I first got to know Gretchen Rubin when she was kind enough to include me in one of her Happiness Project interviews on her popular blog. At the time, I had no idea that she was about to come out with the #1 New York Times best-selling b…
Kyran Pittman's subtitle for her memoir Planting Dandelions is "Field Notes from a Semi-Domesticated Life." I hope she'll forgive me for repurposing it here to tell you why this is the mothering memoir you would be foolish to skip becaus…
Even if I had known about One Year to an Organized Life with Baby when I was first pregnant, I probably would have been too disorganized to read it. We had recently moved to a new house and to say we were unprepared is an understatement.…
My dad died when I was 22 -- long before I met my husband, or had my son -- and my mom is very much alive. So you wouldn't necessarily think that the book Parentless Parents , by my friend Allison Gilbert , would resonate with someone li…
We have eagerly been awaiting the Let's Panic About Babies book every since we first became pregnant with our own babies. And that's saying something. Because back then, we didn't even know anything about authors Alice Bradley and Eden M…
Despite light-up toys, dolls that talk, and, um, iPads, at the end of the day, nothing holds a candle -- or backlit touchpad screen -- to a good kids' book . It's a lesson my 3.5 year-old daughter has already learned, and I'm sure your k…
On any given day, I might have to drop off a neighbor's kid at his piano teacher's house although he doesn't know her last name or the name of the street on which she lives, clip a finch's toenails, and negotiate with an international cr…
I consider myself to be a pretty organized person, save for the junk drawer and my backpack graveyard of a hall closet (shhhhh). But since adding another kiddo into our mix, I can use all the organizational help I can get. That's why I w…
I'm not the Most Neurotic Mom in the World, but some days I feel I'd make it to First Runner Up, ready to step in, should she be unable to fulfill her duties. I work hard to give my children a healthy, positive, eco-friendly environment …
I only had one pregnancy that required winter clothes and boy, was that a challenge. Pants never seemed to fit me and sweaters always made me hot , so I found myself wearing the same few outfits over and over again. Too bad I didn't have…
"Eyes and ears are much respected, but the butt has been neglected." And so begins the masterful and hilarious The Butt Book , by Artie Bennett, illustrated by Mike Lester. Let's face it, few things are funnier to a little kid (and those…
After many months of buzz, hoopla, and general fanfare, I finally got around to checking out Christoph Niemann's I LEGO N.Y. , and as a native New Yawka, I know can't imagine what I had been waiting for. This board book is everything I l…
My five year-old's current vocabulary include words like despondent, haberdashery, and Mezzo-Soprano. Not because she's any sort of verbal genius, but because her grandmother introduced her to one of the most wonderful books for kids I'v…
My husband loves to joke around with my son about "those old-fashioned paper whatchamacallits." We're all avid readers, but my husband and I converted to e-readers a long time ago. We've actually discussed whether or not we should bother…
Enjoy these, our editors' favorite books, music, and DVDs of the year to help keep our kids entertained and educated . And frankly, us too. Books for little kids Even after reading it oh, every night for a month, my youngest daughter sti…
Manners books for children may sound a little old-fashioned, but thank goodness they aren't. I've come to realize that children of a certain age love learning rules and getting to understand social construct; my own five year-old thinks …
It's awfully daunting, standing in the hustle and bustle of a huge bookstore during the holidays and trying to find one book among millions for the bibliophile or budding reader in your life. Luckily, there's a fabulous new service to he…
Every Hanukkah, in addition to the loooong lists of requested items (i.e. toys) we always make sure to include several books as gifts . And guess what--long after my son is bored with the video game he received, he's still reading and re…
There are some women out there who seem to overachieve the pants off of the rest of us. Environmentalist, author, producer and mother of two Laurie David is one of those ladies. Her latest project is The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Conn…
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…
The mission of past CMP pick, Out of Print Clothing is to spread the joy of reading. Through fashion. Hey, two of our favorite things? And, now, they have expanded their collection to include t-shirts for kids. Find shirts featuring cove…
It all began with a bet: somewhere in Norway, Ola bet Jorgen that he could collect one million hand-drawn giraffes in one year. And you know what? He did. The proof is at OneMillionGiraffes.com . And now you can buy a 32-page hardcover b…
I am crazy about multitasking, and that includes at kid bedtime; when we read a book together, my child and I reconnect, plus I get to lie down, plus I get to work a little Mom Psychology 101. All that is made a little more golden when w…
Bookends for a kid's room are one of those challenging decor finds, or at least for me. A lot of bookends that I see and like are either too expensive (like, $100 a bookend), or they don't actually hold up your books. In which case uh, w…