SAVE ELMO!
Here's the bad news: In the next few days, Congress will vote on a bill that could completely eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting. That's not an exaggeration. Here's the good news: There's still time to save Elmo. The g…
Category
Entertainment + Media
Some new free holiday tunes for download with some Jimmies on top
While I'm finishing up my wrapping/baking/eggnogging extravaganza I'm going to enjoy some great new holiday tunes. If you're tired of the same old same old, you can too. As a little holiday gift to you, two downloadable EP's have been re…
The coolest family movies for Christmas day with younger kids
In my family, our Christmas day tradition always involved a nice big breakfast, lots of coffee, lots of gifts, and then afterward, we'd bundle up and brave the crowds at a midtown movie theater for one of the big releases. (Yes, crowds -…
6 great kindie music CDs for Christmas
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…
All the bestest animated Christmas movies all together
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…
Add this Dan Zanes' song to your Hanukkah playlist
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…
Prima Princessa presents the Nutcracker on PBS
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…
The best kids music of 2010, if we do say so ourselves
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…
Caspar Babypants' new CD is a little bit of kindie nirvana
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…
Mo Willems gets animated
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…
A Sunny Day with Elizabeth Mitchell
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…
The Hub brings back Fraggles, Lemon Meringue, and Kevin + Winnie
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…
An "amuse bouche" of tunes from Lucky Diaz
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…
Classic children's books that help you listen with your eyes
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…
Gimme an oi! for punk music for kids from Candy Band
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…
Dan Zanes rides the XM waves to your radio
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…
Baby Loves Disco, now with extra added boogie
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…
Randy Kaplan is the thinking kids' musician
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…
Velocity Girl - all grown up but no less rocking.
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…
The Okee Dokee Brothers take us along for the ride
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…
Rock around the clock, or at least until bedtime
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…
Pucker up for The Lemonade Tour by Baby Loves Disco
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…
3D movies now (duh) more for kids
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…
Living on a Shoestring? Not such a bad thing.
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…