Christmas Love

 We remember each year on Christmas day

Little baby Jesus lying in the hay.

In a wooden manger near the cows and sheep

Lay the son of God, peacefully asleep.

Shepherds watching their sheep that night

Suddenly saw a very bright light.

Angels said not to be afraid

But go see where baby Jesus was laid.

Everybody was filled with joy

Because of this tiny baby boy

Who is the greatest gift of all,

Although he was so very small.

Because of God's love Jesus came,

And he still loves us just the same.

At Christmas time and each day too

Remember that Jesus always loves you!

© Connie Arnold

Written for my grandsons, Luke, Noah & Jesse, 2009

Be There Bedtime Stories

This is a press release about an exciting new way to read bedtime stories to children when you are far apart.  As a grandmother whose grandchildren live far away and who doesn't get to be with them and read stories to them very often, I think it's a great idea! What do you think? The publisher of my Animal Sound Mix-up children's book, Guardian Angel Publishing, is one of those with books on the site.

New Website Enables Families to Be There for the Holidays

IRVINE, CA, December 1, 2010 - Webcam bedtime stories is an innovative new technology being added to the list of family-friendly media, this Christmas. ALISON SANSONE is Creator of BE THERE BEDTIME STORIES, a new website that combines e-books and video of a family storyteller. 

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Grandparents Read Bedtime Stories with a Webcam

“We believe this broadens the scope of users and the value to families as a fun and new alternative to existing multi-media products on the market,”

Irvine, CA (PRWEB) December 1, 2010

The process takes place entirely on the BE THERE BEDTIME STORIES website in three steps: 1) select a children’s book from the bookstore, 2) read the story in front of a webcam as it displays on the computer screen, 3) the child receives an email with the link to view the e-book on the website with video of the storyteller positioned on each page.
The beta website went live in September of this year with over one hundred published children’s books available in the online bookstore. There are one hundred more titles in production with the interface, from five different publishers so far, including ten original works to be published by BE THERE BEDTIME STORIES.
The business model for BE THERE BEDTIME STORIES was inspired by her own problem of living far from her only two nieces, who live in Chicago. SANSONE was working in video production at the time, in Orange County, California. “I was unable to be a part of their development - unable to be recognized when I would visit once a year,” SANSONE explains her frustration. “Bedtime stories seemed a convenient and entertaining activity that would solve that problem.”
SANSONE explains the findings of the initial two months of testing. “The effects exceeded my expectations. When I visited my nieces for the first time after four story recordings, they instantly latched onto me from the moment I walked in the door.”
An additional finding from the beta launch is children were excited to read a story back to family members, regardless of their reading level. “We believe this broadens the scope of users and the value to families as a fun and new alternative to existing multi-media products on the market,” SANSONE concludes.
SANSONE expects grandparents and military families] to see the value of a recorded bedtime story over live or real-time webcam services as a way to utilize more family members for childhood development, and to preserve those family memories for future generations. The stories are priced at $11.99 for unlimited children and there is currently a Buy One Get One Free holiday special. Live storytelling and Mobile App delivery are options scheduled for subsequent development.
ALSO SEE:
Guardian Angel Publishing, Sylvan Dell Publishing, Illumination Arts Publishing and Lobster Press are the initial four publishers to license works for sale in the BE THERE BEDTIME STORIES online bookstore.
ABOUT:
ALISON SANSONE, Creator and CEO, started her career in the hospitality industry. After a decade of working in diverse leadership roles ranging from national Quality Assurance Manager to Human Resources Director to Investor Relations, Alison decided to pursue a focus in marketing and business development as her true passion. In 2005, she combined her training in videography with her marketing acumen to start her own company, producing web-based media tools for small businesses and non-profit organizations throughout Orange County, California.
The idea for Be There Bedtime Stories came from a personal frustration, during that point in her career. The youngest of 6 children with just 2 grandchildren out of the bunch, she was frustrated living so far from her only 2 nieces, who lived in Chicago. Her experience with video media inspired the business model of connecting families across miles through the simple activity of a bedtime story.
She began building the business plan in early 2007, but the idea ended up on hold for two years, after the unexpected death of her husband that summer. Beginning in October 2009, she decided to commit full attention to the business plan, dedicating her own personal time and resources to the launch of Be There Bedtime Stories, based in Orange County, CA. The Beta site went live in September 2010.

Get Moving!

We all know how important exercise is, and we need to teach our children as well. It seems all too easy these days to spend free time occupied with the many electronic devices available, which leads to a lot of sitting and not much physical activity. I wrote a poem to encourage children (and adults as well) to get moving!

Get yourself moving,

go outside and play. 

It's good to exercise

each and every day.

             Go for a walk,               

hop, skip and run,

play a lively game

and have a little fun!

It's good for your body

to stretch and move.

Getting exercise can

help your health improve.

So don't just sit around

and waste the day away.

Get up and get going,

make the most of your day!

Connie Arnold, 2010

http://www.childrenbooks.webs.com

Happy Birthday to Lenny Lee!

 

Mixed up raccoon who said, "moo"

Soon found out that cows say, "moo"

So this raccoon and friend

Decided to send

Special birthday wishes to you!

Happy birthday to a special new young friend, Lenny Lee! I met Lenny online during my blog tour for Animal Sound Mix-up at Sharon Mayhew's Random Thoughts blog. Lenny has his own blog, Lenny's World, and I hope you'll pop over to say happy birthday to him and enjoy his great blog!

Lenny inspired this little poem through his comment to me about feeding cookies to some raccoons when they started saying, "moo." He wanted my advice since I know all about this stuff. After all, the animals in Animal Sound Mix-up are all mixed up in what they say. I'm happy to say I got the raccoons straightened out, and as you can see, they join the cow in wishing Lenny a happy birthday.

Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Lenny!

Gratitude and Prize Winners

A big congratulations to the winners in the prize drawings for Animal Sound Mix-up tour. The Animal Encyclopedia was won by Janet Johnson. The winner of a $10 Amazon gift certificate is Kathy Stemke.

Due to problems with my Google account and not being able to send me notification of book purchases, I'm extending the drawing for the animal ornament set until Monday to give you a chance to email a confirmation of your order for Animal Sound Mix-up to beautifulmomentsofjoyandpeace at yahoo dot com. Thank you so much to all who purchased copies!


A huge thank you and hugs to each of you who visited the stops on my tour and shared with me the joys of Animal Sound Mix-up through the great reviews, interviews and other fun! I appreciate you, your comments and the new followers. I've tried to follow you but Google Friend Connect has not been working for me, so I'll be back and follow as soon as it will let me.

My great appreciation goes to the blog hosts for this journey. Hope you will visit these great blogs again. They each have much to offer.

Beth Reinke at  Beth's Book Basket
J. Aday Kennedy at A Writing Playground
Lori Calabrese at Lori Calabrese Writes
Janet Ann Collins at OnWords Blog
Donna McDine at Write What Inspires You
Sharon Mayhew at Random Thoughts
Katie Hines at Walking on Water
Virginia S. Grenier at SFC: Families Matter
Rosemary Marotta at Rosemary's Reading Circle

Prizes and Animal fun

As the blog tour for Animal Sound Mix-up nears a conclusion, I've found that my gmail account has been having problems and not receiving emails. This was the address I had given to contact me when copies of Animal Sound Mix-up were purchased to enter the prize drawing. Please leave a comment below or contact me at beautifulmomentsofjoyandpeace at yahoo dot com to let me know if you purchased a copy of the book. That will ensure that you are entered in the drawing for an animal ornament collection.

There will also be drawings for a $10 Amazon gift certificate and Animal Encyclopedia from those leaving comments during the tour.

The complete schedule for the tour, in case you missed any stops and would like to visit, is below, followed by some animal fun.

  October 1:  Beth's Book Basket
                   review by Beth Reinke
October 4:  A Writing Playground
                   interview, bio and book blurb by J. Aday Kennedy
October 5:   Lori Calabrese Writes
                   review by Lori Calabrese
October 6:  Janet Ann Collins
                   review and animal trivia
October 7:  A Writing Playground
                   review and book marketing brainstorm by J. Aday Kennedy
October 8:  Connie Arnold, Children's Author
                   excerpts and illustrations featuring Kit Grady
October 11: Write What Inspires You
                    review by Donna McDine
October 12:  Random Thoughts
                   Q&A by Sharon Mayhew
October 13: Walking on Water
                    interview by Katie Hines
October 14:  SFC: Families Matter
                    review and Q&A by Virginia S. Grenier
October 14:  Rosemary's Reading Circle
                    with Rosemary Marotta
October 15: Beth's Book Basket
                   interview by Beth Reinke
October 16: Connie Arnold, Children's Author
                   blog tour conclusion and prize winners announcement


Below are some unusual animal sounds with links to information about those animals on Wikipedia. Enjoy!

Alligators - bellow, hiss
Falcons -  chant
Ferrets -   dook
Foxes -    bark, yelp or simper
Giraffes -  bleat
Linnets -   chuckle
Nightingales - pipe and warble
Ostriches - bleep bleep
Tortoises - grunt

Visit with Kit Grady, Illustrator

 It's my great pleasure to share with you a little about Kit Grady, the illustrator of Animal Sound Mix-up. I'm sure you'll agree with me that her illustrations are delightful, and it's interesting to learn what was involved in the artistic part of this book. Please be sure to leave your comments or any questions you might have for Kit, and enjoy!

Animal Sound Mix-up was a manuscript that when I saw it, I knew it could really be an enjoyable book to illustrate. What great creatures Connie had filled into this story with a wonderful message. I began my process of illustrating “Animal Sound Mix-up” by breaking up the manuscript, allowing for good flow and visual possibilities. I pulled out my sketch pad and began drawing. After several weeks and lots of drawing paper used, I scanned the art into my computer. I used Photoshop and my wacom tablet to work on the illustrations and do the coloring and tweaking. A couple of months later, I emailed the art  to the editor, Lynda Burch at Guardian Angel Publishing. She publishes in print and also ebooks which is a bonus in this ever changing world of publishing.

   

It was so much fun, yet there were challenging things like making  the illusion a deer honk, a bird oink, or having a bear baa. Animals are my favorite things to draw, so this book was a delight.

Connie and I conversed  a lot about  ideas and thoughts by email.  I haven’t met Connie in person yet, but since our imaginations seem to click in the same way I’m sure looking forward to meeting my author of “Animal Sound Mix-up.“

Thank you so much, Kit, and I'm really looking forward to meeting you as well. Here is one of Kit's illustrations from Animal Sound Mix-up, and you can see more of her art by visiting her website.

"What if when you went to the zoo,

all the monkeys were to moo?"

See the schedule for the rest of the tour and the prizes on the Blog Tour Begins post. Be sure to leave a comment to enter drawings for Amazon gift certificate and Animal Encyclopedia and let me know when you purchase a copy to enter the drawing for an animal ornament set. Animal Sound Mix-up can be purchased from Guardian Angel Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most online bookstores.

Blog Tour Begins

Join in the fun as Animal Sound Mix-up goes on a virtual book tour October 1 - 15, 2010. Below is a list of the blogs hosting and dates. There will be two drawings from those who comment during the tour for a $10 Amazon gift certificate and an Animal Encyclopedia, and a drawing from those who purchase a copy of Animal Sound Mix-up and send confirmation of purchase (sent to conarnold@gmail.com) for a set of animal ornaments. Extra entries for all drawings by posting about tour on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog (be sure to let me know).

Aninmal Sound Mix-up can be purchased from Guardian Angel Publishing (print, ebook or CD),  Amazon or Barnes & Noble

 October 1:  Beth's Book Basket
                   review by Beth Reinke
October 4:  A Writing Playground
                   interview, bio and book blurb by J. Aday Kennedy
October 5:   Lori Calabrese Writes
                   review by Lori Calabrese
October 6:  Janet Ann Collins
                   review and animal trivia
October 7:  A Writing Playground
                   review and book marketing brainstorm by J. Aday Kennedy
October 8:  Connie Arnold, Children's Author
                   excerpts and illustrations featuring Kit Grady
October 11: Write What Inspires You
                    review by Donna McDine
October 12:  Random Thoughts
                   Q&A by Sharon Mayhew
October 13: Walking on Water
                    interview by Katie Hines
October 14:  SFC: Families Matter
                    review by D.M. Cunningham
October 14:  Rosemary's Reading Circle
                    with Rosemary Marotta
October 15: Beth's Book Basket
                   interview by Beth Reinke
October 16: Connie Arnold, Children's Author
                   blog tour conclusion and prize winners announcement

Meet Me in St. Louis

Recently I went to St. Louis for a gathering of Guardian Angel Publishing authors and illustrators and enjoyed meeting others and the special events. We participated in events at the St. Louis Children's Illustrated Art Museum and Border's bookstore. It was a great experience meeting fellow authors and illustrators and sharing my new book, Animal Sound Mix-up. I especially enjoyed reading to the children, seeing their reactions and letting them share their thoughts. You can see the Guardian Angel 2010 Arch Angel Award and more pictures on my Children's Books and Poems site.

After leaving St. Louis, we traveled on to visit our daughter and family. It's always such a special time together with family, and the three little grandsons aged 6, 5 and 3 make for an exciting visit! Isn't it a joy to see young children enjoying books and learning?

Review and Fun Links

I'd like to share with you a wonderful review just received from Nicole Weaver for Animal Sound Mix-up. Be sure to check out the fun links below the review to find animal games to play with your children!

Do you like reading to your toddlers? Are you a proud grandma and grandpa looking for a good book to read to your precious grandkids? If you answered yes to either question, look no further. Connie Arnold's Animal Sound Mix-Up will bring cheer delight to your little bundle of joy.

Written in beautiful rhyme, the book explores the sound that domestic, farm and jungle animals make. To help young toddlers learn about sounds, the author poses silly questions like: What would happen if a cat were to moo? Or what if a lion said meow... or if a donkey said bow-wow? The colorful pictures on every page will keep a young child captivated while learning what sounds goes with what animal in a fun way.

I can visualize the learning that can take place reading this book to a toddler. The book can be used as a very handy educational tool to teach young children beginning sounds.

Homeschooling has become a viable option for many families; this book would be a good choice for teaching first sounds through rhyming. Some examples of rhyming used throughout the book are: say, day, way- bear, stare- howl, owl- squeak, speak-meow, and bow-wow.

The author graciously provided me with a PDF file of this book for review. After reading it once, I went back and read it again and again. The illustrations by Kit Grady added more depth to the story. I highly recommend this book to any parent or grandparent looking for a good book that can be both fun and educational.

Animal Sound Mix-up is available from Guardian Angel Publishing and Amazon

Here are some fun links for you. Do you know of others you can recommend?

Kid's Corner Animal Games

Switcheroo Zoo

ASPCA Kids

National Geographic Coloring Book

Animal Sound Mix-Up

My first children's book, Animal Sound Mix-up, has just been published by Guardian Angel Publishing Company! Hope you'll visit there to see a couple of pages from it, and be sure to check out all the great books for children!

I think you will agree that the illustrations by Kit Grady are colorful and fantastic! There are many talented artists and authors at Guardian Angel Publishing, and I'm thankful to be a new angel among them.

I'll be sharing more fun poems soon and hope you will enjoy them!

Grandpa’s Song

A cricket and a bumblebee
Landed on my Grandpa’s knee.
As he sang a happy song
They began to sing along.
The cricket’s chirp and buzzing bee
Added two part harmony.
Grandpa had to sing each word.
I enjoyed the song I heard!

“Hey little friends come sing with me,
Hey chirp, chirp, buzz, buzz, whee!”
The song they sang sounded sweet.

A bird nearby began to tweet.
“Hey chirp, chirp, buzz, whee, tweet!”
Hearing them was quite a treat!
While they made a joyful sound,
I sat near them on the ground.

A bullfrog hopped by Grandpa’s feet.
It hit the ground with a thumping beat.
A croaking sound came from the frog
As he jumped up on a log.
“Hey chirp, buzz, tweet, croak, thump!”
Rhythm came from the bullfrog’s jump.
“Hey little friends come sing with me,
Hey chirp, buzz, tweet, thump, whee!”

© Connie Arnold
for more fun poems and other fun stuff, visit my children's website