• new children’s picture books Archive

    My car is in desperate need of a wash. After too many months of wet weather, muddy feet and the like, this mom taxi has taken quite a beating. Of course, the line at our local car wash has been five miles long lately. If only my imagination could transport to the pages of the latest picture book to cross my desk. Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe is the place to be, especially if you happen to live with anyone who knows his T-Tex from a triceratops. It’s also the center of a make-believe business where these prehistoric creatures come to have their regular scrub-down (where else can these guys fit when a bath tub is out of the question?). If I ever thought [&hellip

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    What kid doesn’t doesn’t long to be big? When I was little, I envied my older sister who got to stay out late and wear Bonne Bell Lipsmackers (lips that smelled like 7-up…alright!). I remembered my dad telling me not to rush my life away, and thought he was a bit mad (today I can only look back and smile at my naivete and his sage advice). As my own daughters try to push the envelope–the older one begging for her own iPod and the younger one crying over the fact that I won’t let her wear one of those stick-on tattoos–I refuse their demands with my own version of “’cause I said so,” while I smile knowingly at their inherent need to spread their [&hellip

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    My 4-year-old has a definite sweet tooth, and her latest sugary obsession is Pez (remember those candies that come in their own dispenser?). Because she covets her Hello Kitty Pez like it’s gold, she has a hard time sharing with her big sis (who also loves Pez, but not nearly as much). During a recent battle at the dinner table, my little one reluctantly agreed to give her sister some of her treats…but the biggest surprise came the following day when her sister graciously brought home some leftover coloring sheets for her art class. As my girls have come to learn, a kind gesture like sharing something with others–especially something you love–doesn’t go unnoticed and sometimes yields its own reward. This is the perfect lesson [&hellip

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    Our next-door neighbor has been renovating his home for the past six months. Thanks to Superstorm Sandy and some other setbacks, it’s been taking a lot longer than expected. But because he is such a kindhearted guy (and always apologizing for the noise and commotion), we could never truly be angry with him. So when I opened the pages of Wooby & Peep new picture book, I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder–had someone been spying on us these last few months? Did the author see when a tree guy was removing some broken limbs from next door and accidentally knocked over our garden fence? Let’s just say that sometimes neighborly mishaps make for new friends…like they do in this charming tale where a [&hellip

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    Last week’s spring break ran a bit little too long for my sanity, so my ever-thoughtful husband offered to take our daughter  with him to work for the day. She’d been begging him since Easter, so you can imagine her excitement when his calendar opened up and she was able to trek with him into the Big City (to a 7-year-old, commuting never grows old). While I was never able to accompany my dad to his job (one that required security clearance), I later worked for the same company while on summer break as a college student and was able to ride with him to work. He always let me pick whatever radio station I wanted (a big deal in the pre-iPod-ear-buds-glued-to-your-head days), and we [&hellip

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