Just in time for cyber monday! In celebration of the new Build-A-Bear Wii game, The Game Factory has a wonderful opportunity to give AND receive!

Check out the wonderful charity auctions taking place on ebay!  Bid on celebrity-built Build-A-Bear Workshop bears and autographed copies of Build-A-Bear Workshop Wii games. 

What a wonderful gift combination for the special child in your life!  The Wii game alone is a @ $39.99 value so bid often and generously!  One ebay bid gets you a Wii game and bear!  The auctions benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California.

Almost as exciting is that YOU get a chance to win a Build-A-Bear Wii game of your very own!  Just visit the ebay auction page and tell me which bear you’d like to bid on!

Contest ends: Friday December 12, 2008 @ midnight, feel free to enter anytime before then!

Finally a little mommy TIME!  as an on again off again fan of Sex and the City I was very excited to read One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell.  As a native of Queens, I’ve always been interested in New York society and the upper summits of the lifestyle and this book delivers just that.

While the life NY ladies lead is interesting there are parts that are so repulsive it makes a sane person want to scream.  This is most evident when a socialite vacates a lavish apartment via death and the main characters scramble to acquire the prized real estate.

I can’t help but be turned off by the greed and shallow portrayal but I must agree it is accurate.  As a native New Yorker it always saddenned me to see the way people would come to make it rich at any cost like Lola Fabrikant.

A few years ago this book would have been a fun read for me,  but with the despair all around caused by over the top consumption and entitlement it’s a painful reminder.  Not to mention, I like to think, if this book were put in a time space capsule what would it say about this society?  well, there’s nothing good that comes from this book, it’s all very sad really.

If you’re a die hard Candace Bushnell fan then you may enjoy the many story lines, the writing is pretty good and it’s actually easy to keep track of the various characters.  There is a lot of room for developement and continuity which I suspect is part of the plan for a sequel for more from this group.

Thanks to the Parent Reviewers for the chance to review this book.