Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  

Today I'll be Medusa, hosting the annual preschool Halloween storytime and parade at the library, but on the way to work, I'll be enjoying Neil Gaiman's Halloween gift to the world, Click-Clack the Rattlebag.

Today is your last chance to get a free download of Neil Gaiman's scary short story, Click-Clack the Rattlebag. It's available only through Audible.com.  Get yours before your time runs out! 

Have a great day.

Autographed book giveaway!

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Thanks to a generous offer by Albert Whitman & Company, I'm delighted to offer a great summer giveaway - an autographed copy of The Bear Hug by Sean Callahan, with illustrations by Laura J. Bryant.

"Cubby loves to visit Grandpa Bear. Often Grandpa and Cubby practice growling. In fall, they find food in the doughnut shop. In winter, they hibernate by the TV. But the very best thing about visiting Grandpa Bear is the Bear Hug. “Nobody ever gets out of the Bear Hug,” warns Grandpa Bear. Can Cubby get out of the Bear Hug?"

To enter, just fill out the form below.  The winner will be announced on this post.
(Signing in with Facebook or other social media sites is not required)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The autographed giveaways from Albert Whitman and Company continue tomorrow!

On Sunday, August 4, visit:

• The Book Rat for a chance to win The No-Dogs-Allowed Rule by Kashmira Sheth
• There's A Book or McBook Words for a chance to win, When I Feel Worried by Cornelia Maude Spelman
• Crazed Mind for a chance to win Bob Raczka's, Snowy Blowy Winter
• Tattooed Books for a chance to win Being Henry David by Cal Armistead

Excerpts, prequels, sneak peaks and other e-freebies

I try to read as many and as varied a selection of children's books as possible.  When a child comes to me and asks for a funny book, dragon book, scary book, mystery, horse book, diary book, I like to have a host of ideas in my head.  Still, it's hard to keep up.

Lately, however, the publishers have been helping.  The trend seems to be for authors to offer free prequels, excerpts and previews.  At librarian events like Book Expo America or state and library conferences, these small offerings may be in print, however, the usual format is e-book.  Why might you want these samplers? For the same reasons I do.

• You're waiting for your library book to come in.  Get started on the free chapters.
• You're not sure if you really want to spend the money to buy a particular book.  Read an excerpt.
• You want to keep up with the current offerings. Read all the excerpts that you can!
• You want to know about the hottest new series. Read a chapter or two - at least you'll be able to carry on a conversation with the kids.

So, if you've got a Nook, a Kindle, a smart phone, or a tablet, head to your favorite e-retailer or publisher site and check out the following sampling of free offerings (if you don't have access to a smart device, most are available for reading online, although it may not look quite the same):

The Seven Wonders (Harper Collins), a new series by Peter Lerangis looks phenomenal!  I don't necessarily have the time to commit to an entire new series, but I made time to read the free Seven Wonders Journals: The Select, a novella that serves as a prequel to the series, and has been described as "Percy Jackson meets Indiana Jones." I predict that kids, especially boys, will love this action-packed, adventure series.  The free prequel was excellent and you may find it on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, or from the author's website. 

Pi in the Sky (Little Brown) , a new, humorous science fiction novel by Wendy Mass that I reviewed recently.  Seven complete chapters are available for free, and it's a great book!  The free download is available from the usual places (Amazon, B&N, publisher site), or click on my review to see the links.

Erin Hunter's Warriors series has two free downloads, Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #1: The Sun Trail (Harper Collins) and Warriors Super Edition: Tallstar's Revenge (Harper Collins). Both are available on the official website.  There is also a Warriors app and you can download the Warriors manga comics for free.

And finally, if you know (or are) a comic book fan, DC Comics often offers free previews.  In honor of the recent release of Superman (the movie), they offered a free download preview of All-Star Superman Special Edition #1 (DC Comics, June 2013)

And there you have it - something free for everyone!

And I almost forgot! Don't forget this week's free audiobook downloads from SYNC YA!  For this week only, you can download Shakespeare's Hamlet and Robin LeFevers' Grave Mercy
.