Rick Smolan, the talented Time and National Geographic photographer behind many large collaborative photography projects for books such as Day in the Life and 24/7 turned his camera lens on home life for his 2008 book, America at Home.

The photos in the book were taken over the course of seven days last September by 100 photojournalists, as well as thousands of amateur photographers. America At Home also features gorgeous photos, evocative captions, thought-provoking statistics, plus personal essays from noted writers such as Amy Tan, Dominique Browning, former editor in chief of House and Garden Magazine, Dominique Browning, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and New York Times correspondent David Pogue.

What makes this book especially great for gift giving (think Christmas) is that you can upload a picture of your own to create a personalized book jacket. The entire process takes less than 5 minutes once you choose a cover photo (the digital file you upload must be high resolution.) If you already have photos in a Google Picasa Web Album or Phanfare.com photo album you can browse those albums from within their site and load them into their system. The possibilities are endless. You could choose an old black and white family photo, a favorite summer vacation picture, a picture of your children, your pets, or even your house.

Here are a couple I’ve created:

America At Home (including custom book cover) retails for $39.99.

Savvy Housewife is hosting an America at Home cover contest and one lucky winner will receive their own custom book! Upload your photo and create your cover at the America at Home website and then right click and save your cover and e-mail it to savvyhousewife at yahoo dot com by midnight September 18. I’ll narrow down the entrants to three finalists and hold a contest for the winner of the best cover; entrants must be U.S. residents.

Danielle who commented, “My daughters also became fascinated with China and its culture during the Olympics. This book would be great for them,” is the winner. Thanks to everyone who entered!

My daughters became completely fascinated with Chinese culture during the Olympics in Beijing. Savvy Housewife has a beautiful book, Motherbridge of Love, to give away from Barefoot Books, which was founded in 1993 by two mothers .

From the Barefoot Books website: Our products are intended to act as springboards for children’s hearts and minds, helping them to express themselves with confidence and integrity, and to explore the world in new ways. These, it seems to us, are essential skills in today’s fragile and fast-changing world. We need creative people in business, in the arts, in medicine and science, and in government. But creativity doesn’t just happen: the seeds may be in all of us, but the way we raise our children, and the emphasis we place on their imaginative development, is what helps those seeds to grow.

This beautiful poem celebrates the bond between parent and child. Through the exchanges between a little Chinese girl and her mother, Motherbridge of Love offers a poignant and inspiring message to parents and children all over the world.

I love that the text royalties from the sale of this book are donated to Mother Bridge of Love, a charity that reaches out to Chinese children all over the world in order to develop a connection between China and the West, and between adoptive culture and birth culture.

Savvy Housewife is proud to sponsor a giveaway to this beautifully illustrated book which won the #3 spot in Time Magazine’s Top Ten Children’s Books of 2007. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post between now and midnight Monday, September 1. A winner’s name will be chosen randomly from all comments. Thanks and good luck!

The only “fresh” veggies we had access to in school were canned green beans ladled out by the hair net wearing cafeteria ladies. In high school it was a banner occasion to get a salad bar. I still remember piling on too much shredded cheese and too many fake bacon bits.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley, actress and wife of country music star Brad Paisley, has written the children’s book “Henry and the Hidden Veggie Garden” in support of the Love Your Veggies Nationwide School Lunch Campaign sponsored by Hidden Valley. Hidden Valley recently awarded $10,000 nutrition grants to 51 U.S. elementary schools to help increase access to fresh produce.

Kimberly and her husband and young son Huck, born in 2007, live on a farm in Tennessee. She wrote the book along with her father, Gurney Williams III, a writer an editor for more than 40 years.

An excerpt from the intro explains her inspiration for the book project…

“I’ve realized that as a parent, I have to work hard to create the environment I want my child to grow up in, and dI have to live the values I want my child to learn. As a veggie lover, it’s hard for me to watch when kids turn up their noses at delicious, fresh food. I want my family to appreciate and enjoy a balanced meal.”

Do you have a backyard or patio garden or do you have a local garden you visit? Do you get your fill of fresh produce at your local Farmer’s Market or grocery store?

We have planted a small tomato and herb garden in our backyard. We are also very fortunate to be able to visit a huge country garden planted by my father-in-law’s cousin. It’s a 40-minute drive, though, so we don’t visit it as often as we’d like. We also live near several produce stands. Although we live in a suburb of Nashville, just a short drive out of town takes you to farm land and crops.

For a chance to win a copy of “Henry and the Hidden Veggie Garden,” just leave a comment about how you get your fill of summer vegetables between now and midnight Friday, July 11.

The book is available through September at www.loveyourveggiesgrants.org for $5.

Rick Smolan, the Time Magazine and National Geographic photographer behind the Day in the Life, 24/7 and many other large collaborative photography projects has done it again. For his April 2008 published book, America At Home, he and his team at Against All Odds Productions focused on the most important place in most people’s lives: home.

The photos in the book were taken during a seven day-period last September by 100 photojournalists, as well as thousands of amateurs. America At Home also features evocative captions, thought-provoking statistics, plus personal essays from noted writers including Amy Tan, Dominique Browning, former editor in chief of House and Garden Magazine, Dominique Browning, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and New York Times correspondent David Pogue.

America At Home is a gorgeous collection of photography, but what makes this book especially great for gift giving (for Father’s Day or a birthday) is that you can upload a picture of your own to create a personalized book jacket. The entire process takes less than 5 minutes once you choose a cover photo (the digital file you upload must be high resolution.) The possibilities are endless. You could choose an old family photo, a favorite vacation picture, a picture of your children, your pets, or even your house.

America At Home (including custom book cover) retails for $39.99.

Click here to read more about the new book, America at Home, and to see your own virtual cover online. If you order America at Home from the website, they will throw in the cover for free (it normally costs $7.95)

Carrie C., who commented, “My husband is a photographer and would L-O-V-E this so much! (And, it would help me a ton, he SO HARD to find gifts for!),” is the winner of the Baby Bonding Book for Dads giveaway. Congrats Carrie!

Freelance writer and editor James di Properzio and his wife, award-winning writer Jennifer Margulis, a former Fulbright Scholar, teamed up to write The Baby Bonding Book for Dads, which features honest commentary from dad to three kids di Properzio, as well as beautiful photographs of dads bonding with their babies.

The Baby Bonding Book for Dads features gorgeous photography from Christopher Briscoe, whose work has been published in Time, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Times. He has photographed such celebrities as Michael Douglas, Kathryn Zeta Jones, Kirk Douglas, Rob Lowe, Ray Charles, Bo Derek, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

From the publisher:

Many new dads have never even held a baby, or they have little or no experience in taking care of babies. Men can feel apprehensive and unsure about how to interact with their offspring…bonding with a baby or toddler is about the small moments that you spend together, looking at each other, talking, taking baths and walks, and playing. It’s not something that happens instantly; instead, it’s a relationship that grows over time. The Baby Bonding Book for Dads is about practical, everyday things that fathers can do to enjoy being with their children and forging the bond between them. Topics include newborn bonding, carrying, skin-to-skin contact, diapering, going places, napping, playing, exercising, and reading to baby. The instructive yet lighthearted text is delivered from a dad who has been there (Properzio is the father of three), and is paired with the delightful photography of Christopher Briscoe, making this book a handy guide and a perfect gift for any new father who’s feeling a little nervous about the new responsibility in his life.

And here’s my favorite dad, Savvy Dad, bonding with our oldest daughter in 2002 (she turns 6 this weekend!)

For a chance to win a copy of The Baby Bonding Book for Dads, simply leave a comment on this post between now and midnight Thursday, June 12. For two entries, leave a comment and subscribe to the Savvy Housewife RSS feed. A random winner will be selected from all eligible comments (U.S. and Canadian addresses only) and the winner’s name will be posted on Father’s Day.

Savvy Dad is the master chef at Casa Savvy Housewife.

Savvy Dad loves beer.

When Savvy Housewife got the chance to review the The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook by John Schlimm, she knew this was one cookbook Savvy Dad would want to check out.

Savvy Dad loves the following quote from the book,“Beer makes you feel like you should feel without beer,” from Australian poet Henry Lawson.

The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook is a hardbound collection of more than 400 food and drink recipes. Not only would it make a fabulous Father’s Day gift, it would be a nice hostess gift in this season of summer cookouts (perhaps paired with a six pack of the recipient’s favorite beer or some nice pilsner glasses). The book also serves as a party drinks handbook, with a comprehensive collection of recipes for mixed drinks, chuggers, shots, chasers, party punches, milkshakes, and flaming drinks (flaming Dr. Pepper anyone?) — all made with beer.

Author John Schlimm is a member of one of the oldest brewing families in the United States, beginning with his great-great-grandfather, Peter Straub. A writer, educator, and artist, Schlimm is the author of several books, including titles on beer and brewing such as The Straub Beer Cookbook and The Straub Beer Party Drinks Handbook.

The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook retails for $24.95 and is available at Amazon.com (where it is currently on sale for $19.95).

So what is your favorite dad’s favorite beer? My dad is partial to Beck’s, which Savvy Dad also likes. Savvy Dad tells me his favorite beer changes with the seasons, but his current favorite, Yazoo Hefeweizen, is brewed locally here in Nashville