AND THE WINNER IS...

COLBY!

Congratulations Colby!

Great job and thanks to the shining entries from:

Joe

Will

Emma

Abigail

Zachary

Remember, there is still time to enter our Squircles contest! Draw us a picture OR leave us a comment on the blog about 3 shapes you see throughout your day! Enter by February 14th to receive some beautifully creative books from our sponsor Barefoot Books.

As always, keep your light glowing brightly.

Update on the Contests!

Hi All,

Our Episode 3 contest ends this Wednesday! You still have some time to enter and win a free set of Goosie Cards. Check out the post on Episode 3 for all the details. While you are there, check out all the great entries we have received and posted in our Fan Art.

Our Episode 4 contest ends on February 14th, 2009. We can't wait to hear about what shapes you see throughout your day! Simply leave us a comment on the blog and you could win the following five innovative books from Barefoot Books!

Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Bass and Debbie Hartner
My Granny Went to Market by Stella Blackstone and Christopher Corr
Shopping with Dad by Matt Harvey and Miriam Latimer
The Story Tree: Tales to Read Aloud retold by Hugh Lupton
We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey through Tazania by Laurie Krebs and Julia Cairns

As always, keep your light glowing brightly!

Episode 4: Squircles

Click here to listen to Squircles

Hello All,

We are excited to introduce our first "flashlight" episode. A "flashlight" episode is shorter than other episodes, but we think you'll find them just as illuminating. In honor of this being our first "Flashlight", we are giving away some great books generously donated to us by our sponsor, Barefoot Books. Their books are original, entertaining, and so imaginative. There are two ways to enter and you can do just one or both!

The first way is to draw a squircle by listening to the poem. Now, take that squircle and make a picture. Your picture can be just one squircle colored in, or a bunch of squircles put together to make something new. Your picture can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. We'd love to see what you can come up with using your imagination! Send your works of art to nightlightstories@gmail.com. We will post all the entries in our Fan Art slide show for everyone to enjoy.

The second way is to simply leave us a comment on the blog telling us THREE shapes you see throughout your day and where you saw them. One winner will be chosen randomly on Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2009 to receive a set of five books from Barefoot Books. We look forward to seeing your creations.

Speaking of creations, entries are starting to come in for the Goosie Card contest. The details for that contest are outlined in episode #3.

This episode and any past or future episodes is protected under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License which means that you have permission to share these stories but don't sell or alter them in any way.

As always, I look forward to watching the glow grow brighter with the many stories we can share together.

What did you say? A word of the day!

That is right! In our story there are many juicy words

that are fun to learn and say! I am going to post some words

from the story that would be fun to try to use in your

conversations throughout the week.

Squircle: a mathematical shape with properties between those of a square and those of a circle.

Phenomenal: highly extraordinary or prodigious; exceptional.

Fret: to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent.

Galore: in abundance; in plentiful amounts.

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peak at a couple of the books

you could win from Barefoot Books! We look forward to

sharing these wonderful treasures with you!

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing after hearing the story.

1. Use different shapes and colors to create a pattern (blue circle, red square, orange squircle, blue circle, red square, orange squircle)

2. The directions to make a squircle are in a specific order. It is important to follow the directions in the order they are given to have success in creating a squircle. Think of something you do everyday that is important you do in a specific order.

Episode 3: Dale

Click here to listen to Dale

Hello All,

We here at Night Light Stories are excited to announce our very first contest. It is easy to enter, and fun to do! Simply send us an original picture of your favorite scene or character from the story "Dale". One winner will be chosen randomly on January 28th, 2009. The winner will receive one free set of Goosie Cards! All you need to do to enter is send us a digital picture of your work of art to nightlightstories@gmail.com. We would love to see your creations and post them to share with others!

That is not all! Everyone can be a winner. If you place an order at http://www.goosiecards.com/ between now and February 28, 2009 you will receive 20% off your order. Simply enter the promo code nightlight during the checkout process. Enjoy!

What did you say? A word of the day!

That is right! In our story there are many juicy words that are fun to learn and say! I am going to post some words from the story that would be fun to try to use in your conversations throughout the week.

Fragrant: having a pleasant scent or aroma

Unison: a process in which all elements behave in the same way at the same time.

Hardy: (of plants) able to withstand the cold of winter in the open air.

Intently: having the attention sharply focused or fixed on something.

Bright Ideas

In the story, Dale finds "treasure scraps" in a compost pile.

Do you know what a compost pile is? Do you know how to make one?

Find out by following the link below.

MAKE YOUR OWN COMPOST PILE!

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing after hearing the story.

1. When you are traveling around a new place, it is always a good idea to keep track of some landmarks (a barn, the big crooked tree, the 5 bright yellow flowers) to help you find your way back. Write down in order some landmarks Dale could use to help him get back to his new home.

2. Look around the area you live while you are taking a walk or in the car. What animals do you see? Research one of these animals and discover the way they live.

COMPREHENSION CHALLENGE

After listening to the story, can you recall the details to answer these questions?

1. What are some things Dale enjoyed eating?

2. Who was Dale surprised to see? Why was he so surprised to see them?

3. Where did Dale find a new home? Use detail to describe it.

Did you say CONTEST?

Hello All!

Happy New Year everyone! We here at Night Light Stories could not think of a better way to bring in the new year than having a contest! It is simple to enter and the prize to win is something all ages can have fun with!

What is the prize for the winner you ask?

GOOSIE CARDS! What, you have never heard of them? You must read on then!

Goosie Cards are colorful, durable and best of all, custom flash cards made with your own pictures. We, at the Night Light household live far from our extended families. As our children grow older, it is wonderful to be able to have photos with names on a sturdy card that my children can spill on and chew on without destroying the picture. There are so many other uses for them as well such as site words, sentence building, shapes, colors- the choices are endless and only limited to your imagination. You can check out this wonderful product for yourself by going to http://www.goosiecards.com/. Go ahead, take a gander!

Goosie Cards has generously offered to give the winner of our contest a free set of 10 custom made Goosie Cards.

Wait, but that is not all. On top of that, everyone can win! If you visit Goosie Cards at http://www.goosiecards.com/ and place an order between January 7th and February 28th you can receive 20% off your order! Just type in the promo code nightlight.

I will be posting our new Night Light story sometime this weekend. The description of the contest, along with some new mind tingling vocabulary will be available on the blog along with, of course, the link to the story. Don't forget, you can also download our stories for free on iTunes.
As always, keep your light glowing brightly!