This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for more details.

cheerios_spoonfuls_of_storiesOver the past eight years, Cheerios has given away more than 40 million children’s books by distributing them free inside cereal boxes and has donated $3.2 million to First Book, their non-profit partner, which provides books to children from low-income families. The program is part of Cheerios’ ongoing commitment to helping parents provide their children with a healthy, nutritional and educational foundation.

Cheerios is again bringing books to the breakfast table, by providing six million children’s books free inside Cheerios boxes. The books are for children ages 3 to 8 years old, and include a brand new book in the popular “Trucktown” series, available only inside Cheerios boxes. And for the first time, all five books have been specially printed in both English and Spanish.

This year’s book offerings from Cheerios – all by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – are:

  • Junkyard Fort, written by Jon Scieszka, and illustrated by David Shannon, Loren Long and Dave Gordon: Join Gabriella, Jack, Melvin, Ted, Lucy and the other Trucktown characters as they make their own fort, using things found in the junkyard. Ages 4-8.
  • Tea for Ruby, written by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser: Wherever Ruby goes, a bit of disaster seems to follow. But one sunny morning, things change when the postman brings Ruby an amazing invitation: would she like to have tea with the Queen? Ruby needs to polish her manners, and quickly. Ages 4-8.
  • Sleepyhead, written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by John Segal: In this rhythmic bedtime story, a cat is the parent and a teddy bear is the child who doesn’t want to go to bed. All ready for bed with teeth brushed and story read, Sleepyhead teddy tries anything to prolong his bedtime; books and his quilt provide ample fodder for his imagination. Ages 3-7.
  • Ballyhoo Bay, written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Derek Anderson: Mira Bella, an artist who teaches painting and sculpture, loves Ballyhoo Bay and what it offers: sun, sea, sand, and sky. But one gray day a billboard arrives, announcing an impending development that would take all the fun out of the place. Read along to see if Mira Bella and her art can save the day and Ballyhoo Bay! Ages 4–8.
  • What’s Under the Bed?, written and illustrated by Joe Fenton: Young Fred cannot stop worrying about the scary creature that might be hiding beneath his bed. Finally summoning the courage to peer under his bed, Fred, with his cumbersome glasses, sees that the only thing there is Ted, his friendly Teddy Bear! Ages 3–7.

My Blog Spark and General Mills sent me a Spoonfuls of Stories Gift Pack.  First of all, I have to tell you, my daughters were so excited when they saw the BIG box of Cheerios come in the mail.  They love Cheerios.  Then I pulled out the books and immediately we sat down and read Sleepyhead and then later we read Tea for Ruby before bedtime.  Needless to say that’s my 5 year old’s favorite book and we read it a several times a week.   But they loved all the books and we are going to grab some new ones at Barnes & Noble the next time we go.

The Giveaway:

General Mills along with My Blog Spark have generously offered to give away to one (1) lucky Frugal RI Mama reader a Spoonfuls of Stories gift pack, which includes:

  • a set each of the five Spoonfuls of Stories books
  • a box of Cheerios
  • a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry!!! Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite children’s book is.

Extra Entries:

You must do the above first for any of the extra entries to count. You can then enter up to 6+ more times by doing any or all of the following:

  1. Follow Frugal RI Mama on twitter
  2. Sign up for to receive my RSS feed (add me to your favorite reader)
  3. Subscribe to Frugal RI Mama by Email
  4. Tweet about the giveaway (please include @frugalrimama – can do once a day)
  5. Blog about this giveaway
  6. Comment on any other post  (can do once a day) then leave a link here to your post (other giveaway posts do not count)
  7. Become a Fan of Frugal RI Mama on Facebook

Just leave a separate comment for each additional entry for them to count.

Giveaway Details:

Open to US and Canada Residents. This giveaway will end Monday, November 30th at 11:59PM EST. The winner will be picked by Random.org and announced the next day and will have 48 hours to claim their prize or I will choose another winner.

Good Luck!