Book Review & Giveaway : MJM Books ~ Making Reading Fun!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

Jealousy runs deep in this house. Deep, when it comes to getting your very own customized book. With your very own name.

And then, there is another bad trait that lounges on our sofa, called ‘Mr. Show-off’.

When my middle child got his very own personalized book, he would not stop telling his big brother, about his book, with his name in it.

My eldest son’s favourite color is, green, but to see him go green like that, was not a pretty sight. He was relentless in asking me why this book has his younger brother’s name and why his very own name did not appear in it. It was practically driving me up the wall! He knew that because they had unique chinese names, I did not just get this book off a shelf. He knew, there was something special going on here.

These books, “If I were Big”, “What Animal Are You?” and “A Day at the Park”, were written and published by MJM books, made of 3 brothers, Mike, Jeff and Matt. Living in three different parts of the US, they found a unique way of staying connected by publishing children’s books that both kids and parents love!

Here’s more about them :

MJM Books is also a celebration of little Olivia. Olivia is Matt’s little girl and became the inspiration for their company. This spunky little girl needed a very special Christmas present one year so Uncle Jeff put himself into her tiny shoes to write and illustrate “If I Were Big.”

Family and friends loved the story and pleaded for more books with their own child as the star. MJM Books was born.

I was very honored in receiving “If I were Big”, and when I saw the illustration of a lil boy with black hair and brown eyes, it really looked like my second son! He was so excited to see ‘him’ in the book! He could not stop looking through it, and I’ll tell you, it was a very very very quiet 30 minutes, before he started his monkey business again!

When it was bedtime aka storytime, he took out this book, and wanted me to read it. In fact, I think he wanted to learn the words, so he could read it himself!

All I could think to myself was, “What a fantastic way to get him reading on his own!”. I’ll have to say that I’m particularly biased in this review, because I absolutely loved the illustrations. I love clean simple lines..and the illustrator, Erin Drewitz drew it beautifully.

BUY IT! : Unfortunately, since the eldest son has been bugging me about it, I waved the white flag and decided to get him, his very own customized book “A Day at the Park”. Not only that, to preempt any future complaints of favoritism, I have also gotten another book (“What Animal Are You?”) for my third son. While I’m glad there are two other books, I think MJM Books better get their act together and come out with a whole series of them!

So you see, these are the books to get for Christmas or any celebration in life. You can customize the name, gender, hair color, eye color, and even the underpants! Ok, just kidding about the last bit! I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is a father, mother, aunty, uncle, grandpa, grandma, second cousin, third cousin..heck, even if you’re an acquaintance and you know of a child who would simply love to get this book.

Right now, they are offering free shipping across the US, if you order 3 or more books.

This book is a really unique keepsake. For life!

WIN IT! : Gosh..the generous guys at MJM Books are giving a chance for one lucky reader to win a customizable book with their title of choice (oh..you are so lucky!) and here’s what you need to do:

One entry – Visit mjmbooks.com and tell us which book you’d like to win.

Two entries - If you tweet this giveaway (please leave us your twitter id)

Three entries - If you subscribe to our feed via email (please leave your email add)

Entry is open to all addresses that the USPS is able to ship to.

Giveaway closes on 21st September 2009 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.