Friday, February 20, 2015

Little Gestalten Children's Picture Book Review and Giveaway ($88 Value) Ends 3/3

“The featured product was provided free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% the opinion of the Coupon Savvy Sarah family. This post may contain affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.”


In our household, books are a major part of our lives. We love to read and escape into a good book. I have always enjoyed reading, from the time I was read to as a child to when I was able to read to myself. As parents, we have shown our daughter our love of reading and have had the unique pleasure of reading to Rose in German as well from some of my husband's childhood German story books that his family had saved for him. Rose does proclaim from time to time not to like to read, however she is rarely seem without a book in her hand and usually has multiple books she is reading at a time.

I was thrilled to work with the Berlin-based children's book publisher Little Gestalten to review some of their debut line of beautiful, high concept, totally unique picture books. It is very special to me to find not only a unique book for my daughter but one that has ties to her heritage since she is German citizen as well.

We received three books to review titled: Elsa and the Night, The Zoo's Grand Opening and Little Red Riding Hood. The books have a matted finish and the colors are visually appealing.


The Little Red Riding Hood book is my favorite because it unfolds in an accordion-style, postcard-size book with paper-cut scenes that make striking use of the contrasting black, white and red colors. Little Gestalten has another similarly styled book titled Puss in Boots with yellow, black and white colors.

Here is a little more information about each book we received:


Elsa and the Night (by Jons Mellgren):

In a very poetic way, Elsa and the Night tells the story of an extraordinary friendship. Can one make friends with the night? In this story, Elsa can! How, may you ask, could someone even meet the night? Well, one day Elsa is sitting at her kitchen table and, because she is bored, counting the raisins in her cereal. She then suddenly hears a sound coming from under the sofa. When she investigates and catches the thing making the noise, she realizes that it's neither an animal nor a ghost. It's the night. Because Elsa winds up hiding the night in her cookie jar--and giving it a few of her raisins--the day outside doesn't end. When she takes the night out of its hiding place, it has the chance to hear her talk about her adventures with her friend, an elephant named Olaf. Elsa tells the night that she is very sad because Olaf got sick and no medicine was able to help him. The night not only listens to Elsa, but also accompanies her on a heartwarming and moving journey where it cares for her, protects her, and finally carries her through the town in its arms.

The Zoo's Grand Opening (by Judith Drews):

Children love animals, letters, and games involving numbers. With this book, even the youngest children can playfully learn their ABCs, the names of animals, and how to count. This fun animal book tells the exciting story of a zoo preparing for its opening day. The head zookeeper, who guides young readers through its pages, is waiting anxiously for the animals to get there. Will they all be in their cages by the time the first visitors arrive? Illustrated with loving attention to detail, The Zoo's Grand Opening is ideal for pre-school children. The book opens on an empty zoo and then follows the arrival of the animals, starting with an anaconda (representing the letter "A" and the number one), followed by a bear ("B" and two) and so on all the way to "Z" and 26. While they enjoy the story, children will playfully be introduced to the letters of the alphabet and how to count. At its end, they have not only been introduced to a variety of creatures, but they also know how many animals can be seen at the grand opening.


Little Red Riding Hood (by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm - Illustrated by Clementine Sourdais):

The traditional story of Little Red Riding Hood is given new dimensions in this striking play between light and shadow. Little Red Riding Hood is a fair tale loved the world over. Almost every child knows the story by the Brothers Grimm of the girl who was lured from the forest path by the evil wolf. Now, everyone can rediscover it with this enchanting little book by French illustrator Clementine Sourdais, who gives a contemporary look to this traditional tale. Created with loving attention to detail, Sourdais's cut-out images give the book an extraordinary khaptic quality that make it a pleasure to feel and behold. Her unique settings not only make the woods, the big bad wolf, and grandmother's house come alive on the page, but they can also be transformed into a dancing play of shadows on a wall. Held in front of a light and unfolded, this book becomes a true adventure, inviting its young readers to marvel at and experience Little Red Riding Hood's journey in a whole new way.


I would highly recommend these books from Little Gestalten in addition to their other books. They are visually stunning with their colors and illustrations plus the language used in most of the books is more appealing to myself and young listeners than typical story books. I am actually looking forward to purchasing a couple more of these books for Rose and when she is done with them, I will be packing them up in her hope chest as treasured keepsakes someday for her child (as was done for her father and myself). Little Gestalten Books can be purchased directly on their website or online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

You can sign up for Little Gestalten's newsletter to stay up to date on their latest news and releases, plus you can follow them on their social media channels as well - Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.


Coupon Savvy Sarah readers have the chance to win a Little Gestalten Book Prize Pack consisting of FIVE (5) Books ($88 Value)

Just enter on the Rafflecopter form below!

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Disclosure: Coupon Savvy Sarah receives products in order to conduct reviews. No monetary compensation was provided unless noted otherwise. All opinions are 100% my own. Some posts may contain affiliate links that I receive commission or payment from in exchange for referrals. In the event of a giveaway, the sponsor is responsible for delivery of the prize, unless otherwise noted in the posting. I only recommend products or services I personally use and believe will be a good fit for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 225: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising"

21 comments:

  1. How Big is Big? How Far is Far? by Jan Van Der Veken interests me the most.

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  2. My daughter would love Little Red Riding Hood. I love the bright colors! The email that I check most often is fossil316@aol.com

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  3. Plip, the Umbrella Man looks cute! I know my niece would love that one!

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  4. The Zoo’s Grand Opening sounds super cute!

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  5. I am most interested in The Story of Mademoiselle Oiseau

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  6. I love the drawings- I'm interested in Plip, the Umbrella Man. So clever.

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  7. I think my son would love Elsa and the Night!

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  8. These are really adorable ideas for children's stories. I love it!

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  9. The illustrations in the honey hunter look really coool. Would love to win!

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  10. I like The Zoo’s Grand Opening the most, my son loves animals and would surely love to add this to our collection of bedtime stories.

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  11. <3 the zoos grand opening looks absolutely adorable my little girl would love it thanks for the chance

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  12. I've never seen these books, so these would be something new for the boys library.

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  13. How Big Is Big? How Far Is Far?

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  14. Puss In Boots but name seems very much like another cat in a movie?????

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  15. I like The Zoo’s Grand Opening Little Gestalten
    An ABC and Counting Book

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  16. How Big is Big? How Far is Far?

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