Friday, July 23, 2010

Marshmallow Man Contest!


Run, run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the Marshmallow Man!

I'm sure most of you have heard of that goofy, flat Gingerbread Man and how he ran all over the place trying not to get eaten up by all those shady characters. But ... have you heard of The Marshmallow Man? Written for kids ages 4-8 years, this is a retelling of the classic story, but with all-new hungry characters and an all-new, twisted ending.

I've decided to run a contest for an autographed copy of my third picture book, The Marshmallow Man. There are two ways to enter ...

1. Leave a comment here on my blog telling me something about marshmallows. It can be anything you want to share -- a story, how you like to eat them, a favorite recipe, a childhood memory, etc.

2. For those who have read the book already, you can be entered a second time simply by leaving a review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can give the book as a gift, to your child's school, or keep it for yourself.

Pretty simple, huh? The contest will run for two weeks, ending Friday, August 6, 2010. I'll pick a winner (from a hat) that night and announce it the following Saturday. Please help me spread the word by telling your friends (your kids can enter too!), posting on your blog, on Facebook, etc. And don't forget, the book can be ordered through my website, 4RV Publishing, LLC, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or any bookstore. And finally, I have some fun activities on my website for kids to do, so don't forget about those. Thanks and good luck!

34 comments:

  1. So, when I was a kid I used to love marshmellows burned...they were so yummy. When I think about marshmellows, I think about hayrides, cool breeze, big stars, and the fall! The marshmellow man is way cooler than the gingerbread man ;)

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  2. In Girl Scouts, there were plenty of burnt marshmellows. Guess who devoured all of them. I hope the marshmellow people provide you with all the marshmellows you need for school visits.

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  3. When I was little, I roasted marshmallows with a friend. We both got them nice and brown and slightly burnt.

    Well, she decided hers was icky and threw it into the fire. I, on the other hand, loved the taste, but peer pressure took hold. I, too, threw my beautiful, yummy, toasty and brown marshmallow into the dancing flames and declared that it was yucky.

    Peer pressure and marshmallows. Hmm. I just had another book idea pop into my head. Thank you :)

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  4. My daughter Jessica is 3 and she absolutely loves marshmallows. Last week she told me that she was going to make her own lunch and since I had everything out on the table I told her to go ahead. She looked over the table (nachos, meat for sandwiches etc) and said "Ooh mommy - can I have anything I want on my plate?" I said sure since she doesn't usually eat alot of lunch, I was happy she saw alot she liked. Once I agreed, she hopped off the chair, walked to the cupboard and took out the bag of marshmallows!! I said "Wait - you are supposed to take stuff that is on the table." And she said 'You didn't say that mommy - you said anything I wanted!" I was outsmarted by a 3 year old and her love of marshmallows!

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  5. Mmmmm. Love marshmallow desserts, like s'mores and rice krispy treats!
    We make s'mores in the microwave, but campfire s'mores are the best!

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  6. Congrats on your book, Rena--it looks great! I agree with Kelly, there's nothing like campfire s'mores!

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  7. Yay Marshmallow Man! Congratulations on the new book!

    My favorite way to eat marshmallows is in rice crispy treats. :)

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  8. I like my marshmallows perfectly toasted brown. And I'll spend all the time it takes to get them that way!

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  9. I'm going to wait and see if I win your giveaway before I order your last two books. :)

    But, about marshmallows. Well, my mom found these GIGANTIC marshmallows at the grocery store, and Darcy's eyes got so huge when she saw them I thought she might explode. They were pretty yummy roasted over a fire. :)

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  10. Marshmallows...in one of my manuscripts I describe a character who felt "as if she'd swallowed a marshmallow whole." Does that count?

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  11. Congratulations on your book! I love roasted marshmallows and s'mores.

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  12. When my son was on the strict version of the Gluten-free, dairy-free, everything-free, anti-autism diet marshmallows were a life saver. He had one pleasures left in his world and white marshmallows was it.

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  13. Hi Rena:

    Have you seen the giant-sized marshmallows? You'd need a whole Hershey bar and the full size graham cracker to make one s'more.

    Wonder if the Marshmallow Man was made of these if he'd end up being the Jolly White Giant?

    Tee hee!

    Gayle

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  14. I love marshmallows on my chocolate ice cream!

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  15. Recently Brendan and I went to San Antonio while his dad was taking a 3 day test for a course he is taking.
    We spent one whole day just hanging together at the hotel. We decided to have a marshmallow contest. The goal was to see who could stuff the most marshmallows in their mouth. Brendan went first packing 4 marshmallows into his mouth. Not easy for an 8 yr old. Then it was my turn! I packed 8 into my mouth before I started to laugh and shot them across the room. Had I not laughed, I think I could have crammed 2 more in.
    This is something I will always remember and I hope Brendan will too. We laughed until we had tears in our eyes. We may not have much right now but we can still laugh together and make great memories.

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  16. Way to go on your book! Ummm-Mmmm....marshmallows. He best watch out for me!! Muwahahahahaha :D Hee

    Hugs!

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  17. PS going to put you on my facebook in a few to help promote your book! :)

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  18. Marshmallows oh my! Your book looks like so much fun.

    A few days ago our super market was having a special on Hershey bars, graham crackers and marshmallows.

    The idea was to promote s'mores. I fell for this big time as a chocolate addict. I decided we would use the microwave to create our s'mores.

    People: Don't ever do that !

    Have you ever seen what a marshmallow does in a microwave... or to it. It is not pretty.

    When I finally got wise and rescued our treats from the little demon microblaster, we had something that looked more like a chocolate/marshmallow waterfall.

    Nevertheless, we steeled ourselves and were able to capitalize on the situation. Not a morsel was left over.

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  19. I have taught my daughters to love smores. We don't have a fireplace so we do it over candles. My older daughter at 8yo has mastered my technique for roasting marshallows--setting it on fire! Me, I like to set the whole thing on fire, eat the outer crust, then roast the whole thing one more time before I eat the rest ... Mmm. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

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  20. When I was in 8th grade, the teacher I had for Social Studies was very strict. About EVERYTHING! And he used chalk up until there was nothing left. So on April 1st my friend and I decided we would play a trick on him. We picked up all the pieces of chalk in his classroom and replaced them all with mini-marshmallows. Elaine pretended to break one of his rules, so Mr. P made her write on the chalkboard. When her little piece of 'chalk' didn't write, he told her to chose another piece, which of course also didn't write. He discovered our trick and said it was the best ever played on him!

    Anita

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  21. Rena, I think the little marshmallow men you make for a craft are so cute! Kids would love making them - and of course, EATING them. :o)

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  22. Marshmallows = yummmmm! I remember as a kid roasting them after every family bar-b-que, of course s'mores, rice krispies treats and let us not forget the incomparable fluffernutter sandwich - all the yummy goo of marshmallows for lunch and then an afternoon sugar coma, lol. When I first heard the title of your book I immediately pictured the Sta-Puft marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. Your book sounds like a very fun read to share with a very special child. I can't wait to read it!

    Nancy, from Realms of Thought…

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  23. One of the games played at our sons school as an ice breaker was Fuzzy Bunny. A volunteer would stuff as many marshmallows in his mouth while repeating in a sticky voice "Fuzzy Bunny". it became funnier as the volunteer, mouth fully loaded could no longer speak clearly. Our 6 children remember this with laughter, and wonder how the new jumbo marshmallows would work?!

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  24. Well, we're roasting marshmallows when we go on our big trip next week. :D It'll be our first time really camping and there will be a lot of marshmallows.

    When I was a kid, my mom would sometimes buy jars of marshmallow cream. My brothers and I never failed to break into it and eat it. It was goooooood! :D

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  25. From Baylee-Marshmallows are the mosty when they are warm and toasy!We don't have a gas stove only electric so my mom and I roast marshmallows with a candle or a bbq lighter.

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  26. The best marshmallows that I ever had were on my girlfriends birthday. She was thirteen and we had a hayride first. It was so great to be riding high up in the air and see the stars twinkling. When we got to the spot, we were given sticks and speared them with marshmallows. All of mine were golden brown and tasted wonderful.


    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

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  27. I loved marshmallows as a kid in any form - right out of the bag, burnt at the end of a stick, or even those baby marshmallows that you put in hot chocolate. It didn't get much better than marshmallows. Of course, as an adult, I hate them.

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  28. When the kids were small, we toasted marshmallows on bbq nights. Somehow, no one asks for marshmallows anymore but corn on the cob to roast. Less sugar??

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  29. we dont have s'mores over here, or pop tarts as a rule, I finally found a store that sells pop tarts nearby, and they had s'mores flavour mmmmm I am hooked!

    I do love fire roasted marshmellows too!

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  30. Marshmellows, marshmellows are the best! Throw em in your tummy, yummy, yummy, yummy!

    cagedbird4u@yahoo.com

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  31. I don't know how or why it began but one day my cousin and I got a hold of a bag of marshmallows, we were 10 or so, and decided to squish them between our fingers, taffy maybe? We must have squished half the bag. I remember two things -- I was sick as a dog from eating them and my mother was crazed trying to get all the white sticky out of my clothes.

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  32. The best marshmallows are the ones that get melted down to make fudge.

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  33. A delicious contest!
    My favorite way to eat them is definitely toasted golden brown, hopefully with no burnt spots. I'll even toast them over my gas burners if I'm int he mood!

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