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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