picture books Archives | Cool Mom Picks

Making a Baby is the diverse, inclusive, very frank children’s picture book about sex and reproduction that we’ve been looking for

When my kids were in early elementary school, every parent I knew seemed to be looking for the perfect children’s book about sex and reproduction. I cannot overemphasize how much I wish I’d had the beautifully inclusive and thoughtful Making a Baby by...

Ambitious Girl by Meena Harris: Because girls need to own their dreams. And so do women!

by Liz Gumbinner | Books for Kids

I’m typing from behind swollen eyes today, the result of a day of crying tears of joy, tears of relief. Just a whole lot of tears. Lots of friends and readers have told me the same, and shared that one of the most profound moments of yesterday’s historic...

“This is a Book of Shapes”: Bet you can’t get through it without laughing.

by Cool Mom Staff | Baby, Books for Kids

This is a sponsored message from Candlewick Press There are some books for a child’s library. that are must-haves: An alphabet book, a counting book, a shape book. They can be straightforward…or they can be fun. That difference matters when you’re...

How to explain social distancing to young kids: This free downloadable Princess in Black comic book helps

by Caroline Siegrist | Books for Kids

My three-year-old son still thinks the Novel Coronavirus is something he can defeat with a solid dropkick. (Oh, how I wish that were true, buddy!) But as cute as he is, his confusion about COVID-19 and quarantine best practices has created some real problems. And I...

10 ways to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with kids, safely at home.

by Christina Refford | DIY, Doing Good

Readers have asked us for ways to celebrate Earth Day with the kids while we’re all sheltering in place right now and I have to be honest — with all of the days starting to run together while we’re in quarantine, the holiday kind of snuck up on me...

Finding Kindness: A beautiful new children’s book with a message the world needs | Sponsored Message

by Cool Mom Staff | Books for Kids

This is a sponsored message on behalf of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group Kindness comes in all shapes and sizes, which is exactly the lesson kids will learn reading the newest book from New York Times-bestselling author Deborah Underwood. Finding Kindness...

What is Indigenous People’s Day? Great resources for talking to your kids, because Native American history is American history.

by Liz Gumbinner | Books for Kids, Doing Good, Thinking : Parent

Today is the day that’s been traditionally celebrated as “Columbus Day” in the U.S., but knowing now what we know about Christopher Columbus, the holiday is fast transforming into Indigenous People’s Day for many. If you’re wondering what...

Amy Ignatow’s The Cutest Thing Ever is totes adorbs.

by Liz Gumbinner | Books for Kids

Once in a while, a new picture book come along that we want for our early readers right away. And sometimes one comes along that we kind of want for ourselves too. And for all the toddlers in our lives. And for our cool tweens too. Well, that’s what’s so...

3 new books for kids that make you proud to be American

by Liz Gumbinner | Books for Kids

With July 4th coming, up, this is a time my family often discusses what it means to be American, how we can make the country better, safer, and more equitable for other Americans, and what we can do to help live up to our nation’s promise of liberty and justice...

The Evangeline Lilly interview that will convince you she’s one of the coolest moms | Spawned Ep 160

by Cool Mom Staff | Podcast

As it turns out, Evangeline Lilly is not just an Orc-defeating Tolkien elf, badass desert island survivor, or quantum realm-traveling Marvel superhero. She is also a super cool mom, and author of the darkly comic, wonderfully inventive new young reader series, the...

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Picks in 2006 to help make life cooler, 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).

We still love what we do every single day. And we're so glad you're here.