A few weeks ago I received some copies of a book called I Love You More, written by Laura Duksta and illustrated by Karen Keesler. Alex and I had actually seen the book in Barnes & Noble the week before, and the cover illustration was so charming that I immediately knew I wanted to read it.

And can I just say? This book is delightful.

I Love You More is the story of a mama and her son (everybody say it with me: “AWWWWW”) who take turns explaining how much they love each other. Half of the book is told from the mama’s perspective, and the other half is from the son’s perspective. What Alex loves the most is that when we finish reading the mama’s story we get to FLIP THE BOOK UPSIDE DOWN to read the little boy’s story, and OH, MY CHILD’S JOY KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

Honestly, it’s hard to read this book to your child without getting a little weepy, but that is okay because your child will be snuggled so tightly next to you as you’re reading that it will make you feel all warm and fuzzy as you cry. So it will be a tender time.

I have three copies to give away, and if you’d like to put your name in the hat just leave a comment and tell me so. I’ll close comments this Friday, November 30, and then I’ll pick the winners using – you guessed it – the trusty random number generator.

This is a good ‘un, y’all, and I think you’ll enjoy it a whole bunch!

Three of you are about to be the proud new owners of a copy of Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal.

Commenter #66 – Heth

Commenter #175 – Amy (no blog, email at bellsouth, and WHAT IS IT WITH ALL THE AMYS? THEY’RE TAKING OVER THE WORLD!)

Commenter #231 – Christian

Congratulations, y’all! You’re going to love this book – and if you’ll email me with your address, I’ll get it in the mail this week!

Turkey, pork tenderloin, cornbread dressing, homemade gravy, sweet potato casserole, asparagus casserole, squash casserole (ARE YOU NOTICING A THEME?), green beans, green salad, rolls, pecan pie, chocolate chess pie, apple pie (ARE YOU NOTICING A THEME?), ambrosia and birthday cake.

But other than that we didn’t have a thing to eat.

No kidding: we had so much food that we realized tonight that we never even got the honey baked ham out of the refrigerator.

Thanksgiving ’07: The Year We Forgot The Ham.

How was yours?

Let’s say, for instance, that I moved into a house that was, oh, approximately 33 years old.

And let’s say, for instance, that before I moved in said house, every single wall throughout the home had clearly been painted by a professional who took great pride in his or her craft.

But let’s just say, for instance, that the colors on said professionally painted walls were not really my favorites, that I would have preferred shades that were, oh, more neutral. Less jewel-toned.

Purely hypothetical, of course.

So let’s say – JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, NOT THAT THIS EVER HAPPENED – that I lived in that house about a year, never really giving much thought to the walls, maybe occassionally wondering what colors I would use on the off chance that I ever decided to paint the walls myself, but quickly dismissing those thoughts because THE WALLS, THEY ARE FINE, AND THEY HAVE BEEN PROFESSIONALLY PAINTED.

But then one day in this COMPLETELY PRETEND SCENARIO, let’s just say that I started to paint, oh, I don’t know, a guest bedroom.

And let’s just say that despite the fact that painting was a HUGE HEAPING PILE OF TROUBLE, the room was so transformed by the application of A COLOR I ACTUALLY LIKE that I could not stop walking in the room two or sixty seven times a day to admire the makeover.

And that I maybe perhaps just might want to paint EVERY SINGLE ROOM IN MY HOUSE NOW.

Preferably by Thursday.

Let’s just say.

So if the above scenario were in fact true, that would mean that I’ve managed to live in the thirty-three year old house for almost a year without being very bothered by the paint colors, but now – now that I’ve actually painted a room – OH MY WORD I CANNOT STOP WITH THE PAINTING, and not only that, I CANNOT REST UNTIL ALL THE PAINTING IS DONE.

I mean, that’s how I would feel if anything even remotely close to these events had ever happened in my life.

But clearly I wouldn’t know anything about any of that.

Over the last few weeks I’ve received a couple of great children’s books, and I’m giving away copies of both of them this week.

ISN’T THAT FUN?

I do love me some great children’s books.

The first book I’m giving away is called Phooey, written and illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. This book is filled with wonderful, eclectic illustrations that manage to be fanciful and nostalgic and current all at the same time. In fact, I’ve even thought that I would love to frame some of the illustrations and use them in a nursery if I ever have another baby.

Despite the fact that I’m starting to give Sarah a run for her money.

Oh, I kid because I’m old.

Anyway.

What Alex loves about this book is that reading it requires his daddy to make all sorts of sound effects, and I don’t know if y’all know this, but four year-old little boys are slightly entertained by funny noises. In fact, funny noises rank only slightly below ice cream on the four year-old little boy list of BEST THINGS EVER, and yes, that observation is based on years and years of arduous research conducted in laboratories and hospitals and Other Places Where Smart People Decide Things.

You can’t argue with science, people.

And seriously? If you could hear how Alex giggles when his daddy reads him this book? You would run out and buy yourself a copy rightthissecond.

I have three copies to give away, and if you’d like a chance to win one of them, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. I’ll close comments on Friday, November 23 and then use my BFF Random.org to select the winners.

And whatever you do, do not click here. Because you will start to play and then one of your kids will want to play and GOOD LUCK, SISTER, at tearing the two of you away from the computer.

Not that I’d know anything about that, of course.