I Love My Mommy Mother's Day Event 2011 Sponsor Spotlight & Review: SoftPlay

I Love My Mommy
Mother's Day Event 2011
Sponsor Spotlight:
SoftPlay



I haven't spent too much time gushing about children's books (yet) but as a former first grade teacher, I will gladly admit that I love books for children! I currently teach computer so I don't have a classroom of books but they are all stored for when I need them for my classroom again or W is ready for them! I currently read board books to him because he tries to put them right into his mouth but I have gotten him quite a collection of board books so we should be good for awhile. We also have a few cloth books and a few plastic books for the bathtub. Once he's ready for regular books, I have over 3,000 for him to choose from and that doesn't include the ones I bought brand new for him!

Now that I've rambled about my obsession with children's books, let me tell you about my next amazing sponsor, SoftPlay! SoftPlay makes interactive cloth products for kids, including cloth books! We only have two or three cloth books and I really like them so I was very excited to discover SoftPlay. They offer a wonderful variety of products from 3D Felt Playsets and Play-A-Story books to Finger Puppet Playsets and a wonderful variety of Cloth Books!

SoftPlay makes high quality, interactive, cloth toy products for kids and all of the products are educationally sound and designed to promote Early Language Development. SoftPlay believes that learning can be fun and this is reflected in their products! I was excited to have the opportunity to review one of their wonderful products.

I was sent a Sunggle Up Elmo plush book titled Elmo Loves the Bears to review with W. Before I go any further, let me say that as soon as this book was out of its packaging, W wanted in his hands and in his mouth!

I'm sure part of it was the bright red color but he also loves Elmo when we watch Sesame Street so this was the perfect book for him.

My initial impression of the book was wonderful. I love the large size of it and it is amazingly soft. The hands and feet are sturdy and perfect for W's little hands to grab. The book itself is so soft, I was surprised. I expected it be be soft and cushiony but it exceeded my expectations.

The book is 8 pages long and each page is very squishy and good for putting in your mouth if you're a baby. W proved that much. He has enjoyed looking through the book every time we have read it so far. The colors are bright and the characters are recognizable as the ones we see on Sesame Street. I also like the velcro closure that holds the book closed. It is good, quality hook and loop and sticks very well without being overly difficult to open.

The story is also very good. It's very simple but includes dialog which I like because it allows me to read in different voices to make the story more engaging. I'm sure I could read narrative passages in different voices, but that might be a little odd for me. W wouldn't care but I might feel strange. Dialogue is much more conducive for voices! I also like that the story is complex enough that he will be able to read it as he becomes a beginning reader. This book will have a long life in our home!

One thing I worry about with W's board books is that they are hard and he brings them up to his face so quickly sometimes. I love this SoftPlay book because I don't have to worry about him hitting himself in the eye or something. He does enough damage with his fingernails even after I've cut and filed them! Our new SoftPlay is definitely going to survive the gumming, drooling, and chewing without causing any injuries! My only challenge will be keeping Elmo out of the mouth of my other babies -- the dogs! I will have to be the guard of our dear, soft Elmo until W is big enough to do it on his own!

SoftPlay has provided a Sunggle Up Elmo - Elmo Loves the Bears book for the winner of the Welcome to Motherhood prize pack! I'm sure that your new baby or a baby you know will love this book as much as W does!

Earn Early Entries!
Remember that you have an opportunity to earn early entries into the Mother's Day Giveaway Event! The Early Entry form will be available for submission until Tuesday, May 3rd at 9:59pm EST. This will give me a day to tally the extra entries prior to the beginning of the event. You will then be able to use the extra entries on any of the giveaways being offered at FormulaMom during the event. Please note that these early entries will only be valid on FormulaMom event giveaways and will only be valid if you return during the event to complete the mandatory entry for each giveaway! To complete or update your early entries please visit the Early Entry Opportunities post.


Disclosure: I was sent a Snuggle Up Elmo plush book to review and SoftPlay is providing the giveaway prize. I was not compensated in any other way for this review and all opinions are my own. FormulaMom’s full disclosure can be found here.