Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Prize Pack - $25 Barnes & Noble Gift Card {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Alison!}

Before I had kids, curling up with a good book was one of my favorite things. Working at the library, I had access to so many wonderful things to read on any topic I could think of. Whether I wanted something informative or humorous or suspenseful, if my library didn't have it, I'd surely be able to find it in our computer system and have it sent over.

So from the time that Big Sister E was 5½ months old, we began going to the baby story time at the library and haven't ever looked back. Both she and Little Sister B love books and that is something that I will forever encourage and try to cultivate. We have books upstairs and books downstairs and as well as reading them before naptime and bedtime, there isn't a day that goes by that there isn't a pile pulled off of at least one bookshelf each morning, afternoon and evening.

That's why I couldn't be more supportive of the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program and the way they work to get books into kids' hands and encourage parents and children to read together.

To help promote kids' love of reading at a young age, Cheerios is celebrating their 9th year of inviting families to start the day with a nutritious breakfast as well as a new book. Therefore, as a part of its commitment to nurturing young bodies and minds, Cheerios will provide more than six million children's books free inside boxes of cereal - throughout the history of Spoonfuls of Stories, Cheerios has distributed almost 50 million children's books!

When this years' set of in-pack book offerings arrived, we were excited to see the selection of fun titles chosen to be included.

Appropriate for children ages three to eight and written with both English and Spanish on each page, these have been an entertaining read over and over and over again!

• All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee, discusses the many wonderful things a child can encounter in the world as well as the commonalities all the world shares.

• Chaucer's First Winter, by Stephen Krensky and illustrated by Henry Cole, follows a bear named Chaucer, who knows he is supposed to sleep through the winter but feels it is much more fun to stay up and play.

• Jump!, by Scott M. Fischer, chronicles the adventures of a bug, a frog, a cat, a hound, a crocodile, a shark and a whale who all love to jump!

• No T. Rex in the Library, by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa, is a story about a little girl named Tess and her adventures in the library with a boisterous T-Rex.

• The Purple Kangaroo, by comedian Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Peter Brown, is a vivid and humor-filled story that tricks the reader into thinking about a purple kangaroo!

With studies consistently showing that kids with greater access to books and other print materials are more successful in school and in life, Cheerios also wants to help combat the issue of children in low-income neighborhoods and the lack of availability of books for them.

As a part of its Spoonfuls of Stories initiative, Cheerios will make a $300,000 financial donation to First Book, an award-winning national nonprofit that helps get books into the hands of children in need. Over the past 9 years, Cheerios has donated more than $3.5 million to First Book! What a great accomplishment from one of our favorite cereals!

The combination of a classic, universally-loved cereal and the ability to go on an imaginary journey with no limits; Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories can provide a delicious, healthy meal while helping encourage a love of reading. What could be better? Thanks to their generosity, one person will be able to enjoy a tasty breakfast and some wonderful books (as well as the chance to purchase some of their choosing), because...

One lucky person will win a Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories prize pack, including a box of Cheerios, 5 books and a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!

To enter to win: Tell me the name of your (or your child/grandchild's) favorite children's book.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

#WIN a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card & Cheerios Spoonful of Stories prize pack! #thxmailcarrier http://bit.ly/i18f1S #giveaway #myblogspark

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Giveaway will end on January 7th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to Cheerios for providing a Spoonfuls of Stories prize pack for me to review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner through MyBlogSpark. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.