Author Wins Cheerios Contest, Book Tucked in 1.5 Million Packages
A new children’s book authored by the winner of a Cheerios contest is being packaged with 1.5 million boxes of Cheerios.
Shellie Braeuner, a nanny from Nashville, won the author’s contest, a $5,000 cash prize and the opportunity to have her book reviewed by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. The publisher liked what they saw and offered Braeuner a book deal to publish “The Great Dog Wash,” illustrated by Robert Neubecker, in hardcover this summer. About 1,000 entries were submitted to the contest, a spokesperson for Cheerios said.
A paperback version, printed in both English and Spanish, will be available inside the Cheerios boxes. “The Great Dog Wash” tells the tale of a neighborhood dog wash gone awry.
“There is no guarantee that the contest winner will have their book published, so the fact that Simon & Schuster felt her book had merit is a credit to Shellie’s concept and her writing,” said Jeff Hingher, marketing manager for Cheerios, in a release.
A second author contest just ended, drawing more than 800 entries. The winner, Lori Degman, 51, of Vernon Hills, IL, will have her book, “1 Zany Zoo,” published and packaged with Cheerios boxes in 2010. The next contest is open for entries through July 15, 2009.
Over the past seven years, Cheerios, through the Spoonfuls of Stories program, has helped get books into kids’ hands and encouraged parents and children to read together by giving away more than 35 million children’s books free inside cereal boxes, and donating almost $3 million to the nonprofit First Book to get books to children from low-income families.
