Long Distance Give Away

Do I have a great give away for you!!! 

My last post featured five ways to stay in touch with grandchildren who live far away. I have one more way that is really cool --- courtesy of Hallmark.  

Hallmark created another great way to stay connected to loved ones -- even when you are not around. They developed this great line of recordable storybooks: children's classics, Disney stories, Hallmark originals, even holiday titles. All you do is record your voice as you read each page.  It will automatically play back to you what you have read.  If you like it, go on to the next page.  If you don't like how it recorded, just re-record over again until you are satisfied with how it sounds. When you are all done reading the book, you flip a small switch on the battery box to lock in your recording. How simple is that? No matter where you are, your grandchild will have your voice reading them a story recorded just for them.  

I met the great people of Hallmark at evo12 this past summer. They let me choose one of their titles to try out with my grandson. I picked, That's What Grandma's Do. As I read the book, I customized it just for my grandson.  For instance, when the word said Grandma, I read it Grammie because that is my grandmother name. And when it said "you" in the story, I would say "Jack" instead. Clever, I know.

On my last trip to visit Jack, I brought the book with me.  One afternoon, I got the book out and read it to him. When I had finished, he asked if I would read it again. The next time, I let the book do my talking. Oh how Jack giggled. He'd look at the book and then look back at me, and then he would laugh some more. He loved it. We read it several times during my trip. When it came time for me to leave, I got the book out one more time and told him that he would be able to have me read him the story whenever he wanted, even if i wasn't there.He loved that idea. That's What Grandma's Do has become one of his favorite stories. Not just because it has cute illustrations.  Not just because it has fun words. But because his Grammie reads it to him any time he wants.

Hallmark hit on a great idea and sure made it easier for this long distance grandparent to stay in touch.   And now Hallmark wants one of my lucky readers to have a recordable book so that they can stay connected with family that is faraway too. Wouldn't you love to have one of these books personally recorded to give to your grandchild, niece, or nephew? All you have to do is go to this link on the Hallmark page and pick out a title that you would want to share with your long distance loved one. (Good luck--there are so many fabulous books to choose from) Once you have made your choice, come back to this blog page and in the comment section, tell me which book you want and who you will be giving it to. The give away will be open until Sunday, December 2, 2012 at midnight. On Monday, I will have a random drawing to choose a winner.  Hallmark will be notified of that lucky person and they will send out the book just in time for the holidays. How great is that?

Thank you Hallmark and good luck to everyone who enters.