Win a Copy of Holly Peterson’s ‘The Manny’

What! You STILL want to read Holly Peterson’s The Manny after all I wrote this week about its cringe-inducing sex scenes? Okay, you can win my copy of this new novel about a Park Avenue wife who hires a male nanny to care for her 9-year-old son.

Here’s how to win:

1) Link from your blog to this post or any other on One-Minute Book Reviews (or add One-Minute Book Reviews to your blogroll).

2) Send an e-mail message that includes the link to the address on the “Contact” page on this site. Include your mailing address.

3) If you’re the first person to send a link I can verify and you live in the U.S., I’ll send you the book. (I’ll pay the postage.) This is the copy of The Manny that I used to write the review and reading group guide to the novel that appeared on this site on on June 26 www.oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/06/26/. I don’t mark up books (I make notes in a notebook), so the novel in good condition except for a smudge on the cover (underneath the dust jacket, so I didn’t see it until I got it home from the store). You can read the first pages of the novel by going to www.randomhouse.com and clicking on the links for the novel and then on “Read an excerpt.”

4) You must be age 18 or over to enter. And you may NOT link from a porn site or have won another contest on One-Minute Book Reviews within the past 30 days. I decide what’s “porn.”

Because links can be slow in showing up on Word Press and Technorati, you must send an e-mail message to the address on the contact page to win. I’ll judge the winner by the times on the e-mails.

This is the fourth in a series of book giveways that I’ll be having on Fridays or Saturdays on this site this summer. Contests are announced between 5 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday Eastern time. There may not be a giveaway every week, and not all giveaways may require a link. Some may involve explaining why you want the book.

(c) 2007 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.

Fun for Toddlers and Preschoolers Who Like to Make Animal Sounds: Lisa Brown’s ‘How to Be’

A witty picture book shows children how to imitate a bear, monkey, turtle, snake, spider, and dog

How to Be. By Lisa Brown. HarperCollins, 32 pp., $16.89. Ages 2–4.

By Janice Harayda

Is there a toddler or preschooler who doesn’t love to make animal sounds? San Francisco artist Lisa Brown urges 2-to-4-year-olds to take their copycat instincts a step further in this witty picture book about a brother and sister who imitate the behavior of six animals — a bear, monkey, turtle, snake, spider, and dog.

Each spread gives simple directions for acting like one of those creatures, illustrated by amusing line drawings that show how the siblings interpret the instructions. And I defy you to keep a straight face when you see how the two respond to last command on the “How to Be a Dog” pages: “Lick someone.” Oh, are parents and grandparents going to have fun watching children follow the instructions in this book! You might have almost as much fun as they’re going to have licking your elbow.

Best line/picture: Apart from the picture of the brother trying to lick his sister? A command on the “How to Be a Monkey” pages: “Eat with your toes.”

Worst line/picture: None unless you’re so heartless that you believe that children should never – not even once – be allowed to eat with their toes.

Recommendation? A good gift for 2- and 3-year olds. It might especially appeal to children who like the imitative aspects of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. And it has an intergenerational appeal, because it will allow children to show off for their grandparents their impressive ability to slither on their bellies like a snake.

Furthermore: The bold line drawings and minimalist color palette give this book an unusually fresh look. How to Be would fit in well at Museum of Modern Art gift shop. Yet it’s not one of those pretentious books that please adults more than children. Both groups are likely to enjoy it.

Published: May 2006

Links: You can see a spread from this book by going to the HarperCollins children’s site www.harpercollinschildrens.com, searching for How to Be, and clicking on “Look Inside.” Amazon.com hasn’t enabled the “Search Inside the Book” tool (which lets you look inside other books) for this one.

A new review of a book for children or teenagers appears every Saturday on One-Minute Book Reviews. You can read earlier reviews by clicking on “Children’s Books” in the “Categories” column at right.

© 2007 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.