Desi's Book Pick of the Week

If you're looking for a fun book your child can interact with, we recommend "One Moose, Twenty Mice" by Clara Beaton.
This silly hide-and-seek book goes one step further than just a counting book and involves the kids in the adventure to find Ginger the Cat on each page. My two year old has learned twenty new animals and never tires of the hunt to find the cat. We've actually made up another story about where Ginger is going next!

Can you tell we love books here at mamasnap? The thing is - all the books we recommend, WE, the mama's, actually like too because you know how it is - you are going to end up reading the SAME book over and over and OVER again. I've read One Moose, Twenty Mice about 15 times already and I still like it. THAT's how a book gets the mamasnap stamp of approval! Enjoy!

Read Across America Day - March 2

In the words of Dr. Suess "you're never too old, too wacky or too wild to pick up a book and read with a child!"

The National Education Association has proclaimed March 2 as Read Across America day with your child. This year you can bring the gift of reading to children affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes by donating a book to help replenish area public-school libraries. Log onto the NEA website for more information - http://www.nea.org/readacross/index.html.

Toy Pick o' the Week 2/24/06

Little Touch LeapPad
By Leapfrog

6 months- 3 years

With a little help from mom, dad or a friend your child can enter a world of learning thru all the interactive books available. There are three levels- the first one just the basics- sounds and musical rhythms, the second has short phrases with the sounds and the third level has rhymes and early learning. My daughter started pushing the pictures very early on- loving the sounds that came from them. She loved the Animal World book…Cows, lions, even panda sounds come with this book. Now at 2 years old she interacts with it much more- searching for and identifying things that are asked. She has actually learned a lot from this funny thing. The LeapPad DOES take some getting used to- for instance there is a green go button for each page that must be pushed to activate that particular page. I think this toy is really meant to be done as an activity between a parent and child. But at 2-1/2 my daughter has figured out what the buttons are for and plays with it on her own.…It has a little cushion on the underside so it sits nicely on a child’s lap.
Okay- so this “toy” is a little on the pricey side but if your kid is anything like mine he/she will spend a lot of time with it and-bonus-they learn. Another downside is that the insert books are also not cheap. Each one runs about $13.00. When you buy it it comes with a rather lame book. Animal World is a great one and Stella Songbird is another favorite. Sometimes Toys r’ us has sales on them- 2 for 1. Despite the cost, we have enjoyed the LeapPad for a good long time.

Music Pick - February

Capitol Sings Kids' Songs for Grown-Ups
Various Artisits
Capitol Records
1992

Sick of all that insipid music that your kid forces you to listen to over and over and over and over again? Small Fry is a welcome relief and actually gets you singing along and your foot tapping (just beware of your car's brake pedal while doing this). Such artists as Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett sing songs from the 1940's thru the early 60's. Our favorite track is the "A is for Adorable" alphabet song by Gordon Macrae and Jo Stafford. This is a sweet song you can sing with your child AND at the same time, teach them the alphabet and tell them how Adorable, Beautiful, Cute and Delightful they are! It is a great car CD and most songs won't make you crazy. Of course, there are a couple that I have heard one too many times- but then I remind myself that AT LEAST it isn't Barney singing....and there is also always the skip track button.
It isn't an easy CD to find but Amazon has it for $11.98. See the icon on the tool bar at the right for quick link!

Lulu's Book Pick 2/20/06

Everywhere Babies
Written by Susan Meyers
Illustrated by Marla Frazee
2001

Reading Level: Baby-Preschool

A cousin who has two daughters of her own gave this book to us. Both her kids loved the book and so does Lulu! It is all about babies and how they are kissed and dressed and rocked and fed-and completely adored by the families that love them. It describes the many aspects of babies’ lives from the time they are born until their first birthday. The book shows a diverse population of people of different ethnic backgrounds and age, as well as gay parents and adoptive parents-so no one will feel left out.
The illustrations are great, showing lots of things happening on each page. For example-“Every day, everywhere, babies are carried” On this page there are parents carrying their children in all ways imaginable- Strollers, carriers, shoulders, bike seats, car seats, wagons etc. Lulu loves these busy pages and likes to find the dogs.
Written in rhyme, this is a fun book to read and is really interactive. It is appropriate for wee little ones as well as bigger toddlers who are able to understand what all the activities in the book are. It is also helpful when another baby is on the way and you want to discuss it with your child/children. We read it and talk about the things we will do with the new baby and how baby will grow. We have enjoyed reading this book a couple thousand times and will probably enjoy it a couple thousand times more!
Available from Amazon as a board book for $6.95 or in hardcover for $10.88!
Click on the book icon in right toolbar for quick link to buy!

Toy Pick o' the Week

Tall Stacker Peg Board
This is a simple, down-to-earth pegboard set with big, colorful pegs that are the perfect size for our little one’s tiny fingers and too big to stick in their mouths and swallow. This great toy is designed to build eye/hand coordination, fine-motor skills, math skills, and color recognition in 2-to-5-year-olds. Our kids can spend good chunks of time stacking the pegs into towers, organizing by color, by number of pegs in a tower, making colorful patterns etc… The most popular activity seems to be to try to stack all of the pegs into one very tall tower.
The Tall-Stacker Pegs & Pegboard Set includes 25 colorful pegs, a rubber pegboard that is smooth on one side and textured on the other and even a little insert with suggested activities for parents to help get children started.
Available through Amazon for $16.99. Click on Amazon icon for quick ordering!

Lulu's Book Pick O' the Week

I am A Bunny
Written by Ole Risom
Illustrated by Richard Scarry
1963

We love board books and this one is our VERY favorite. I adored this book as a kid and was thrilled to see it was still in print. Of course I had to buy it for Lulu. She has loved it since she was a tiny pre-1 year old, asks for it almost every night and sometimes insists on sleeping with it.



Nicholas the Bunny likes to smell flowers, watch birds, chase butterflies and watch the animals getting ready for winter. The drawings are great- simple, colorful and dynamic. There are lots of things to talk about on each page- colors, sounds, seasons, etc. The text is very simple and isn’t annoying to read over and over again- as we do here… really sweet and well loved. Even at the age of 37 I still love this book.
This book is a MUST for all your child's library! and bonus bonus-it is cheap!

A Lesson in Human Spirit

Congratulations to Eloysa Vasquez and the birth of her new son, Timothy Abraham. So why do we care? Well forget that she is 38 years old and already had the clock running against her…Eloysa has a few attributes that are against her. She is 3 feet tall, weighs 37 pounds and uses a wheel chair. She suffers from Type 3 osteogenisis imperfecta- a disease that makes her bones soft and easily broken. Pregnancy is difficult enough for a normal averaged sized, averaged aged person.

Can you imagine what Eloysa went through to have this baby? When he kicked did the foot come out her mouth? How many pounds did she gain while she was pregnant? Could you imagine doubling your weight during pregnancy? Was she stuck in bed the whole time? Did it hurt? This is a lesson in human spirit, love and trust in the universe.
Baby Timothy weighed 3 pounds, 7 ounces at birth. He was delivered by c–section early to protect his mommy’s health and he did not inherit her condition.

Curious...isn't it?

Curious George is getting a lot of publicity lately…Not only is he hitting the big screen but one of his creators was found dead of possible homicide. Does anyone realize what the original Curious George is???? George’s good friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat, is a gun-toting poacher who, while in Africa, sees George and decides he wants to take him home. So he lures him out with his hat, throws him in a bag and takes him back to the States.

There have been comparisons between the Man in the Yellow Hat and a colonial soldier, as well as lots of parallels between Curious George and slavery- George does menial jobs, is illiterate, etc…. Isn’t it a little weird that George is brown and has no tail? And walks upright and rides a bike? Anyway. Continuing…back in the states, George’s dear friend teaches him to drink and smoke a pipe.

There are those who believe the writer was racist but I am not in the mood to actually research this…
The Curious George of Hollywierd has the Man in Yellow Hat as an eco-tourist and it is all just so endearing and cute.
I understand that it IS kind of annoying when people read into things too much- (like listening to people at art openings philosophizing about the meanings of the artworks.) BUT it is nice to take these things into consideration when reading to our kids. Just be informed. And remember when you are bad- you go to jail to rot…. so you better be good! Okay..that’s a little disturbing.

Brit's Big Boo Boo

I’m sure by now you have all seen the pictures of Britney Spears holding the wheel of the car with one hand with her 4-month-old baby in her lap. What was she thinking? This question applies to SO many aspects of her life but really…"I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger," Spears stated late Monday.

She continues with "I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm's way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us," she said. "I love my child and would do anything to protect him." Apparently the paparazzi “made her do it”
For those of you who are wondering…Under California law, youngsters are required to be secured in a child-safety seat or booster seat until they are at least 6 years old or weigh at least 60 pounds. There is a reason they make these rules….Being chased/stalked by crazed photograsphers seems like a pretty good reason to strap them in. Let us not forget Ol’ Lindsey’s brush with the press and what happens when a celeb drives off scared, agitated or just tired after a long day of shopping at Kitson and eating at the Ivy.

On another note- What about Sean’s icky daddy? Just a week ago he took little Sean out to get his EARS pierced. Britney freaked out and chased him like “a woman possessed” so K-Fed slammed on the brakes. Poor Sean would do better just staying away from Mommy and Daddy’s cars. BUT in her defense..Dear Mom WAS afraid that he would look like trailer trash…..Ummm….shouldn’t parents lead by example?