I was fretting to my sister that I didn't know what to get her kids, my sweet little niece and nephew, who seemingly have everything. Her response: Don't you review kids' music for Cool Mom Picks? Just get them some cool new tunes! Funny…
To me the holidays is nothing without our annual viewing of Rudolph. Herbie! The Abominable Snowman! The Isle of Misfit Toys who aren't quite misfits! It's all pure magic. So who's with me in jumping for joy that this year, A four-DVD se…
Although everyone from Rod Stewart to The Black Eyed Peas seems to put out Christmas albums, it's pretty rare for anyone besides Adam Sandler to do something new and interesting with Hanukkah music. New and interesting is something Dan Z…
One of my all time favorite holiday shows is the Nutcracker Ballet, but I didn't imagined I would get tickets to see it with my toddler for quite a long time--like, ten years, at least. Performances are expensive in New York! Which is on…
What's your beat? asked someone recently when I told them I write for Cool Mom Picks. Confused momentarily by the lingo, I recovered and replied, kids music . And, what a great beat it is, especially in 2010, when the music put out by ki…
In my last review of a Caspar Babypants CD, I mentioned that Weird Al Yankovic had called him "one of the few children's recording artists I can listen to without wanting to stab myself in the eyes, " which is my single favorite endorsem…
The list of children's books I've loved to read to my kids is l-o-n-g though I've always had a particular fondness for the books of author and illustrator Mo Willems. Unless you live under a rock, or a pile of newborn diapers, you are pr…
This is the time of the year when the anticipation of holiday craziness, my kids' frenetic schedule, and the darker, drearier day conspire to really bum us all out. On these days we really need a big dose of lovely to touch us and make u…
Just when you thought your kids could live on PBS and Nick Jr alone, along comes a whole new TV network designed just for kids. And uh, their TV-loving families. Or as I always say, if it weren't for Elmo, I might never get to take a sho…
After watching a few seasons of Top Chef , I now know what an amuse bouche is: a bite-size appetizer that is supposed to give you an idea of the chef's approach--and hopefully make you hungry for more. And though Lucky Diaz's 15 minute d…
Love it or hate it ( and we know the book is a bit polarizing with our readers!), there's a reason Goodnight Moon has been around since the late 1940's and is still a favorite today; there is something calming and beautiful about the rep…
The next person who simpers that kids' music is just too watered down to really rock is getting locked inside my minivan with the Candy Band's new CD -- cranked up to 11 until they cry uncle. Because there is nothing wishy washy about th…
Family-friendly Grammy-nominated musician extraordinaire Dan Zanes apparently had a secret desire to be a disc jockey. Which is a coincidence, because I had a secret desire to hear awesome radio music that wasn't pure dreck (mainstream k…
Why did the handkerchief dance? Because you put a little boogie in it. (Heh). And why does my kid dance? Because she's a ballerina/ninja/cheerleader/doctor/dinosaur-tamer. And that is why Baby Loves Disco keeps on rockin' with some super…
Super storyteller/singer Randy Kaplan is no ordinary kids' music performer. Oh, sure, he may sing about monkeys, bears and queen bees, but on his latest CD he also has my kids asking me to explain Freud, the definition of Hebrew terms, a…
When Seattle's The Not-Its! blasted onto the kids music scene last year with their debut We Are The Not-Its! , I took a lot of notice. It wasn't just that the songs were great indie rock tunes. It was that their sound was so tight and au…
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of super-fun kids' musicians The Okee Dokee Brothers: I gave their debut CD Kids with Beards a gushing review, and it's still one of my kids' most-played CDs two years later. And now they have a brand n…
It has been a long time since I've willingly rocked around the clock, but I still love me some good ol' rock-n-roll during the daylight hours. Thanks to Putumayo Kids, I now have some of our favorite kiddie rockers assembled in one place…
Yeah there she was, like disco lemonade... You know we love to party hearty with the fine folks at Baby Loves Disco. And you really know we love to shop. Now, thanks to the new Lemonade Tour, you get to do both at malls all across the co…
You'd think it would stand to reason that companies would understand that most of the movie-goers to animated 3D movies are, you know, kids . And yet, until last month, any cinema showing a RealD 3D movie offered just one (ginormous) siz…
My biggest complaint about fashion magazines, besides the perfume samples, is... well, the perfume samples. But I also hate it when my eyes fall in love with cuteness before hitting the huge price tag printed below. Shoestring Magazine s…
This weekend, I finally managed to wrangle my kids--and a few of their friends -- to see Toy Story 3 . Now before you read any further, I must first disclose a major bias: In my mind, Pixar's John Lasseter can do little wrong. I walked i…
My kids have a dad who rocks, but not a dad who "rocks." ( Guitar Hero doesn't count.) But a lot of kids do, considering there are some very cool dads who have put out fantastic CD's in the recent past. We thought that Father's Day would…
When we discovered the movie Being Dad last August, Mir gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. She loved this look at 40 normal, often funny new dads (no "touchy-feely over-earnestness") and a few experts confessing the real scoop on newborn…