Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Beat Boredom in Bustletown: A Candyless Easter Basket Giveaway

**I received complimentary copies of these books for consideration. All thoughts are 100% my own.
With everything going on in the world right now, it's rather hard to believe that Easter is less than two weeks away! Now more than ever, I can't help but want to give my children a fantastic Easter, complete with awesome Easter baskets. While treats are always nice, I always like to include some great candy-less basket options as well. This year especially, I love the idea of filling baskets with great entertainment. For us, that so often means books! Today, I'm excited to share with you a fantastic series that kids are sure to love this Easter---and all year long.

Introducing Prestel's new All Around Bustletown series by Rotraut Susanne Berner:

In All Around Bustletown: Spring (2/18/2020), a house gets a top-to-bottom spring cleaning and farm fields are being prepared for planting. People are shopping, commuting to work, constructing buildings, and meeting friends. If you look closer, you'll recognize the same characters appear on every page, each with their own story. There's Wilfred the jogger slipping on a banana peel and his friend Erica who comes to help him. Three cheerful nuns shop, chat, and share a snack at the cafe. A stork surveys all the activity from the sky while a mischievous fox scampers through the streets.
It's summer in  All Around Bustletown: Summer (4/21/2020) and that means flowers, picnics, thunderstorms, and bike rides. It's a busy time for construction workers, farmers, and house painters. Playgrounds are filled with kids and vacationers are boarding trains in droves. In the sky a pair of balloons drifts through every scene, while on the street people of all ages make their way to an outdoor birthday party. There's even a big storm that turns umbrellas inside out, sends hats flying, but ends in a lovely rainbow.

The leaves are blowing off the trees and the birds are flying south in All Around Bustletown: Fall (7/21/2020). Farmers are preparing the fields for winter and kids are back in school. And look, there's a water main break that's causing havoc and a chimney sweeper perched on a roof! Each time readers look at these delightfully detailed spreads they'll discover something new, whether it's what's for sale at the outdoor market or how many pumpkins they can spot on a single page. Familiar characters appear on each page--a maestro and a violinist, a balloon-toting nun, and a mom with her baby. All the activity culminates in a harvest celebration lit by dozens of paper lanterns in every shape and size.

Winter has arrived in All Around Bustletown: Winter (10/2019) and everywhere you look people are embracing the season. At home there's baking, reading, and sleeping in, while on the farm the fields are fallow and quiet. Outside people are bundled up against the cold as they are skating, sledding, and running to catch a crowded bus. The town's buildings are alive with activity--piano lessons, a dentist appointment, shopping for presents, and visiting the museum.




ROTRAUT SUSANNE BERNER is one of Germany's most loved children's authors and has earned a worldwide audience with her popular In the Town All Year 'Round series. She is a multi-time finalist for the Hans Christian Anderson award, which she won in 2016. She lives in Munich, Germany.

This is such a unique book series, the most noticeable thing being simply: there are no words! Instead each page has a variety of images and characters going on about their days in Bustletown! They can find the familiar characters throughout the pages...and because there is no actual written story, it truly encourages kids to create their own. Talk about something that so many kids can benefit from right about now! My kids have been out of school for going on 3 weeks now, with at LEAST another month to go. With all this time spent at home with nowhere to go, I am hearing a lot of 'I'm bored'. Sound familiar? This is a book series that even non-readers can pick up and use their imagination with. They can make up a new story each time... or just find something in the images they'd not yet noticed before. No matter how they use them, it's a series of books that they'll come back to time and time again. My daughter loves them... she's always letting her imagination go, so these are truly perfect for her!! 

Want to learn more about this cute series? You can connect at the links below:

And in celebration of Easter, we are having a Candyless Easter Basket Giveaway for the four titles in Prestel Junior’s All Around Bustletown series – two of which aren’t yet available to the general public! Awesome, right? Enter using the giveaway form below: 

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