So maybe, possibly, quite probably, starting a new monthly series the month before I moved 300 miles – Connecticut to Maryland – was not well planned out. Somehow, I pushed aside all of my previous moving experiences. I didn’t fully recall the chaos and the amount of time it takes to settle in. But oooh I have been reminded.  It’s only this week that I now finally have reliable phone service at the house! (Thank-you Mr Dixon for solving my communications “Black Hole” problem!!) Things seem to be 3/4′s of the way back on track now – whew! I’m ready to announce this month’s book giveaway AND a bonus extra to making up for my dropping the ball! Without further ado I give you: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.

One night Harold decides to take a walk in the moonlight with his purple crayon and oh the places his imagination takes him!  He takes you from a straight line, to the moon, to a boat to sail on and a pie to feed his hunger – all created with his purple crayon and imagination. Harold explores all the greatness and possibilities outside his front door in the end finding himself home again settled in his bed.

The Rules: For the sake of simplicity, all comments must take place on the blog attached to this post (doesn’t have to be fancy, even a hi will do!), comments on our Facebook fan page won’t be counted.  I’ll close all comments 9pm EST on the set date.  If 10+ people have commented I’ll put the total number of comments into a random number picker (your assigned number is based on the comment sequence – first comment = 1, second comment = 2, etc…) and the number that comes back is the winner!  I’ll announce and contact the winner two days after the closing date and arrange to send them a copy of the book!  So excited to share this with you!!  So here are the details for this month’s book.

July 2010 Book: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Comment Closing Date: August 3rd, 2010

Announcement of Winner: August 5th, 2010

Bonus!!: This month to make up for my dropping the ball I’m also giving away the dvd cartoon version of this book – it’s the same one I was shown in school many many times!

Now if you just can’t wait until August 5th here’s an Amazon direct link. 

Today I was going to unveil the 2nd book in my new Children’s Book Giveaway.  Instead something else has been running through my brain.  So I’m asking for a little patience and I promise I’ll bring back the Children’s Book Giveaway next week.

A few weeks ago I visited Blue Sky Factory’s website.  As most of you know, I’m moving to Baltimore in June and was doing some research on companies in the area that intrigued me.  I was curious to see where they were located and clicked on their Corporate Office Directions Page.  What I loved, made me laugh out loud and stuck with me was at the bottom of the page there are walking directions from the parking garage to their front door.

Here’s why it stayed with me.  With this one paragraph I understood that they really heard their clients.  They were giving their clients something that they wanted, needed and probably asked for.  I loved it because it’s so rare to actually see a company go that extra step – give their clients what they want/need.  More often than not, companies (me included) put out what we want, what we think you need, like and desire without really listening to what your telling us.

Last year I changed the name of the business to Lil Blu Dragonfly and put up a “temporary” blogsite.  With the move coming up I knew I wanted to make changes and upgrade the site.  I’ve spent the last few months making lists of things I want to change, add, delete etc… After that visit to Blue Sky Factory I realized I was thinking only about what I wanted and haven’t taken the time to ask you what you wanted.  So here it is (I find this frightening beyond belief but I truly want to know) what do you want from me?

I’m asking all you mommies, bloggers, friends and past clients for your help.  Do you want more images, better service, video on the blog, specials, a forum that focuses on local events and mommies, etc… I’m open to all suggestions and ideas.  When faced with something new or a challenge I often ask myself “How am I getting in my own way.”  So I’m stepping aside and asking for your help.  What do you want from me?

Thank-you to everyone who participated in Lil Blu Dragonfly’s first book giveaway!   The final number of comments came to 13 which I totally loved!

I have always been partial to the number 13.  I was born on the 13th and missed turning 13 on friday the 13th by one year!! (Thanks Mom…) So when I saw that the final comment number was 13 I thought “How cool!”  My next thought was “Wouldn’t it be even cooler if the winning number was 13?” I put the total number of comments in a random number generator on Random.org and I kid you not the winning number was 13!!  Here’s a screen shot of the results:

This completely made my day!  I’ll be contacting the winner shortly and sending Mr Popper on his way.  I hope they enjoy it as much as I did!

I’d love for you all to come back in a week and check out the next book giveaway.  Please spread the word to your family and friend too!!