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. 

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!!

I’ve been on the road for 19 days now – 3 more to go…  This image, taken with my point and shoot, is the view (bug marks and all) I have become most familiar with in the last few weeks.

I have been to Baltimore, Wilkes Barre PA, Englewood NJ and Merscerbeg PA.  One day I went from Englewood to Baltimore then back to Old Lyme CT – arriving at the wee hour of 2am.  I literally got out of the car, walked up the stairs and fell into the bed that night!  I have longingly remembered my college policy of owning more than 30+ pairs of underwear.  I only had to do laundry once a month in those days!!

I have found that when traveling through PA on a Sunday your most likely only going to find Religion or Nascar on the radio – to some they are one and the same!  I’ve been endlessly fascinated by I-78 with it’s huge Cabela’s, Chrome Palace and massage parlor that boasts big rig parking and new showers.  They set my imagination aflame and I swear some day I’m going to have to check them all out – well maybe not the massage parlor…  I have also passed the exits for Hereshy Park and Crayola 5 times in the last 2 1/2 weeks!!  Each hold their own appeal and eventually one of these days stops will have to be made there as well.

I have learned that my smart phone is a wondrous thing – gps, internet and phone all in one.  I wonder how I ever ate a meal in a restaurant alone before this wild piece of technology.  I still haven’t figured out the best way to eat well on the road and I feel horrible for leaving the crew in a kennel for 21 days!! But all in all I believe I have officially become a “Road Warrior”