**Todd Parr book GIVEAWAY!**

Do you love Todd Parr??

Hopefully you know who Todd Parr is. But if you are suffering from an episode of mommy-brain I'll give you a hint... he's a super awesome children's book author and illustrator. His books are easily recognizable by their bright colors, adorably simple drawings, and hilarious/heartwarming text. The underlying message is always about acceptance- of others and yourself.

Perhaps you've seen this little book?

I bought The Best Friends Book at a garage sale while I was pregnant with Makena. We were in full baby planning mode, and one of the most important things I focused on was getting her shelves stocked with books. I remember looking at a few great books at that garage sale, but I put them all back in the bin based solely on their condition. Yes, that's right. I judged those books by their covers and pages that were stuck together with layers of drool. I wanted the baby friendly board books but they all seemed to have been gnawed on by 87 million children who ate steady diets of chocolate and lollipops. Then I saw The Best Friends Book. Clean cover! Pages intact! Small format! Fun to read! And as an added bonus it has a very sweet inscription on the front page from Stella (who signed her name with a star next to it) to her "very bestest friend in the whole world!" Alas. We all know how those grade school friendships go, so it's no surprise Stella's BFF eventually tossed the thoughtful gift into the unwanted pile.

All the better for me! I snatched it up and happily added it to Makena's new bookcase.

Two of my favorite classes I ever took were about children's literature. In one of those classes our final project was to work with a group to submit an annotated bibliography about the best children's books for three different ages, as determined by the criteria we'd learned about. One of the sections I had was books about diversity. I set to work researching books that included same-sex families, and quickly found The Family Book.

I knew I'd have to remember it for when Pam and I had a baby someday. By the time Makena was born we had gathered/been given a few books that portrayed our family. The Family Book remains one of our favorites, and there is only one page that mentions two moms! The rest of the book is just such a joy to read, it really captures the joy of families of all shapes and sizes. It makes me get teary sometimes when I read it and think about how lucky I am.

A few months ago our library was hosting a Todd Parr book signing, and Makena and I took along her copy of The Family Book. I explained to her that Todd is the person who wrote this book, and she loved watching him draw and talk. She especially loved taking home her signed book. For a couple weeks she wanted to read the "Todd book!!" each night before bed, and she'd open to the front and read "To Makena, love Todd! T-O-D-D spells Todd! A heart means love!" She feels so special when she sees her name and that he loves her. :)

We left the book signing with a new book! I didn't realize they would be handing out copies of It's Okay To Be Different. 

At the back of each book there is an important message from Todd. Usually while reading these I start to choke up a bit and hold back tears. These are exactly the words I'd write in a book for my own child. Each message is touching and insightful:

If only every child had the chance to be told those powerful words. I have no doubt that Todd is planting seeds of acceptance and understanding with each book he writes, and then to wrap it all up with these affirmations is just icing on the cake.

So, NOW do you love Todd Parr??

Are you itching to get your hands on a book of his? First check the library, ours has many copies of his over 30 different books. We've recently read The I Love You Book and The Peace Book, both of which are winners of course! Could there possibly be better subjects than love and peace?! Just imagine what our world could be if every person knew the meanings of those two words.

You can also visit the website www.toddparr.com to take a look around and buy a book!

Todd sent me a copy of The Underwear Book his most recent book to review... and another copy to give to a blog reader of mine!

Aside from the cover, The Underwear Book is almost identical to the Underwear Do's and Dont's book, but that went out of print years ago and wasn't in this nice full-sized paperback format! It's full of practical yet silly advice. Anything about underwear is automatically hilarious to children, (and sometimes 30 year old moms too...) so it's pretty much a given your child will love this book!!

And now for the exciting part, one lucky person who leaves a comment will win a free copy of The Underwear Book!!* AND it's signed!! Todd Parr even loves YOU!!

To enter to win, leave a comment with your favorite Todd Parr book, and let me know if you own any! I'll pick a winner by either choosing whoever gives me the best answer or by selecting someone randomly if it's too hard to choose! I'm super curious how many people even read this blog, so go for it! Leave a comment now and enter to win! This is so fun! :) Winner will be selected on 9/24. That gives you a whole week, but why dilly-dally, just leave a comment right now!

 *I'll ship this book anywhere within the US after contacting the winner and confirming their address. Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you in your comment!! (Unless you've received a Christmas card from me, because then I already know where you live. I'm actually standing outside your window right now. I can see you at your computer. Just kidding!! Did you turn around to check?!) Okay that was a creepy ending...

Here, let's end with a photo of a cute kid instead! It's Makena, of course. I just spent 20 minutes scrolling through cute kid photos and realized I had a plethora to choose from in my own files. I love her. And she loves me. And Todd.

**UPDATE!** Out of a whopping 4 entries, we have a winner!! Congrats to Daxle, aka commenter #2! This is fitting because she once sent me a set of really amazing reusable produce bags, which we love to use! Oh how I love paying it forward! :)