Olivia the Pig has got nothing on Olivia the Ox

Olivia the Pig has got nothing on Olivia the Ox

As you’re looking for an inexpensive one-size-fits-all baby gift for all those friends of yours having kids this year, consider The Year of the Ox, the fourth children’s book in the wonderful Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series by Oliver Chin. Since my...
Adventure, True Love and Seafood

Adventure, True Love and Seafood

We hosted 16 relatives (seven in our house) over the long Thanksgiving weekend.  My job, besides cooking some stuff, was to read to the four little children in my daughter’s room each night before bed. And each night we read The Sign of the Seahorse: ...
A Very Merry Pop-Up Christmas

A Very Merry Pop-Up Christmas

With my husband-the-pilot’s schedule always up in the air (literally) I’m often RSVPing to our neighborhood parties and kid’s gatherings at the last minute. Still, I don’t want to show up empty-handed. So when I find a great holiday...
A Fairy for all Seasons

A Fairy for all Seasons

It’s always nice cracking open some children’s books to get your kids into the spirit of the holidays, but not every parent is looking to do it through biblical tales or the Santa story. A cool alternative: Positive Spin Press offers three fairy...
Good news for the immature among us (ahem)

Good news for the immature among us (ahem)

While I submit that no one in their right mind gives a kid a harmonica–even with a how-to book–I got the chance to poke around the Klutz site recently and there are definitely some cool new options from one of my favorite childhood mainstays. My favorite...
BookSwim – Like Netflix for books

BookSwim – Like Netflix for books

I used to collect books the way other people collect whatever it is they collect, but since having kids, my book-buying budget has been re-allocated to board books, and a trip to the library means sitting in a circle for story time. Then I found BookSwim, and I cursed...
To the moon, little adventurers

To the moon, little adventurers

It’s really nice to see a different kind of illustrator lend her talents to childrens clothes–one that seems more suited to a Caldecott winning book than a local flea market with the table between the funnel cakes and the guy with the batteries in the...
Definitely not your grandma’s book club

Definitely not your grandma’s book club

Giving the gift of bibliophilia just became effortless–certainly more effortless than spelling bibliophilia. Left to my own devices, I’d pick an assortment of books for a kid and wrap it up and call it good. GiftLit definitely makes it stupendous with gift...
Read A Book, Set A Record

Read A Book, Set A Record

Do you really need an excuse to read a great book to your kid? Probably not, but here’s a fabulous one, anyway: On October 2nd, in association with Jumpstart’s Read for the Record program, the children’s classic favorite Corduroy will be read aloud...