Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Review: National Geographic Kids Almanac 2010 & Giveaway

Summary: National Geographic Children’s Books announces the launch of its first ever kids’ almanac, where kids can discover everything from how to survive adrift at sea to the secrets of the sunken city of Atlantis to ways you can volunteer in your community. THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS ALMANAC 2010 (ISBN: 978-1-4263-0501-6, June 2009, $12.99, Ages 8-12) grabs readers’ attention with more than 500 stunning photographs and over 300 pages bursting with fast facts, true stories, fun activities and interesting articles on every subject under the sun (and beyond!).

With content that will make any kid go “wow!,” “ew!” and “cool!” this backpacked-sized reference book is sure to wake kids’ brains from their “summer slumber” and get them ready for school. Crafts, games, jokes, recipes and a “virtual pet” named Zimmer are just a few of the unusual and creative features that make the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS ALMANAC 2010 unique, engaging and FUN!

With full-color design and an easy-to-read format, THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS ALMANAC 2010 delivers chapter after chapter of fun factoids:

• Your World 2010 — What’s hot and what’s ahead for 2010
• Awesome Adventure — Modern-day adventurers, survival techniques and true stories of harrowing escapes
• Amazing Animals — More than 75 pages devoted to animals, their habitats and what makes each one unique
• Culture Connection — Food, currency, literature and lots more from around the world
• Geography Rocks — Maps, travel and famous or unusual landmarks — like a sculpture in Joshua Tree, Calif., made entirely of toilets
• Going Green — Eco-lingo, our threatened planet and steps we can take to help save it
• History Happens — Mummies! Wars! American heroes! Secret spies! The people, places, governments and events that make us who we are today.
• Wonders of Nature — From the highest mountains to the depths of the ocean floor — and everything in between.
• Super Science — Space, health and the human body, our future world and cool inventions -- Press Release

When I was a kid, I remember loving to look through all sorts of informational books like kids' encyclopedias, Guinness Book of World Record books, and even almanacs. So I was very excited to see that there is a new 2010 almanac available just for middle grade kids called the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS ALMANAC 2010. I just knew my daughter would love looking through it, but I didn't expect for me to enjoy it so much!

I was very impressed with this almanac! Probably the first thing that struck me was how many gorgeous, colorful photographs were between the pages of this book -- something like 500 pictures. I shouldn't have been surprised since this is a National Geographic publication, but I have to say that these pictures are stunning. The graphics are also bright and eye-catching and definitely complement the information.

Another benefit of this book is how it is formatted. The book is divided into nine different sections and the top of the pages are color-coded to match the topics. This makes it very easy to flip through the pages and find whatever you are looking for. Each page is also filled with colorful pictures and features consisting of different sizes and types of fonts. You can't help but be drawn into each page.

What really impressed me the most was how much information is contained in this book. It really does cover a tremendous amount of topics; however, I didn't find it overwhelming in the slightest (even for children) The information is written in very clear and concise manner -- perfect for kids. I also love all the different ways that information is presented in this book. A child cannot possibly get bored when there are crafts, games, jokes, stories, weblistings and even homework help. It really is a very fun book that is also chock full of interesting facts!

I'm pretty sure that most kids aren't going to sit down and read this entire book straight through (although I admit that I probably would have as a child.) More likely, they will skim through it and read whatever catches their eye or they might even use it as a reference book. I really appreciated that this book is softcover so it's easy to tote around or throw into a backpack for bus-ride reading.

Booking Daughter has had so much fun with this book. She keeps reading facts to me that she finds interesting. For example, "Mom, did you know the word nerd was first used in a Dr. Seuss book?" And, "Cold blooded animals, such as lizards, don't sweat." She is also very excited to be able to use the almanac for reports in school. I think this book definitely makes learning fun for kids.

In honor of that special time of the year when kids head back to school (my daughter starts 5th grade tomorrow), I am giving away a copy of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS ALMANAC 2010! Not only will one lucky winner receive this very fun and fact-filled book, but he or she will also win a backpack filled with water bottle, erasers, pens, pencils, a calculator, two pocket folders, spiral notebooks, colored pencils, markers, 3x5 index cards, loose leaf paper, scissors, highlighter, glue sticks, protractor and a ruler -- basically everything a child needs for the first day of school! To enter this awesome giveaway, please leave a comment with a valid e-mail address telling me what is your favorite school supply. If you want to double or triple your chances, you can blog and/or tweet about this contest with a link back to this post. This contest will be open until Tuesday, September 8th at 11:59 p.m. EST; and I will notify the winner the following day. This contest is open to those of you in the U.S. and Canada only. Good Luck!

Thanks to Media Masters Publicity for providing the books and the giveaway package.

72 comments:

Virginia C said...

Thank you so much for providing this super giveaway. I know a young man who would greatly enjoy the prize package! My favorite school supplies: An endless stock of freshly sharpened yellow #2 pencils. There is a great deal of possibility in a pencil because the eraser lets you make adjustments until you get it just right! gcwhiskas at aol dot com

Anonymous said...

My favorite school supplies would have to be folders. I love decorated folders with disney characters on them, or just really good covers.
I also like those stretch bookcovers that go over your text books. Those are really cool

lovestoread0708(at)Yahoo.com

Mary (Bookfan) said...

What a great giveaway!

My favorite supply was a new book bag - yes, I predate backpacks, lol.

I blogged in my sidebar giveaways:
http://bookfan-mary.blogspot.com

meah56 at gmail dot com

Anna said...

Wow, this sounds like a great book. I know The Girl would love it, and it sounds like something the whole family could enjoy.

My favorite school supply has always been notebooks. I still snap up a bunch when they go on sale to use for my writing.

Thanks for the generous giveaway. I'm adding it to my sidebar right now.

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric

bermudaonion said...

Vance would have loved this book at that age! He would have let us know new facts he picked up in it too! No need to enter me.

Stephanie said...

Awesome giveaway!! I would love to have this for my daughter, who enters 2nd grade late next week. I've already tweeted it.

I always liked getting new school clothes myself!!

cindysloveofbooks said...

Julie, not sure if this is US only but I would love to enter this contest for M. He said his favorite school supply item is his lunch bag as its a lightening McQueen (Cars).

I occassionaly pick up Natinoal Geographic for kids whenever i see them.

Beth F said...

Please don't enter me, but what a fabulous giveaway. I still get and read the National Geographic!

Jenn's Bookshelves said...

What a fabulous giveaway! My son gets the National Geographic Kids magazine and loves it!

My favorite school supply was (and still is!) pens. I love pens, I have quite the collection!

I tweeted about this giveaway here:http://twitter.com/jennsbookshelf/status/3533868811

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Totally sign me up. I'm drooling over this, and so's my son.

susan at westofmars dot com

Yep,that's my personal e-mail. Not the Win a Book mail. See how much I want to win?

But since I'm fair and all that, I posted this at Win a Book.

Stacie said...

I know my kids would love to win this! My favorite school supply is that brand new box of crayons. They are all sharpened and pretty and smell so good when you open the box for the first time!
Staciele(at)netins(dot)net

Bonnie said...

My son is going into 5th grade also. He loves books like this and I know he would enjoy this and the backpack of school supplies and goodies! What a great giveaway.

My favorite school supply would be the fresh box of crayons. I enjoyed that when I was a kid.

I just sent out a tweet about this.

I'm adding it to my sidebar under blog giveaways.

redladysreadingroomATgmailDOTcom

Cackleberry Homestead said...

Really cool giveaway - my oldest son would love the almanac and bookbag with school supplies.

My favorite school supply back in the day was the Trapper Keeper. Now I would have to say it is a new water bottle or a brand new notebook. I love school supplies.

crystalfulcher(at)ec.rr.com

Linda said...

Wow, what an awesome giveaway! I remember my excitement (60 years ago) about a new box of crayons, just 16 to a box back then. My granddaughter who loves to write would be most excited by the spiral notebooks. I have three grandchildren of the ages to get excited by this book and bag of supplies. Loved the fact that your daughter found about "nerd"
lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

Karen said...

I would love to win this. The book will be for my classroom but the other items will go to the school where I teach for the Ready Set School program offered through our Community to help families who struggle with back-to-school expenses by providing supplies their kids need for the school year. Thanks for the great offer!

If I am the lucky winner you can reach me at karendulak at yahoo dot com -I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Steven James said...

Favorite school supplies? That is a tough choice. As an elementary school teacher I should probably say all of them! However, it's hard to beat the power of the #2 pencil.

tweetin' about at twitter.com/macaroniglitter and putting it on my website.

Anonymous said...

Oh, very cool! Please enter me at i-comment at deLeons dot com

I loved any school supply that could be bought with a photo of a cute kitten on it. I still do-- while shopping for supplies for my daughter, I came home with a folder with many kittens. I said I'd share it with her, but I've appropriated it for blog related paperwork!

M. said...

That almanac looks AWESOME!!!

I loved National Geographic growing up, and I'd guess the thought they'd put into a kids' product would be fantastic.

Favorite supply? Fresh box of still-sharp crayons.

mayamissani AT yahoo DOT ca

Alyce said...

My favorite school supply would have to be new notebooks filled with paper. Although, in college my favorite shopping trip was to buy coursebooks. :)

akreese (at) hotmail (dot) com

katsrus said...

What a great giveaway. Thank you. My favorite school supply would have to be crayons. I loved to color everything. LOL.

rhapsodyinbooks said...

What a fantastic giveaway! My favorite school supply is the pencil box! (The hard cover makes sure the points don't break.)

Thanks!

nbmars AT yahoo DOT com

Anonymous said...

My daughter would absolutely love this book and get a lot of use from the supplies. I have to admit that my favorite school supply is notebooks. I always get a couple for myself when we're doing back to school shopping.

Thanks for entering me.

carolsnotebook at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

This is just a delightful giveaway. I always like folders best, preparing them, personalizing them, using them for papers. I have my fingers crossed for this one!

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

chey said...

The Kids Almanac sounds amazing!
My favourite part of school supplies was the coloured pencils.
chey127 at hotmail dot com

Clair said...

My favorite school supply is notebooks...I have a weakness for paper. Thanks for the giveaway.

holdenj said...

My favorite school supply is a new box of crayons.

Thanks for hosting such a super giveaway.

JHolden955 (at) gmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

That is a super giveaway! Let's see, I love all of the fun notebooks, especially the loose leaf binders with all of the bells and whistles!

Thanks for the giveaway!

jgbeads(at)gmail(dot)com

cpullum said...

My favorite school supply has to be the lunch box! Thats what helps make it through the day knowing food is waiting for me!!
Carla
cpullum(at)yahoo(dot)com

Mom of 5 Boys said...

I love school supplies! I haven't been in school for years, but every fall I just get the urge to buy school supplies. Luckily I now have kids to buy them for. I especially love cool pens and notebooks.

Mozi Esme said...

Very cool giveaway! I love markers. Fresh ones that haven't worn out the ink yet... :)

janemaritz at yahoo dot com

enyl said...

My favorite school supply is a thesarus.
enyl(at)inbox(dot)com

Anonymous said...

My favorite school supply would have been markers. Thank you for this contest.

Sue said...

My favorite school supply - a really great backpack. Very cute, durable and big enough for everything.

Thanks for sharing this fun prize.

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

GinaB said...

I would like to enter your giveaway. My favorite school supply is index cards--very helpful not only for flashcards and writing research papers (the old fashioned way), but also for making TO DO lists. I always keep a good supply of index cards.

lag123 said...

My favorite school supply is crayons.

lag110@mchsi.com

Winning Readings said...

We posted about this at Winning Readings:

http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2009/08/national-geographic-kids-almanac-2010.html

janemaritz at yahoo dot com

Unknown said...

Looks like a good book, please enter me into this drawing.

My favourite school supply, if ti counts, was a new calculator.

Thanks for hosting this giveaway.
jake.lsewhere[at]gmail.com

Katrina said...

as a child I loved trapper keepers...does anyone even remember those....now I am more into pens

ykatrina at hotmail dot com

Dolphin Girl said...

I love markers, especially sharpies.

kccuties AT gmail DOT com

Nikki in Niagara said...

Wow, my son would love this prize!

My favourite school supplies were always pens. Fancy ones, but this was before all the gel markers of today so fancy for me was one of those 10 colours in one big fat pens. Oh, how I loved those.

Marie said...

My favorite school supply was (and still is) those Mead Composition notebooks!

marielay@gmail.com

Jill said...

My Favorite school supply item(s) are all the different sizes and designs of notebooks and folders!

One of my DD wants to add..picking out her lunchbox :)

Stephanie said...

Definitely a box of brand-new crayons. I used to love having new crayons, but wait as long as possible before actually using them because then they wouldn't be perfectly sharp anymore. :)

Great giveaway, thank you!

Stephanie said...

Tweeted here: http://twitter.com/stlyhu/status/3614372521

Anonymous said...

New crayons! I loved opening the new box and the intoxicating smell! akprinz at msn dot com

Uncles said...

Lunch box. I loved getting a new lunch box. My favorite was the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.

Lynn said...

What a fun give away! Thank you! I used to have an eraser collection - scented fruits, cars, animals, etc. I loved to add to my stock. I have no idea what ever happened to them.

Beth said...

Thanks for this great giveaway! My fav school supply was always my pencil sharpener.

lizzi0915 at aol dot com

Anonymous said...

This book sounds awesome! I'd love to win it for my kids (2 of which start school in 1 weeks time). I also love school supplies, but I'd have to say my fave is the scribbler by Hilroy. I love those books. I still buy them now to write stories.
Cheers
Carrie Anne
cabadov(at)hotmail(dot)com

Cocoa Lover said...

I really like a good pen, on that is gel and writes really smoothly and nicely!

carol said...

My favorite school supply was always my new book bag.They call them backpacks now!

Heidi V said...

My favorite now are post it notes and the flags.

Thank
heidivargas [at] live dot com

ossmcalc said...

When I was growing up and in elementary school, my favorite school supply was always getting brand new crayons. Now I just want to have a good supply of sharpened #2 pencils.

Thank you,

Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net

ossmcalc said...

I tweeted http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/3648658048 as this would be a really awesome prize to win.

Thank you,

Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net

Unknown said...

My fave school supply are crayons - because my kids love to draw and color, and I loved to do that, too when I was little. Now I get to draw with them, it's so much fun! aitmama {at} gmail{dot} com

Unknown said...

http://twitter.com/aitmama/status/3648929107

Harinder said...

My favorite school supply- binders!

hurricaneharinder@yahoo.com

jbafaith said...

What a great prize I have several grandchildren who love to come to my house and we always "read" my encyclopedias! They would love this! My favorite school supply is a pair of scissors! I love to cut out shapes!

jbafaith said...

I tweeted the contest link. jbafaith twitter id

LoveMyCoffee said...

What a fantastic giveaway. I always loved the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, weird huh.

Dutchlvr1(at)aol(dot)com

Sunrise said...

New pencils! Thanks for the giveaway!

Park Avenue Princess said...

What a fun giveaway and great question! I know just who to give this too and it would be a HUGE help!

OK..the question is basically a toss up and for the same reasons...crayons or markers. They smell great and who doesn't LOVE a fresh box of each? : )

Amy (Park-Avenue Princess)

IAmHiMaintenance(at)aol(dot)com

Carol M said...

I would love to be able to give this to my grandson!
I always loved notebooks and pencils. I'm a list keeper!
Thank you for the giveaway!
Carol M
mittens0831 AT aol DOT com

Mana Laura said...

Hello and thanks for hosting this cool giveaway!
My favorite thing is Crayola crayons, the 64 count box if I have my druthers! I just wrote on Facebook about crayons last night!
My email is lauraleighanderson@hotmail.com
Thanks!

windycindy said...

"Wow!" What a fun and fantastic prize package! My youngest son loves the National Geographic Kids' Almanac. Our family makes a day of
buying school supplies. My favorite school supplies are the new notebooks and folders!
Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

windycindy said...

"Tweet!"
http://twitter.com/cmh512/status/3774707699.
Thanks very much!
Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

Belinda M said...

My favorite item would have to be a binder. It starts off empty and you get to fill it up

Canadian Contests, Freebies, Coupons, Deals, Games and Chat - join us at http://forum.coolcanucks.ca/


bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

Belinda M said...

tweeted

http://twitter.com/Prairiebelle/status/3792441237

Canadian Contests, Freebies, Coupons, Deals, Games and Chat - join us at http://forum.coolcanucks.ca/


bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

Carrie K. said...

My boys would love this book!

My favorite supplies are brand new notebooks and pens. :)

I blogged the giveaway here:

http://booksandmovies.colvilleblogger.com/2009/09/04/bookish-links-for-saturday-september-5-2009/

nnjmom at yahoo dot com

Jonnie (JB) said...

I am torn between pens and notebooks as my favorite school supply. I love a pen that writes well, but am also drawn to the variety offered in notebooks.
dftrew(at)gmail(dot)com

Nancye said...

My 5 year old daughter is just like me because she loves ALL school supplies!! (Especially markers, crayons, pens, binders, folders, etc.)

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

I Tweeted about this giveaway.

http://twitter.com/
NancyeDavis/status/3854714690

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net