Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
21 Jun 2013 1 Comment
Here’s a great post about hiking with little ones: Five Tips for Joyful Hiking with Little Kids courtesy of nature mom.
A particularly good suggestion is “forget about the destination”, though this can change with the age of the child. At age 3-4 this definitely applies, as they are distracted by every little thing they see, and it’s best to just resign yourself to the fact that as soon as they start flagging, it’s time to turn around and head back, no matter how far you’ve gotten.
20 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+, books 3+ Tags: difference, family, parenting, tolerance
I’ve been meaning to make a list of titles on this topic and now someone else has done it for me: 9 Books About Families With Gay and Lesbian Parents at notimeforflashcards.com. This is terrific list – I’m afraid I’ve only read one of them, Everywhere Babies, which we received as a gift when my daughter was a baby. We read it countless times and enjoyed it a lot. I particularly liked this book because the illustrations include just about every family combination you can think of, all of them happy, warm and loving.
Thanks notimeforflashcards! Great list!
18 Jun 2013 2 Comments
in Books, books 11+, books 8+ Tags: adventure, animals, cats, fairies, Fairy Tale, folktales, horror, Magic, monkeys, romance, travel
by Walter de la Mare
Age: 8+ (read to); 11+ (independent reading)
Interests: folk tales, fairy tales, animals, magic, romance, fairies, spooky stories, adventure, travel, cats, monkeys
12 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: single parent, strong girls, theatre
by Mary Hoffman
illustrations by Caroline Binch
Age: 4+
Interests: acting, theatre, imagination, strong girls, single parent
10 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Just Fun Stuff Tags: crafts, puppets
Oooh Kiddley finds all the best stuff… Here’s a film clip of Jim Henson on Iowa Public Television giving a workshop on puppet making. Totally simple puppets anyone can make. This is in the pre-Sesame Street days, but I defy you to listen to Henson’s voice and not think of Kermit..
10 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: death, dogs, father, grieving, pets, single parent
by Margaret Wild
illustrations by Freya Blackwood
Age: 3+
Interests: dogs, pets, death, grieving, fathers, single parents
05 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 10+ Tags: art, museum, mystery, New York, running away from home, siblings
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E. L. Konigsburg
Age: 10+
Interests: museums, art, running away from home, New York City, mysteries
04 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: dinosaurs, fear, friendship
by Helen Piers
illustrated by Michael Foreman
Age: 2+
Interests: dinosaurs, fear, friendship
Rarest Kind of Best 
The Great Screen-Time Tug-of-War
24 Jun 2013 1 Comment
by Kim in Commentary, Issues, Parenting, Technology, Television, Violence
Tug of war contested at the 1904 Summer Olympics. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The screentime tug-of-war is, I’m sure, a very very common sport in households today. Technology offers us ever more brilliant and enthralling ways to entertain and educate ourselves, and the desire for knowledge is a good thing, right? And yet, and yet, many parents harbour great anxiety about the slippery slope of screen time.*
Steve Almond has written a great piece on this for the New York Times: My Kids Are Obsessed With Technology, And It’s All My Fault. More