard to read to a butterfly because it will flutter too much and you'll have to read in all different directions."

N., age 3 when he entered, said, "I would try to read to a cow, but it would be hard because the cow would keep saying moo."

The final winner wasn't a single person--it was a classroom from South Park Elementary School in Tsawwassen, BC. Teacher-librarian Leslie Clancy read the students How Do You Read to a Rabbit? and then encouraged them to enter the contest. Twenty-seven of them submitted their ideas, and Andrea chose to illustrate six of them!

The entries for the above illustration included "maybe some gorillas know what we're talking about," "an orangutan will just want to swing the pages," "a platypus would go right to sleep (they are lazy)," "don't read to a funny hyena, the laughing is annoying," "you can try to read to an eagle but you'll need to fit in its nest," and "when you read to a bird, you have to read fast before it flies away to its nest."

Thanks again to everyone who entered--Andrea loved reading all of your wonderful ideas--and congratulations to the winners!

Happy Mother's Day!

May 9th is Mother's Day, so I hope all you mothers out there have a wonderful weekend! Last year, I posted the Top 10 Reasons a Book Makes the Perfect Mother's Day Gift. This year, I'd like to recommend a book for mothers with little ones who are just learning to read on their own: How Do You Read to a Rabbit? by Andrea Wayne von Königslöw.

In this adorable picture book, a child tries to read to various animals (an alligator, a kangaroo, and of course some rabbits) without success. The alligator eats the book, the kangaroos hop away too fast, and there are just too many bunnies. Animals are just so hard to read to! The child finally finds an appreciative audience... can you guess who they might be?

We're running a contest for children about this book: tell us which animal you think would be hard to read to and why, and Andrea will create a signed, original sketch of the winning entry! Click here to read the full contest details and to enter!

Here are just a few of the great entries we've received so far:

• "It would be hard to read to a sea serpent because you would get the pages all wet and you would have to sit all the way behind him in the very bottom of the sea." (Owen, 4)
• "Even if you try to read to a dodo bird you can't because they're extinct." (Jayden, 11)
• "If you try to read to a chipmunk while he's eating his chubby cheeks will block the book." (Alycia, 10)
• "You can try to read to a rhino, but his horn would poke right through the book." (Logan, 7)
• "A llama and reading to it would be difficult because it would spit in my face." (Brenna, 9)

 We look forward to your entries! Happy Mother's Day!

Andrea Wayne von Königslöw: Interview and Contest!

Author/illustrator Andrea Wayne von Königslöw talks about her latest picture book, How Do You Read to a Rabbit?



We're also running a contest for kids: send in your suggestion of an animal that you'd like to read to (and why it might be difficult), and Andrea will give the winner an original sketch of their entry! Visit our website for full details and an online entry form.

Wrapping Up Word of the Week Wednesday!

Last week brought the end of our five-week Word of the Week Wednesday feature on Twitter (#wowwed). In case you missed it, here are the five word origins we tweeted, all courtesy of Mark Abley, author of Camp Fossil Eyes: Digging for the Origins of Words:

Parasite: In Ancient Greece, it was fun to be a parasite (literally, "beside food"). Parasites would eat dinner at rich people's homes, where they flattered the host.

Manure: A poet once wrote: "Manure your heart." Why? He meant "improve it." The word is from a Latin phrase meaning "work with the hands."

Gossip: Gossips were originally "God relatives" or godparents. Later they were women who were present at a child's birth--and who talked.

Salary: Centuries ago, people could preserve food only by covering it in salt. A salary was the money that Roman soldiers bought salt with.

Sockeye: Forget feet and faces! This word comes from B.C., where the Salish Indians called a red fish "su-key".

We've also drawn the winners for our favorite-word contest: first place has won a copy of Camp Fossil Eyes and a travel Scrabble set, and the two runners-up have each won a copy of the book! As soon as we've notified the winners, we'll post the origins of their favorite words (courtesy of Mark Abley, of course!). Stay tuned!

Word-Sleuthing at Its Best!

In his new book Camp Fossil Eyes, author Mark Abley explores the intriguing origins of many words we take for granted. For example, did you know that television comes from Greek? Or that we have the Dutch language to thank for cookie?

To celebrate the wonderful world of words, we're having a contest! It's easy to enter: just e-mail your name, address, and favorite word to annickpress(at)annickpress(dot)com. You'll be added to our catalog mailing list (of course, you can request to be removed at any time) and will have a chance to win a copy of the book and a travel version of Scrabble!

Also, watch for our new "Word of the Week Wednesday" feature on Twitter. Just follow Annick Press (or search for #wowwed) to learn the interesting origins of a new word each Wednesday for the next five weeks!

Win a copy of My Parents Are Sex Maniacs!

Book Giveaway and Author Q&A!

Book Giveaway:
In Robyn Harding's new book, My Parents Are Sex Maniacs, sixteen-year-old Louise has to deal with some pretty embarrassing parental antics: like her dad having an affair with Louise's best friend's mom, and her mom hooking up with Louise's math teacher. What's worse than thinking about your parents' sex lives? Try your entire high school gossiping about your parents' sex lives!

But if you think you've got an embarrassing-parents story that beats that -- like the time your new crush came over and your mom gleefully hauled out those photos of you as an awkward preteen -- you could win a copy of My Parents Are Sex Maniacs!

Just e-mail your tale of parental humiliation to annickpress@annickpress.com. The top five stories will each win a copy of the book... and we promise to keep all entries confidential! You can also enter through the Annick Press group on Facebook, or send a direct message to @AnnickPress on Twitter (if you can keep your story to 140 characters!). Deadline is Friday, April 10!

Author Q&A:
I'll also be doing a Q&A with Robyn Harding soon, so if you have any questions you'd like to ask her, please post them in the comments and I'll select the best ones! Again, you can also send questions through the Annick Press group on Facebook or @AnnickPress on Twitter. Deadline is Sunday, April 5!

Contest!

The first person to guess the correct title and author of the fabulous picture book featured in our tea time mug wins a free copy of the book! Please post your guess as a comment for this post.