Awesome Book Series to Read to Your Kids (GIVEAWAY!)

Cottonmouth

The Cottonmouth series is great for kids ages 7-12.

I’ve got such a fun treat for anyone who loves books and has kids who love books. And even if you and/or your kids hate books (perish the thought), it’s likely because they’ve never read books like these. Allow me to introduce you to Freddie Cottonmouth. An unassuming 10-year-old boy who has some pretty bizarre experiences and learns some pretty profound things in the process.

Freddie lives in the pages of three books written and illustrated by C. S. Fritz. (You thought I was going to say Lewis, didn’t you?) These books are unique in so many ways. Let us count them together, and when we’re done, you’ll have a chance to win one of two prizes: Prize One: a free copy of the last book in the series: Cottonmouth and the End. Prize Two: an original signed piece of Cottonmouth artwork AND a drawn-in copy of Cottonmouth and the End.

But first, let’s talk about…

Why These Books Rock

1. These books have a cool feel to them.

Sounds weird, but I’m a book lover, and I love the feel of certain books. These are a fun size – not too small and not to large. They are a just a bit chunky with oodles of pages jam packed with eye candy for kids. (I’ll talk more about that in a minute.) The covers are textured. I love me a textured cover.

2. The pictures are captivating.

You remember Where the Wild Things Are? All the fun pictures with no words? These books tell the story with words but also with pictures like that – where you turn the pages and just watch the story unfold. I love the variety. Words and images gracefully dancing out the story line. Totally cool. And this guy knows how to draw. In 2011, he was nominated as Arizona Visual Artist of the Year. I think he might be a kid in a man’s body, actually. Or he has incredible dreams at night, because he’s got the imagination of a child pegged to perfection.

3. The story reads like a bizarre, yet familiar dream.

This review was supposed to be about the very last book in the series, but I wanted to read all three to my children in their proper order. The kids were spellbound. Since there are so many strange things that happen, they waited with expectation for the next plot twist, and wondered how it would all fit together in the end.

Fritz weaves in some wry humor for the adults to enjoy, and he’s good at creating suspense and leaving you hanging. And who doesn’t like to hang?

4. The length is perfect for a bedtime adventure.

It’s not one of those short books that makes you feel like you really should read another book to satisfy kids who aren’t quite sleepy enough. Yet it’s not so long that you can’t finish it in one reading, either. It takes about 15-20 minutes to read through the entire book. That’s the perfect bedtime story, in my opinion. Very satisfying for everyone involved.

5. The message is 100% gospel.

If you want your kids to catch the gospel from a different angle, these books should be in your toolbox. Like the Narnia books, Cottonmouth’s adventures are other-wordly, yet eerily familiar. My 11-year-old’s eyes lit up at one point as she recognized the parallels between Tug (the big bear-like character who befriends Freddie) and Christ for the first time.

6. The kids loved them.

What more can I say? They have the endorsement of picky kids all over the country. And to make it even more exciting, they can actually write a letter to Freddie Cottonmouth and get a real answer! When my 9-year-old found out Freddie would actually read and answer something she wrote, she immediately penned an eloquent letter any mother would be proud of.

pen pal

 7. They don’t cost an arm and a leg.

You can get not one, but all three on Amazon for $22.37. I think you should. I’m not an affiliate – I’m just telling you they are really worth it. You can find them here:

Cottonmouth and the River

Cottonmouth and the Great Gift

Cottonmouth and the End

Giveaways

To win a copy of Cottonmouth and the End, all you need to do is leave a comment below. Anything will do. Tell me about your dog. What you did on Mother’s Day. What your favorite nail polish is. Seriously. I’ll draw a winner next week end.

UPDATE: Janet (h***.j**t*@gmail.com) won the free copy! Congratulations!

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

To win an original signed piece of Cottonmouth artwork AND a drawn-in copy of Cottonmouth and the End, all you need to do is enter this Rafflecopter thingy and do what it says. It’s more complicated than telling me about your dog, but the prizes are worth more too.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A mother of nine, homemaker, business owner (Apple Valley Natural Soap), and most importantly, a Wemmick loved by the Woodcarver.

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Categories: Book Reviews, Parenting
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

60 thoughts on “Awesome Book Series to Read to Your Kids (GIVEAWAY!)”

  2. Thank you so much for sharing about this book series! I can’t wait to check them out more :)

  6. My 11 year old niece struggles with reading and therefore doesn’t enjoy it… This series may be just what she needs!!!

  12. Hi! These look super fun. I have 5 girls that would love to read these! Thx!

  14. My children made me the most awesome lemon scones for Mother’s Day!!!
    And my favorite nail polish is Tazmanian Devil Made Me Do It! :)

  15. Thank you, Natalie, for sharing your metamorphosis of the past couple of years with us. Even as I look at my marriage, and walk through abuse in marriage with a friend, I thank you for courageously- and circumspectly- sharing your experience, thoughts, growth and becoming. You are very courageous, and your honesty is freeing to me, helping to grow me up in God and in life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for pointing me to the faulty believe that the paternalistic, quiverfull homeschool movement is not all the Bible had in mind. Thank you for showing me God’s grace, teaching me to think more Biblically. I am very thankful for you.

  16. Awwww… Look at your adorable girls!! Thank you for sharing this… Always looking for good books for the girls!

  17. We read all the time. I can’t keep enough unread books in front of my kids. We love free books!!!! Pick us!!

  18. Thanks for the recommendation. Sounds like a perfect fit for my 8 year old son! :)

  19. These books look amazing. I love reading with my littles books that I would like too.

  23. These sound great! I continue to love your style of writing. Not many writers make me literally laugh out loud. :-)

    We went out for Mexican on Mother’s Day. It was delicious!

    • Yum! I love Mexican. I went to this quaint hole-in-the-wall coffee/waffle house in Mpls. with my sister, daughter and nieces in the afternoon. My oldest son and his wife brought over breakfast for the whole family that morning – and then cleaned it all up afterwards. No small task. Blessed my socks off.

  24. Thank you for the book recommendation. I checked them out on amazon and was initially taken aback by the “cottonmouth series” by an author named skully. Definitely NOT the books you were referring too. Thank goodness you provided picts with your recommendations. Thank you very much!

  25. Where I am it is first thing in the morning, the sun is shining – which is great, because I am a kiwi who lives in the UK!

    Hope the sun shines on your wherever you are, this week.

  26. Is it bad that after I come home from work, I’ve no ambition to cook? Last night we had omelettes and cheese quesadillas for dinner. At least is wasn’t a bowl of cereal.

  29. Natalie, Thank you so much for this recommendation. I am always looking for great books for my kids and especially ones that are 100% gospel!! Keep writing! – I have been blessed to read your blog over the years!

  30. My oldest loves to read, and I think my second child would love these books as well. Trying to find something to get him as excited about reading as his sister. I think this series would be great for both of them! :-)

  33. These books sound great! Thank you for sharing.

    We use My Father’s World and last year we read an amazing book, it’s called Kingdom Tales. It is a lot like how Narnia is wrote also- the kids definitely saw parallels. No pictures, but you can totally imagine the characters and places in your head. My older children, ages 11, 10, and 8 would beg me to read another chapter. I bet your kids would love it.

  34. Because my mama read to us every night, I’ve read to my babies every night. Who knew the big hairy teen boys would still enjoy story time as much as the littles???!!!

  35. They sound so interesting! I got into the series of unfortunate events books, but man those were depressive! Nothing like this.

  38. My kids planted me a flower bed,for Mother’s Day and my hubby put in a watering system so we can keep it pretty😀. We would love to read the books! Cute girls:)

  40. My strawberries are producing like crazy. About 2.5 years ago, I got 5 free strawberry plants. I planted them in a raised bed and pretty much let them go wild. This year, we had so many plants, I had to thin them out. So the kids sold strawberry plants to friends and neighbors and made $100. I ended up with a couple of revived strawberry raised beds and they are producing strawberries every day. Every day, I go there and pick the freshest, juiciest and reddest strawberries. I am so happy to see the fruit of God’s amazing creation. You said to share anything. 😉 About the book, count us in. We love us a good story. :)

  41. My husband and I have been married 24 years, we have 9 children, 3 dogs, 1 cat, 1 bunny, 1 ferret, 1 bird, 2 bearded dragons, 2 corn snakes and fish. I would like to be entered into your giveaway. Thanks

  43. Hello there, I’m writing or typing my comment here. My son loves books. I’m so thankful whenever I find books that fit my son and that have Biblical teachings. His favorite book is called Totally awesome cool Bible stories by Nerdy Ned.

  44. We LOVE books in my family, and I’m always excited to get a recommendation from another book lover! Thank you!

  45. I love books but my sons struggle in reading so I’m always trying to find something to catch their interest.

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