There are so many great reading lists for kids: This one from the Florida DOE is not one of them.
Yesterday, one of my favorite contemporary authors, Angie Thomas, sent out a tweet that’s stuck with me all night and into this morning. It was a response to the Florida DOE Commissioner, Edward Corcoran, who launched a recommended reading list of...
Remembering Toni Morrison: Here’s her complete list of novels. Pick one up today.
The passing of Toni Morrison today at the age of 88 is a serious gut punch to me. I think a lot of writers — and readers — are feeling it in a very personal way. I was first introduced to the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize-winning author by my English Lit...
#SpeaktoStrangers Challenge: 30 days to a kinder world.
When I woke up this morning, I caught this thread on Twitter from Asha Rangappa and was instantly taken. Her premise: Spending just a moment engaging with a stranger in a kind way can create ripples that make the world, quite literally, a better, more enjoyable place....
Aluminum in deodorant and antiperspirant: Health issue or internet rumor?
For a long time I had been hearing about a terrible link between aluminum and deodorant. We have even had writers through the years who have insisted on only using natural deodorants, which, cool. Because we believe in choices. But several years ago, I did my own...
Migrant children in crisis: Know these stories. Say their names. Please, don’t turn away.
Friends, I hardly know where to start. But I knew I couldn’t write a single other thing today, until I addressed the crisis at the border and our government’s abject cruelty toward babies and children. (Feel free to live with those words for a moment.)...
The crisis in Sudan: What you should know and how you can help
If you’ve been hearing about Sudan, or seeing friends turning social media avatars blue, but aren’t sure what it’s all about, allow us to help. No guilt, no shame, if this is new to you. There’s so much going on in the world right now that it...
FACTS: Illegal abortions kill women. Alabama will kill women. Here’s what you can do about it.
In light of the inhumane, outrageous, regressive, and entirely cruel Alabama anti-abortion law signed yesterday, Kristen and I knew we couldn’t be silent today. Let’s be perfectly clear: Making abortion illegal does not eliminate abortion. It kills women. ...
Is Betsy DeVos really trying to cut Special Olympics funding? Yes, yes she is.
Yesterday, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos acknowledged that yes, she has proposed to cut the $17.6 million that funds the Special Olympics, from the US education budget next year. And I get it — sometimes you see something on the news about the government...
The big college fraud scandal: One thing we need to fix that we’re not talking about enough
Surely by now you’ve heard the news about the $25 million Operation Varsity Blues bust, in which dozens of wealthy parents and coaches have been arrested for scamming the private university entrance system in the most egregious ways. If not…welcome to the...Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!
We started Cool Mom Picks in 2006 to help make life cooler, easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun for parents of all kinds.
Trivia: It was called Cool Mom Sh*t for the first two days. (Yeah, we rethought that.)
We had no idea our site would grow to become a major lifestyle network, that we'd end up sharing our finds with the TODAY Show and Martha Stewart, that we'd be able to make a real difference for so many small businesses and women-run companies, or that we'd end up with an incredible community of the coolest readers on the planet. (If we do say so ourselves).
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No More Mean Girls, by Katie Hurley
The Yes Brain, by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
How to Break Up with Your Phone, by Christine Price
The New Childhood, by Jordan Shapiro
How to Be a Happier Parent by KJ Dell'Antonia
Raising Empowered Daughters by Mike Adamick
Radical Kindness by Angela Santomero
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