Gifts for Teachers

I have been trying to think about what to get for my children's teachers this year. Having been a teacher, I know that I do not want to get them another coffee cup or teacher themed collectible. However, not knowing all of them on a personal level makes it difficult to shop and choose something for them. Having three children, who each have at least 1 teacher, makes it expensive, as well. Therefore, this year, I decided that my children and I would make their teacher's presents.

I wanted to make our teachers something unique and special, so I went to Martha Stewart for ideas. Of course, she had tons of cute ideas for homemade holiday gifts. Here are the ones we will be making:

















Velvet Ribbon Belts

Tea Cup Candles




















Bath Salts

So, what are you giving your children's teachers this year? Leave me a comment with your ideas or links.


Read Inch by Inch!

Activities to Accompany Our Favorite Books

There are so many wonderful resources on the internet for teachers and homeschooling families. In fact, there are so many that it can be a little overwhelming to navigate through them. Therefore, to make it easier for you, I will occasionally post links to some of my favorites.



Jesse Bear loves the "How Do Dinosaurs..." series. He thinks they are hilarious. I like them because the illustrations are very detailed (you will notice something new every time you read the books) and they have a nice rhyme and rhythm, which is not forced.

• Fun printables to compliment the "How Do Dinosauars" series
  
  
  

Fancy Nancy loves the Fancy Nancy series, of course! Fancy Nancy is a series about a little girl who likes to be fancy by dressing up in sparkly clothes and using "fancy" words. Little girls adore this series because they can totally identify with Nancy. Parents and teachers like it because it is wonderful for vocabulary development.

• Printable Fancy Nancy Paper Dolls
• Fancy Nancy Stickers
• Printable Activities for Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy
• Printable Activities for Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly
  
  
  

Junie B.'s favorite right now is the Junie B. Jones series, which is about a funny little girl and her everyday adventures at home and school. The series began with Junie B. as a kindergartner, and she is now a first-grader.

• Teacher's Guides
• Junie B.'s Sticker Scrap Book
• A Letter from Junie B.
• Junie B. Activities and Lots of Printables

Hope you and your little ones enjoy some of these!

Read Inch by Inch

The Tear Thief: A Book Review by Junie B.

MJ is the winner of this beautiful book.
MJ, please contact me with your shipping address.

Junie B. and I have fallen in love with a new children's book, The Tear Thief by Carol Ann Duffy. With the holidays approaching, we know many of you are choosing presents for your little ones. So, we thought we should definitely recommend this one.!

First, I will let Junie B. (my seven year old daughter) give her review:

The Tear Thief is about an invisible girl who collects tears. She looks like a beautiful fairy, but she is all white. You can only see her in puddles, though. When the tear thief collects the tears, she puts all of them on the moon. I think when we see a half moon it is because the tear thief has not collected enough tears.

I think girls, like me, will enjoy this book. It is a little sad in the beginning, but in the end it is happy.

Needless to say, Junie B. gives this one a thumbs up!

As a mother and educator, I really appreciate this modern fairy tale. Not only are the soft, dream-like illustrations strikingly beautiful, but the writing is very peaceful and calming. I also love the inspiring message that sadness can be transformed into beauty. It is an absolutely perfect bed time story. This book is one that you will want to keep and share for years to come.

I would like to offer one lucky winner a copy of The Tear Thief. To enter: leave me a comment about with whom you would like to share this lovely fairy tale. For extra entries: link to the contest from your site, join my readers, and post my button on your blog.

Love This Artist

Rashmi from A Book Blogger's Diary is the winner of this beautiful notebook.
Thank You, Cris!

Mary Goes With Her Stuff is a new Etsy store owned by Cris, a wife and mother who loves to create. Her store currently contains her notebooks, which she sews by hand and covers in beautiful fabric.

Cris is inspired by her beautiful daughter, Mari. In fact, she credits the birth of her daughter with releasing her "inner child". She says she now feels "alive and free" and this is also a great inspiration to her.

In addition to making notebooks and mini-albums, Cris enjoys scrapbooking and has recently taken up sewing. *Check out this adorable skirt (middle of page) she made for Mari. Too cute! I hope to see some of her sewing creations in her store one day.
*Love the playlist on her site, as well!

For this giveaway, Cris is offering one lucky winner this beautiful, hand-crafted notebook. It contains 100 pages, which were sewn in by hand. It has 5 dividers and is perfect for journaling or collecting recipes. I love the Japanese-style fabric!

To enter: Visit Mary Goes with Her Stuff. Then come back and tell us which of her notebooks contains small retro illustrations of women and children. For extra entries: Post a blurb about this contest and link to it, join my group of readers, post my button on your site. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

Crazy Busy!

I apologize for not posting many early childhood related ideas lately. I have been crazy busy! In addition to operating www.ittybittybookworm.com, I have also just started a new job. I am working as the Director of Education at a preschool in Philadelphia. I am really enjoying it, but it hasn't left me with much time for blogging. I am hoping to get caught up soon!

In the meantime, here are some fun Thanksgiving printables for you to use with your kiddos!

• Indian Writing Paper
• Pilgrim Writing Paper
• Thanksgiving Card 1
• Thanksgiving Card 2
• How to Cook a Turkey
• Printable Booklet
• Name Plates

Enjoy!

Read Inch by Inch

Stelabird

The Buki Family has won this giveaway!
Thank you, Estela!

I am so excited to introduce Estela and Stelabird, her adorable Etsy store.

Estela is a college student who loves to sew and blog. She fine tuned her sewing skills while studying apparel design at Oklahoma State University. Since then, she has been using her skills to create items based on her inspirations.

The first items Estela made and sold were her hand sewn birds. However, her store has grown to include many "quirky plushies". She now makes owls, birds (currently sold out), and Yetis. In addition, she also makes cute pouches made of unique patterned fabrics.



For this giveaway, Estela is offering one lucky winner her choice of any 1 item from her store. To enter, please visit Stelabird then come back and tell us what you would choose if you won. Extra entries for joining the followers of my blog, posting about this giveaway, and posting my button on your blog. The winner will be announced on Wed, Nov. 12.

Good Luck!

Read Inch by Inch

Monday Giveaway

The winner is: The Life and Times of the Lady Riposter, A Self-Confessed Foodie

Thank you to all who entered
and
Thank you to Story Book Productions!

Today's giveaway is sponsored by Story Book Productions. SBP is an Etsy shop committed to bringing stories to life. The shop offers an interesting variety of "story telling" products.

The StoryKeeper is a 6"x8.5", handmade ring bound book, which keeps your lists, sketches, samples, patterns, notes, dreams, fav photos and even your standard planner inserts by DayTimer, Dayrunner and Covey, all in one gorgeous place.

The StoryBook is a hand bound book for photo, images, and journaling. It is a meaning filled gift –with or without photos added – graduations, weddings, retirements, birthdays, showers, anniversaries, mitzvahs, holidays. They are also wonderful gifts to yourself – re-do that awful dated wedding album, keep a photo journal, build your legacy library or promote your work using a Story Book as your portfolio!

The MiniBook is the most fun you can have, or give, for under $10.00! Don't let the size fool you, this 4"x5" mini is made with the same professional ingredients and loving care as it's big sibs - the StoryBook and StoryKeeper. Handmade papers, professional grade book board and PVA wrap around 15 pages of commercial weight cardstock papers inside. A lot of punch in a little package.

For this giveaway, SBP is offering one lucky winner a MiniBook Trifecta (you choose your favorite 3 minibooks, as well as a Scrap Salad (check it out, it is cute!).

To enter: Visit SBP and browse around. Then, come back here and tell us about your favorite product in a comment. Extra entries for following my blog, adding my button to your blog, and blogging about this giveaway. The winner will be chosen on Monday, Nov. 10.

Good Luck!

Read Inch by Inch

Holiday Shopping at Etsy

If you have been reading my blog, you already know that I am completely addicted to Etsy. I love finding, browsing, and (of course) purchasing beautiful, handmade items. There is just something so special about knowing that a talented, individual artist created the products that I buy.

This holiday season I am trying to buy handmade as much as possible. Here are the items I have bought so far:


Lot of washi pendant necklaces from Maoiliosa






Handmade soaps from DeShawn Marie







A large handsewn T-Rex from Carrot Fever







Taffy the Doodle Girl from Bit of Whimsy Dolls












Handknit Scarf from Cricket's Creations






Crocheted Baby Hat from Warm and Fuzzy Baby





Please check out the stores of these gifted crafters. All of their products are of incredible quality.

I still have many other purchases to make. I will let you know when I find more great stuff!

Advertise/PR

My name is Tara and Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms is my personal blog.  Here you will find an assortment of posts on the following topics:  Preschool Activities, Children's Books, Cooking with Kids, Healthy Meal Planning and Recipes, and much more.  I also own and operate The Itty-Bitty Bookworm, a literature-based preschool curriculum.

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I accept button ads, text ads and occasionally a sponsored post. This is my personal blog and I desire to maintain authenticity in all areas. I only support products and services that I can wholeheartedly endorse. All sponsored content will be identified as such.  

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If you would like to see reviews I have written in the past, please check out the following links:

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I am available for attendance at Mom Blogger Events.  I will use my experiences as a mother, early childhood consultant, curriculum writer, and blogger to offer my opinions and advice on how to connect with educators and parents.

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Disclosure
This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship and other forms of compensation.  I often use affiliate links in my posts.  At this time I am affiliated with Amazon.com.

I abide by word of mouth marketing standards, and I am always forthright with my opinions. I believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog, but it never influences my opinions.  That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely mine.  I only endorse products or services that I believe are worthy of such endorsement.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.

If you are interested in any of the above opportunities,
email me:  contact AT ittybittybookworm DOT com

Thank you for your interest in Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms!

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Review Policies

Reviews
If you are a company or a PR rep who would like to have a product reviewed on Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms, I would love to hear from you.

I review products based on my experiences and those of my children.  I find that my readers are more interested in products that my children and/or I have actually tested.  Therefore, I request that you send me the actual product that you would like me to review.   I will only recommend a product with confidence if I genuinely like it.  I desire to maintain my integrity and authenticity at all times.

Giveaways
I encourage companies to sponsor giveaways for the products they are having reviewed.  This is an excellent way to gain more exposure and create a product buzz.  If you would like to provide a product for a giveaway, I ask you to handle fulfillment.  I randomly select giveaway winners using Random.org.  I post the winner at the top of the review/giveaway post and email him/her, as well.  I will  email you the winner’s shipping information as soon as I receive it.

If you have any questions or requests,
please do not hesitate to ask!
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contact AT ittybittybookworm DOTcom

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