"Every Sunday my two aunts and my uncle come to visit." This isn't exactly a joyous occasion for the three children who watch from the front window as the old Lincoln arrives in the driveway. They know only too well what to expect: "Oy," sighs...
When our son broke his little toddler wrist (one of those moments parents will always remember in slow motion), he was so attached to his truck-of-the-moment that his chubby fingers never let go of this mini-vehicle even during his x-ray. Now that he's almost ready...
In the same delightful, sequential fun of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie – if you do x, then y happens – Brazilian überauthor of more than a hundred books, Ana Maria Machado, puts on a party of epic proportions. "If a few days before your birthday your mother should...
For anyone with a child who will soon become an older sibling, this book is IT. And if that lucky elder happens to be a sister-in-waiting, this couldn't be more perfect. "You're in there and I'm out here, outside Mama's belly. I'm waiting for you!" the...
Way back in the day, when I fancied myself at least a part-time potter, I used to think I put some tangible personality into my pieces, especially my dancing tea cups and goofy tea pots. So how delighted I was to discover adorable Pot-san – he...
"On a busy street in the late afternoon, the rain begins ...
"All of us have all kinds of friends," author Norma Simon writes. We have friends at school, in our family, friends we see all the time, and friends we can only see once in a while. You can have old friends and new friends who...
"All children, regardless of where they live, should have the opportunity to grow up healthy and lead a productive life," writes Melinda Gates in her foreword to this, the latest "A Global Fund for Children Book." As she shares the wrenching statistic that over seven million...
Here's a common occurrence at our house: I can't go to bed without a book, which usually means I'm a constant barrage of 'Did you know that ...
Three weeks into the new year, and I'm already so behind I surely wouldn't mind a do-over. I don't think I've ever been this tardy before with the latest annual installment of Oliver Chin‘s energetic, entertaining Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series, but hopefully this is a case...
Come one, come all: the Guelaguetza festival is about to begin. Guelaguetza means ‘to share’ in the Zapotec language, and every July, the people of Oaxaca, Mexico gather to ‘guelaguetza’ their dancing, singing, and music. One man with a balloon announces the welcoming parade has...
The draw here (couldn't resist, ahem!) is the ever-spectacular art of Caldecott Medal-winner Ed Young, this time using "cut paper, textured cloth, string, and colored pencil" to give dramatic motion to Barbara DaCosta's debut kiddie title. As the clock strikes midnight and everyone sleeps, the nighttime ninja climbs,...
How strange to admit that Dave Eggers taught me Eugène Ionesco – Mr. Theatre of the Absurd himself – wrote kiddie stories in addition to his dozens of plays (Rhinoceros, The Chairs, The Bald Soprano, being some of his signature pieces). Eggers founded McSweeney's which recently debuted McMullens,...
I'm a little hesitant to tell you about this ingenious book ...
Of course, a child named Zephyr is predestined to love planes, always ready to ride the gentle winds in the limitless sky. [I should also mention that "Zephyr" is the name of the (unmanned, solar-powered) plane that holds the world record for being continuously airborne...
No matter where you've been hiding, someone has been able to infiltrate your defenses and made you watch the freakishly popular "Gangnam Style" by PSY (in Korean, 싸이, although apparently it's short for 'psycho'). The South Korean singer (educated at Boston University and Berklee College of Music, I must add)...
Winner of this year's South Asian Book Award from the South Asia National Outreach Consortium [SANOC], Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw's latest is a whimsical, delightful exploration of friendship, family, and cultures ...
By no means is Jinchalo your conventional manga/manwha/graphic work. Not to be going around in circles, but its title – which, in Korean, means something akin to 'really?' 'is that for real?' – works rather appropriately as a response to experiencing this adventure ...
Ready for some Saturday fun? Turn off all those screens and power up with your ever-more powerful imagination instead! Come join Zane as he turns things ordinary into magical adventures! What Zane sees as a flying saucer's crest, Lamar mistakenly calls a hubcap. No, Zane's...
Ack! Taxes are due today! Already! For those filing extensions, this one's for you (and me, ahem!) ...
