Although the news of Cheerios giving away award winning books in their cereal boxes was released through Reuters, I got it straight from a mom at the breakfast table!
“Hey Sherry, in our latest box of Cheerios we got a free book called “The Great Dog Wash.” It’s part of a program that Cheerios does with Simon and Schuster called a “Spoonful of Stories.” The book was the winner of Cheerios new author contest and its cute as can be. The illustrations are great, the language is great. The woman who wrote it went to Vanderbilt and is a nanny to four children. It’s coming out in hard copy in July (http://books.simonandschuster.com/Great-Dog-Wash/Shellie-Braeuner/9781416971160), but I thought it was a great promotion on the part of Cheerios. One side of the page is in English and the other side is in Spanish. I was just so impressed with the little book that I had to share!”
Cheerios, as part of their Spoonful of Stories program, ran a contest to find the best new children’s book 
author. “The Great Dog Wash,” by Shellie Braeuner, was the winning entry in their first contest. Braeuner, a nanny from Nashville with a masters in education, got the idea for her book while washing Fluffy, the family dog. Her winning book has been distributed in Cheerios boxes this spring, to the delight of children and parents everywhere. An added bonus was that Simon and Schuster offered Braeuner a book deal and she will see her story in hardcover print soon.
As a kid, I remember the delight in being the first to open the cereal box because you could dig down to the bottom and claim the prize. The little plastic toys don’t compare to getting a good book! Kudos to Cheerios for encouraging reading with our little ones.
I couldn’t resist including a photo of Oreo posing next to the dog wash book. Apparently he required some compensation (a peanut butter cookie) for his modeling assignment.
