GIVEAWAY: Flip For Joy

EDIT 25.05.14: Congratulations Lynn Neo and 张銀耘! You won yourselves a set of 《《噼里啪啦玩具立体书》》each! Have fun flipping with joy.

Women after children become too busy trying to be mums. I cannot recall the last time I actually took a leisurely stroll down Orchard Road, looking through the charming store displays that shout SALE. The only place I've ever shopped since Ewan was born is Online. If they had the PayPal option, I will jump with joy! The convenience of PayPal is beyond belief. There isn't even a need to pull out my credit card from my wallet to key in the long random numbers. Just a click of a button through PayPal and my purchases will be delivered at the doorstep within the week. 

Flip For Joy 乐翻天 is my favourite online Mandarin bookstore and well of course, they accept bank transfers, major credit cards and PayPal locally and internationally! Best of all, they provide free local standard postage island-wide with every purchase and free courier service with purchases above S$50. Mummies love the word FREE and SALE.

There are droves and droves of online bookstores available in Singapore but a large array of Mandarin good reads? What a rare find! I would confidently say Flip For Joy 乐翻天 is the only Mandarin bookstore that is constantly sourcing for fresh flips in the international market to satisfy our children's (and parents') intellectual needs. I got so addicted that I didn't realise Ewan owned so many Flip For Joy 乐翻天 books until I sprawled them out around him. No matter where we are, even in the hospital visiting mummy, Ewan would plead to read his favourites.


I started reading to Ewan from birth. Swaddled up and slouching in his bouncer, I would flip the pages of large colourful picture books and try to narrate them as theatrical as I could to engage him. No wonder he is such a drama king now and he can never go to bed without reading his favourite books first. That is why we set up a Book Nook in his room just for his (and our) reading pleasure. Almost every night, we will have to say, "Alright boy. One last book and you need to go to bed okay?"


Ewan has many favourites. At different phases of his life (only two years of it), he enjoyed different reads. As if it is a common reflex, he grasps the books, flips them and gives them a good lick and taste. I want to reiterate: it is never too young to start reading. If you'd like to find out more about his 'old' favourites, you can find a blog post written a year ago when he was 10 months old: http://mmlittlee.blogspot.sg/2013/04/international-childrens-book-day.html


In this giveaway post, I would like to introduce his latest obsession - 《《噼里啪啦玩具立体书》》. It is a set of six books filled with highly interactive elements: peek-a-boo pictures, lift-the-flaps, pull-outs and pop-ups. The size of these books are small and handy, perfect for little hands and best as travel entertainers. Of course he cannot vocalise 我要读噼里啪啦玩具立体书. We know he wanted us to read them together with him when he goes, "海豚海豚!". It means Dolphin in Mandarin. He reads them so many times to a point that he can name every sea creature in the《《在大海里》》book - 海豚,安康鱼,热带鱼,鱿鱼,鲸鱼,螃蟹,海龟,章鱼 (dolphin, anglerfish, tropical fish, squid, crab, sea turtle and octopus). For a two year old, I must say I am very proud of his Mandarin achievement.



He owned these books since he was six months old but I never really allowed him free reign on flipping the pages because they will either get wet from saliva or torn from his curious hands. Mummy likes her books in mint conditions but I well know such play allows our children to learn more from their reads.

Now that he is older, he interacts with the books in pretend-play. It is really entertaining to see him giving the Squid a kiss and attempting to blow out the candle on the pop-up birthday cake. There are still some words I cannot read so Ewan doesn't know them either. When I casually shared with the owner of Flip For Joy 乐翻天, she offered to provide me with Hanyu Pinyin translations for those we have difficulties with. What do you call that? Pure passion in wanting to introduce the Chinese language to this generation of children. 

Now before I digress too much, let me show you these priceless pretend-play Ewan whipped up for me in the hospital. I cannot stop smiling as I recall the scene.

He opened the《《真好吃》》book but I couldn't see what he was trying to do from my end except that he is enjoying something delicious. I moved to his side and saw a glass of orange juice. My Ewan boy was drinking orange juice from the pop-up straw and he said, "Yum Yum!" The juice was so sweet, he bit a part of the straw off. *hahhahah* I couldn't contain my hearty laughter and he burst out with a cheeky chuckle thereafter.



After his little drinking affair with an imaginary glass of fresh fruit juice, he decided that Pizza could make a good lunch. He even offered me a slice which I thought was really sweet of him to do.


We always have fun reading 《《噼里啪啦玩具立体书》》and he often come up with new tricks to interact with the books. It is wonderful to see him grow and we definitely enjoy his little antics. Many times, he bewilders us with his imaginations and I credit them to the story-telling sessions we have at home. Daddy is a great story-teller and he tells bedtime stories with puppets in bed, teaching him precious lessons in life on what's good and bad, what's dangerous and safe. We are thankful he could relate to them and re-tell us the stories the next night. Not only did Ewan benefitted from these Mandarin reads. Daddy improved a lot as well and I am surprised he could sometimes finish a storybook in Mandarin with Ewan!


For the giveaway, we are presenting one of two sets of《《噼里啪啦玩具立体书》》 to two lucky winners. These set of six books are priced at S$35.90 each. 

Steps to win the giveaway:
1) like A Million Little Echoes Facebook page
2) like Flip For Joy Facebook page
3) comment on this post why you would like this set of creative and interactive books
4) include your Facebook name and your email address in the comment
5) most innovative answer wins

**Now for the twist! Your comments must be written in Mandarin to promote the spirit of Mandarin to our children. We know you can do it!**

Giveaway contest ends on 25 May 2014 and the two winners will be announced on A Million Little Echoes Facebook page. Open to all fans residing in Singapore only.

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Introducing the passionate founder of Flip For Joy 乐翻天, Jiang Meiru. She was an ex-teacher who gave up her career to be a mother to her amazing son. She felt that local bookshops lacked good Chinese storybooks and illustrations play a big part in stretching our children's imagination. 


Her tips to get your child interested in Mandarin? 

1) Enjoy the story and bonding as you read together with your child. Avoid testing and over teaching them as it disrupts the flow of the story.

2) Parents can download useful apps such as KTdict C-E to help them with the pronunciations and meanings of unfamiliar characters. 

3) The key to raising a bilingual child is input! Make a conscious and planned effort to expose your child to the Chinese language regularly from young. Create meaningful opportunities for them to use the language. Your attempts in speaking Mandarin and positive attitude towards the language will influence your child.

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A stay at home mum, blogging to widen her social life. 
 We want to echo the sound of love through our lives to inspire other mothers alike.

Comments

  1. 谢谢你的介绍!这个华语书网店看起来真的很不错。

    比赛五月二十五日结束,翔樂也刚好在这一天就两岁了!这套书会是个很好的生日礼物!我相信我的儿子会被那五彩缤纷又立体的图案深深吸引,从而培养他对华语的兴趣。他也能和大他半年的“姐姐” (我的侄女)分享书籍!

    Vryn Ang
    yingzz at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. 我的华语不是很好,我也不想要我的儿子, 永祥, 长大后不认识他自己的母语。这个书可以让我们一家三口都学好华语,和让儿子知道他周围的世界!

    PS: May, that took me FOREVER to write! HAHAHA :D
    Ruth Song
    thepacifierdiaries@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. 自从认识了乐翻天,已经买了许多书给了两岁大的女儿,也曾经买过这套书给她。这套书是女儿的最爱,但她爱到把书内的许多图画都撕破了。现在想给还没出生的儿子一套新的书,要不然以后会吵着说,“为什么姐姐的书都是新的而我的是破烂的??”

    Maybelliine Tan
    itz_ya@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. 我的小安安,
    两岁半,
    讲华语有些困难,
    每看到三个字就读成“洋娃娃”,
    真是可笑及尴尬。

    乐翻天的书类看起来真棒!
    希望能赢取美观又有趣的书集,
    让小安安乐在书中,
    爱用华语沟通!

    :)
    Ee Jia Tan
    eejia.tan@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 谢谢您的参与!请为Flip for Joy和 A Million Little Echoes面簿页点赞,便有机会赢奖

      Delete
  5. 乐翻天带有的立体给孩子带来的视觉呈现一定可以培养儿子对华语的兴趣,也会深受儿子的喜爱。真恨不得赶快把书本给赢回去看着孩子在乐趣中学华文。

    Angeline Lee
    angeldol@rocketmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 谢谢您的参与!请为Flip for Joy和 A Million Little Echoes面簿页点赞,便有机会赢奖

      Delete
  6. 阅读和学习语文都是要从小培养起的。但要做到孩子独立地阅读和有自信地运用华语不是件容易的事。有了这些五颜六色, 有趣而且又是立体的书籍,学习和运用华文就容易多了。我真希望能赢走这些书籍,让我的大儿子阅读,并让他有机会用这些书教小女儿。

    Phyllis Tan
    sillyphy13@gmail. com

    ReplyDelete
  7. unable to reply in chinese as chinese illiterate ( hope you dont disqualify my entry). due to my own weakness, i make sure that my kids have very good foundation in chinese from a young age. most important is to have interesting elements such as music n books.....n my dream one day when i go to china , hk and taiwan for holidays i will rely solely on my kids to read road signs, food menu, museum exhibits...its not just to excel in school but for survival....
    jaime chan chueimei@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. 噼里啪啦读书乐! 小女晴羽爱玩乐!
    "翻一篇,乐翻天", 把书赠小女愿她长知识,读书乐!!


    Lynn Neo
    18lynn21@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. 我非常注重语文的学习,更知道学习华文不是一件简单的事。每一笔,每一画, 都深藏了意思! 我希望孩子以后能对母语产生浓厚的兴趣!

    身为一个节省的母亲,我总是往图书馆跑。幸运的话就能借到有趣的书! 看到这些书本,还真合我意! 希望孩子能从中得意!

    Carole Yeo
    ernern62@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. May,你好!决定参加这个比赛,因为觉得我们有点缘份。除了我也叫May,而且也是个全职妈妈之外,你所拟定的截止日期,五月二十五日是我和先生的结婚周年纪念日! :)

    (严肃点。。。)其实我决定参加这个比赛,是因为被你和先生对培养Ewan对华文的兴趣所付出的一切所启发,所感动。我自小就不爱看书,所以在学习语言方面遇到不少困难。读了你的小文章后,有些许希望自己的父母当年有像你们对培养孩子读书的那种坚持和热忱。时光不能倒流,我只能下定决心,不让三个(一,三,五岁的)孩子步我后尘。当然也就到处寻找好的书籍,让孩子在充满书香的环境里成长。Ewan 那么享受阅读这套书籍的过程,那我当然想让孩子也闻到它的书香。

    成不成功,就看我们的缘份有多深啦!

    自以为和你有缘的人。。。

    May Zhang
    zhang.may@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. 很开心能看到这套可爱又能增加孩子的知识书。我觉得华文对现在的教育占有很大的地位。现代的年轻人都以英语为足要的沟通,变成失去我们华人所应该永有的文化。
    我希望我的孩子能从小也开始有好的习慣阅读华文书。 我相信这套书能击发他对华文的兴趣。每一翻都会让他又乐又惊喜!!
    Joyce Tan
    joyctansg@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. 通过 “一百万之回声” 部落格所介绍的《噼里啪啦立体玩具书》,似呼自己都爱上了这六册小小有趣的书本!虽然我有三个小宝贝,但这次我想要赢得这套书籍送给我的印度族同事。

    她说过要通过华藉丈夫让两岁女儿和自己学习华语,但觉得华文很难也不知从何开始。所以,我希望通过 “乐翻天” 这系列互动兴强,独具创意的立体书,能让母女俩通过有趣和充满新鲜感的方式来学习华语和培养对华文的兴趣。我相信爸爸也会对这套书爱不释手!

    所谓:"语言无国界,华文不分种族。" 你同意吗?

    xoxo
    张銀耘
    jessicazhang21@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. 好有趣的玩具书 …… 希望我家的小宝贝也会爱上它,从此明白/改变自己是华人而不是‘英文’人的想法!

    可馨
    Michelle Lim-Ang
    mich.limang@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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