Entertain Them

Author Chat: Mike Berenstain!

We were so fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down with Mike Berenstain of The Berenstain Bears fame at this year’s BookExpo America.   We had to know, what was it like growing up with parents Stan and Jan? Mike said it was always a fun and creative environment. Holidays weren’t just holidays, but eventized to be spectacular. His parents started out by writing comics in various publications, when they...

Spherovelo Balance Bike

We are loving this awesome ride-on toy for the little ones! The Spherovelo Early Rider Balance Bike from Vici Enterprices is a great bike-training rider for 10 months - 2 year olds. Young riders can shift their body to control direction. Great for both indoor and outdoor use, it’s really great (and adorable too!). Make sure to keep an eye on our social sites, as we have four to giveaway...

Fun Reads for Middle Schoolers!

With summer days just around the corner, your middle school student may be ready to pack up their books and be done with school work until Labor Day rolls around. However, before they fall out of the habit of reading, take a trip to Barnes and Noble or your local bookstore and pick up some of these fun summer reads for middle school students. These books will capture and...

It’s Not Fair

“It’s not fair!” I’ve heard my children utter these words almost every day from the time they could string them together. Usually it’s in relation to something that is actually very fair—not being able to stay up late because they have school; losing their electronics because they’ve committed some infraction; having to eat broccoli. But I never try to rationalize it for them. Mostly because, whether what’s happening to...

I Swear

A few weeks ago, I went to talk to my son’s sixth grade class about my new book, and what it was like to write it. After, I asked my son to critique my presentation. “It was good. Except you said the word ‘damn.’ You said it, like, three times. I could tell the principal didn’t like it. She frowned. You know she’s very proper.” “Really? I didn’t even...

Adolescentementia

A few weeks ago, my eleven-year-old son showed up at the front door after school with no shoes on. “Where are your shoes?” I asked. “They’re in my school bag. My feet got wet because I got snow in my sneakers so I took them off.” “Where were you when you took them off?” “Two blocks away.” “So you decided it would be better to walk in twenty degree weather...

Science: My Ass

I know what you’re thinking. That I’m going to make some big, heartfelt and dramatic pronouncement about my position regarding vaccinations or climate change or some other science related topic that has dominated the news lately. But I’m not. I’m here to talk about the most important scientific discovery of the 21st Century that no one is talking about. One that has not gotten nearly enough attention: the correlation...

Fifty Shades of Entertainment

I recently read an open letter a woman wrote to her children about Fifty Shades of Grey and how disturbed she was by it. She wrote the letter to her children because she doesn’t want them to confuse what they see in that movie with love. And I wondered if I should be doing the same. I confess, I didn’t think it was necessary since A.) My children are eight...

Love Lessons

It seems apropos of the season that we should discuss my eleven-year-old son’s love life. Let’s start with the fact that he even has one. It was not that long ago he considered girls disgusting. Apparently that has changed. His first foray into the world of dating happened early in the year when he asked a girl to the school dance. They were all set to go, but as...

Hold the Sugar! Valentine’s Day Ideas for the classroom

  Oh to be young again…remember this? This was Valentine’s day when WE were in elementary school. Boy have things changed! Many schools are making us hold the sugar (or food altogether). With so many items on the “SCARY” list this year we thought we would compile some of the best Valentine’s day ideas for your little one. Trust us, this will leave parents and teachers “oohing and ahhhing” Looking for more fun...