Madeline's Halloween & Other Spooky Tales on DVD

With Halloween just a week away, we were in the need of something to help set the mood for trick-or-treating. The newest Madeline DVD release was perfect for just that! This time the twelve little residents of an old house in Paris, covered with vines, are off on some spook filled adventures. Watch as they encounter ghouls, mummies, and a haunted castle!

Madeline's Halloween & Other Spooky Tales is 110 minutes and has a suggested retail of $12.99 and features five episode:

• Madeline's Halloween
• Madeline And The Mean, Nasty, Horrible Hats
• Madeline And The Mummy
• Madeline And The Haunted Castle
• Madeline And the Spider Lady

In the title episode Madeline, her classmates, and Miss Clavel are off to visit their pen pals in New York. Once there, they find things are not as they recalled, some thing seems off, and a whole lot scarier.

Boo! It's only Halloween, their American pen pals explain, a holiday then unknown in France. They show Madeline and her friends how much fun the holiday is and introduce them to other things that are different in the US like food and music.

Both sets of girls get dressed up and spend a fun night trick or treating. Only to find a mysterious pair of valuable spider shaped earrings in Madeline's bag, when they get back. What to do? Well of course plucky Madeline will find the owner and it involves a mysterious Spider Lady...and the requisite happy ending.

My daughter tends to be a little bit of a scardy cat, but Madeline's Halloween & Other Spooky Tales is filled with cute little songs, darling French accents, and adventures in far flung places is charmingly sweet and mild enough for her and other young viewers to enjoy. While not all the stories revolve around Halloween, they all do indeed involve an element of of spooky fun.

It is a good video for parents looking for a seasonal video with a literature connection. Fans of the books by Ludwig Bemelmann will find a lot to like and it's a good value for almost two hours of running time. While there are no DVD extras or a fancy menu, a lot of times I find those to be rather promo heavy or just trailers..i.e. commercials, so I don't miss them at all. I'd rather have more actual videos and stories, and Madeline's Halloween & Other Spooky Tales definitely delivers!



Disclosure: A reviewer's copy of this title was provided, and this post relates my own personal and unbiased opinions and experiences with it.

The Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter, Book Review

#1 New York Times bestseller Catherine Coulter's book, The Valcourt Heiress is an action packed historical romance set in the medieval era that reaffirms Coulter's well deserved title "master of romantic suspense". The 368 page novel was released on October 5th and the list price is $25.95, hardcover.

Plot Synopsis:

When Garron of Kersey returns home from the king's service to claim his title as Baron Wareham, he's shocked to find Wareham Castle very nearly destroyed by a man called the Black Demon.

According to the last starving servants still clinging to life inside the castle walls, the Black Demon was looking for gold belonging to Garron's brother Arthur. Among his remaining servants is the enigmatic Merry, the bastard child of the castle's priest. Garron quickly realizes that she is much more than a servant: She reads and writes and makes lists, just as he does. Together they bring Wareham back to its former splendor.

But this is only the beginning. Did Arthur have a cache of gold? Who is the Black Demon? And the biggest question of all: Who is Merry?

Coulter's legions of fans will enjoy this fun read with lots of plot twists, several mysteries, mistaken identities, and a touch of magic too! I found it to be an intriguing read right from the start and a real page turner. You find yourself drawn to Merry, wrapped up in her efforts to hide her real idenity from Garron, hoping she'll be able to continue getting Wareham back to normal.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out, she cleverly takes the characters in a different direction. The Valcourt Heiress is the first tale by Coulter I've ever read and already I'm hoping a sequel is in the works! I've got to know what happened to Merry's mysterious mother!

You find out more about Catherine Coulter and keep up to date with her newest releases on her Facebook Fan Page. An excerpt from the book can be viewed on the author's website.



Disclosure: An advanced reviewers edition was provided and this post relates my own personal and unbiased opinions of this book.

Meet the Divas, Facebook Edition with a $20 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

For awhile now, I've been a member of a great group of bloggers specializing in reviews, The Double Duty Divas. I've been able to participate in a few campaigns with them too, in fact, I'll be posting my next review soon! I'm even signed up to attend the Reviewer's Retreat next May, so I can meet and mingle with fellow Double Duty Divas in person.

So far, one of the best perks has been being part of network that supports each other and we've just started a new cross-promotional event to give exposure to each other's Facebook pages. I'd like to encourage all of you to check out the Facebook Pages of the following Double Duty Divas:)


The Fabulous Won
Children Teaching Mama
Embracing Beauty
Ladybug Soup
Being Alison
Biz Mommy
The Coupon Sista
Sassy Moms in the City
Upstate Ramblings
Mama's Money Savers
and of course....
ME!

You can even win a $20 Gift Card to Amazon for meeting the other Double Duty Divas on Facebook! With the holidays coming up, that will be really handy!
To Enter:

First you need to be a fan and "like" my Facebook page. Just leave me a comment telling you are:)

Extra Entries:

For each additional Diva, listed above, you "like" you get an additional entry. Just leave me a seperate comment for each one. I'd love it if you also posted on the Diva's Facebook Page that I sent you.

I will also give you an extra entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can do it once per day...leave a comment with your tweet link each time.

Details:

That's a total of ELEVEN entries you can get on my post and if you check each of the other Diva's listed, you can enter on their sites too:) Each one should have a post up about the Facebook promotion by next Thursday.

• You have until November 4th to enter:)
• There is one winner from ALL the participating blogs and entries.
• You must have an email address in your profile or comment to win.