With childhood obesity becoming a national focus due to First Lady Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, many families are beginning to think about ways to help their children understand the many issues at play with health eating and staying in shape. One of our most powerful assets as parents is to use books aimed that not only educate our kids but due so in a fun and humorous way. For childhood obesity, Fat Tale, by librarian and puppeteer Karen Land, is one of the best.

What sets this book apart from many others on the market is that it is written for kids, it is simple, and it focuses not only on eating but on empowerment. This book has a happy ending and shows kids how easy it is to not only create a problem due to food but turn it around by being honest about the issues that created the weight gain. And, that working as a team with your family is the way to get to that happy ending.

Continue Reading

Marketed as a game of “totally silly nonsensical fun” can make one wonder if that is really possible with kids of all ages and often stressed out adults. After playing this game with my family, as well as visiting friends and family over the holidays, I can tell you for a fact it is possible!

FlapDoodle is the latest in fun family games fromWiggity Bang Games. The best part of this game is it’s ability to bring families together for the shire purpose of fun. And, more than that, it allows kids, young and old, to let their hair down and just be silly.

Continue Reading

With gas prices soaring, no doubt we’ll all be a bit more home this summer than anticipated. This can be very unfamiliar territory for your girls and figuring what to do with down time not at all a comfortable situation. Thankfully, there’s a great book out to help your girls recapture their imaginations: The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz.

When we were girls, we didn’t need books like this. Our childhoods were filled with free time and time to explore the universe of the outside world and the world inside our minds. Today’s kids are so preprogrammed, figuring out what to do with those unscheduled times can be daunting. They very much need this book to reclaim what we had – and what they need.

Continue Reading

Another wonderful book by Dav Pilkey! True to form, Captain Underpants taps into the minds of kids and provides good, solid fun.  The series combines silly characters with adventure and, of course, potty humor.  Perhaps the best feature of  any of the Captain Underpants books is their ability to get our kids reading! Granted, the story line is light. But that is just what early readers need to become competent readers; and, what older readers need to relax and just have fun – no different than beach reading for us.

I found the editorial reviews on Amazon.com right on the mark. Here are some highlights:

From Flunky Pizza Chunks:

“This hilarious book will crack Pilkey fans up with tiny toilets of truth, evil gerbils, and even Cher’s greatest hits.”

From School Library Journal, Sharon McNeil, LA County Office of Education:

“With its bathroom humor, madcap pranks, gross adventures, mini-comic strips, and flip-book pages, this rollicking laugh-out-loud cartoon story is certain to be a hit, especially with reluctant readers.”

My Final 2cents:

I love this series – everything about it! Perfect for young readers to have fun and to entice reluctant readers to read!

Many children are lucky – they live with at least one of their natural parents. But, what if a child can’t live with mom or dad? What if circumstances dictate that a child must be removed from the home to live with relatives, friends or a foster parent? If you are having trouble creating a mental image or even coming up with the words, you need to read “Finding The Right Spot” by Janice Levy. It fills just the right spots of this challenging topic in just the right way for kids and adults.

Continue Reading

When my youngest daughter was 9 and solidly a tween, I noticed very quickly her interests changed overnight to included everything from fashion concerns to friendship angst, and even boys with noticeable hormones churning at every corner. Like most 4th graders, her teacher gave out the Scholastic Book order form each month. One particular month, my daughter asked for this Girl’s Club thing – sounded innocent enough. I figured we’d get the first round then cancel.

Here’s what Scholastic says about the club:

From fashion tips…to makeup suggestions…to expert advice on parents, dating and more, the GIRLS’ LIFE CLUB encourages young women to be smart, well-informed, down with latest trends and up on today’s growing-up issues.

Through timely and exciting articles in Girls Life Magazine and insightful books that keep relationships strong, the GIRLS’ ONLY CLUB can help your daughter gain the self-confidence she needs to make good friends…and good choices.

Continue Reading

Do you ever wonder what to do with your kids of different ages? Lisa Hanson and Heather Kempskie, twin sisters, did. As their families grew from one child to two they wondered actively how they would be able to engage their older kids as well as their younger kids – at the same time!! Could it be done??

They started with a few activities and figured out how to modify those activities for the younger child and found it was, indeed, possible, to spend time with kids of different ages at the same time with the same activity. They shared their success with friends and family and over time their list of activities grew into a big enough collection to become this book.

Continue Reading