Meadowbook Press Board Books Review

Board Books are society’s response to the natural tendancy of toddlers and young children to eat, throw, cut, bend, and otherwise destroy books.  These sturdy books (eg. “Board Books”) are the best way to read to your little ones and introduce them to the fun of reading.  Meadowbook Press is a leading provider of classic stories in Board Books and in collaboration with Baby Genius, they have made some good ones!

I received four great books for review and am excited to share them with my little one.  The books I received include:

• The Wheels on the Bus – Sing ‘N Move Book
• 5 Little Monkeys Jumpin’ on the Bed – Sing ‘N Count Book
  
• Old MacDonald Had a Farm – Sing ‘N Learn Book
• 1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Elephants – Sing ‘N Count Book

I really belive books like these not only help benefit your kids with reading, but they also teach other great pre-academic skills.  I know my 5 year old learned a lot about numbers and sequencing because of his love for the 5 Little Monkeys song, and other similar ones.  These nursery rhymes help instill a sense of numbers, letters, and basic educational concepts that correlate well with early education.

The books are great, the stories are simple, but fun and educational.  These are books that you can let your young one handle and interact with.  They also make for great bedtime story adventures!

Back to School with LeapFrog products review

As your kids get back in to school mode, you might find that those make the early transition into school need a little extra help from an entertaining and educational source. Leading educational product provider LeapFrog has some great Back to School LeapFrog product that you can use for your preschoolers, kindergartners, or early grade school children.

My son loves the LeapFrog “Let’s Go to School” DVD that helps with late preschool skills including phonics, counting and animals. Teaching kids 4-7 to read is a primary concern for parents. Average kids learn to read at varying rates, usually from ages 4-7. My son has a great memory and learns lots of words through memorization. His ability to sound out unfamiliar words has grown immensely with the added help of the DVD.

We have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated our LeapFrog Tag Reader for the last year and were excited for a chance to review some new Back to School “Learn to Read” books. Designed for kids 4-8, the Long Vowel sound and Short Vowel Sound books help your kids learn the difference between varying sounds with the letters a,e,i,o, and u. This adds to the phonics DVD in that kids can understand that the vowels have different sounds.

I wanted to share these new LeapFrog products with you because, we are huge fans of the LeapFrog company and products. My son loves to learn and products like the LeapFrog DVD and Tag Reader and books are fun to use and help support learning at school and home.

Nickelodeon Brings Children’s Book “Olivia” To Television

We LOVE Nick Jr.in our house, because they develop educational and quality shows for children. Their brand new show, Olivia, is no exception. Nickelodeon welcomes one of the world’s most beloved literary characters to its preschool line-up with the launch of OLIVIA on Monday, Jan. 26, at 11:30 a.m. (ET/PT), followed by a week of brand-new episodes. Preschoolers will love this endearing character and her family.  Olivia has a big imagination and her adventures are a joy to watch. Kids will also relate to Olivia’s relationship with her younger brother Ian, especially in the first episode when Olivia realizes Ian will eventually grow taller then her. Moms will love Olivia because the parents give Olivia and her brother encouragement and a positive spirit in which to grow.

Olivia believes she can do anything and sees every day as an opportunity to try new things. Olivia’s real life revolves around her friends, family and school, while her vivid imagination takes her everywhere from Egypt, the Wild West and outer space, to a pirate adventure and a concert hall.  She is a pillar of self-confidence and enthusiasm promoting independent thinking, ingenuity and persistence. “OLIVIA is a show where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, and we’ve worked closely with the team at Nickelodeon to bring Olivia’s world to life,” said Megan Laughton, Supervising Producer for the OLIVIA series at Chorion. “Olivia’s imagination takes her all over the world, but her daily interactions with family and friends will resonate with children everywhere.”

The premiere episode of OLIVIA will feature the following stories:

“Olivia Measures Up” – After Olivia teases her younger brother Ian for being too short for a ride, Father mentions that some day Ian may be the taller sibling.  Olivia employs a variety of comical methods to stop Ian from growing.  She eventually comes to terms with her own height – with the help of a great pair of shoes.

“Olivia Plays Hotel” – When school is let out early due to snow, Julian and Francine come over to Olivia’s house.  Olivia has the perfect game for them –Hotel!  She transforms her house into a make-believe hotel, but then some strange things start to happen.  Does the hotel have ghosts, or is Ian just playing tricks on them?

The first OLIVIA picture book by Falconer was published in 2000 to rave reviews. Since that time, Falconer has been the recipient of numerous awards and the Simon & Schuster book series has sold an impressive six million copies worldwide in 20 languages.

Chorion is a leading provider of quality family entertainment for the global marketplace.  Chorion brings a combination of brand management savvy and creative vision to the development of literary copyrights across all media.  Chorion’s portfolio includes classic children’s brands such as Mr. Men and Little Miss, Beatrix Potter, Paddington, Noddy, OLIVIA and The World of Eric Carle as well as art and lifestyle brands. Chorion also owns and manages the literary works of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler and Georges Simenon, among others

Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc.

photo credits Chorion

Get Angry!

Paw Paw books are a set of charming books  about a traveling dog  that are designed just for young children.  The Adventures With PawPaw series features a little dog who travels to a different country in each book, introducing young kids to other countries and cultures.  So far PawPaw has visited China, France, and Costa Rica (and is packing his bags for Kenya, Italy, Egypt, Israel, and other spots).

The books are absolutely adorable and the illustrations engaging.  Paw Paw is definitely popular in our house.  The series is educational at the young childs level.  The rhyming words will keep them entertained and open their eyes about different place and people in the world.  Plus the books are just the right size for little hands.  You can buy the PawPaw Series on the Adventures With PawPaw Website.

Here’s the best part: They will give a portion of all profits to help stop child trafficking around the world — through www.born2fly.org.  They will not only make a wonderful Christmas gift, but will help to change a child’s life.

Paw Paw books were written by Diana Scimone, a journalist who’s been to 40+ countries writing on issues of human rights.  She wrote the books to introduce kids to some of the many wonderful places she’s been and people she’s met.   Diana also launched the foundation to give back to the kids she’s met in desperate situations all over the world.  Below is more information about the Born To Fly Foundation and also at their website www.born2fly.org.

I’M ASKING YOU TO WATCH THIS POWERFUL VIDEO, GET ANGRY, AND READ THE 21 STEPS BELOW AND TAKE ACTION!    WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, WE CAN CHANGE LIVES.  COME WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY.

Can we do anything to stop child sex slavery?

YES WE CAN! Most kids get lured into the dark world of sex slavery because they don’t know the deceptive tactics of traffickers. Someone shows up in a village and offers to educate the girls. “Just sign here,” he tells the parents, who never see their daughters again.

A trafficker offers a teenage girl a job as a model, waitress, or nanny. She has no idea she’ll really be forced into sex slavery. She’ll be threatened, beaten, and raped over and over, night after night, until she dies of AIDS.

How to stop the traffic

Wherever kids receive awareness training, the rate of child sex trafficking plummets. Unfortunately there’s not enough training—nor is it available to kids who are most at risk.

That’s why we’ve launched a global campaign called the B2F Project to create awareness about child trafficking—with the ultimate goal of ending it. Our mission is to educate girls and their parents about the dangers of child sex trafficking through a strategic, far-reaching multimedia campaign. The B2F Project has the potential to reach millions of children no matter what their language or country, nor how remote their villages.

Our goal is not just to prevent kids from being trafficked, but to help them fulfill their dreams. B2F sets kids free to soar so they can dream big dreams and make a difference in the world around them.

21 WAYS YOU CAN STOP CHILD TRAFFICKING (from the born2fly website)

Want more ways to get involved? Click here and join the conversation as people all over the world share ideas about how to get involved with the effort to stop global trafficking.

1. Learn about what’s happening. Child sex trafficking feeds not just on lust and greed, but also on silence and ignorance. One of the most effective things you can do is what you’re doing now—get informed. The stories aren’t pretty, but they must be told if we’re ever going to stop the epidemic.

2. Read about modern-day abolitionists and learn what they’re doing to rescue children, counsel them, and prevent others from being enslaved.

3. Find out what’s happening in your own community. Research if your state or county has a human trafficking task force.

4. Host a house meeting or dorm meeting to watch a documentary such as “Sex Slaves in America,” “Born into Brothels,” “China’s Stolen Children,” or “How to Buy a Child in 10 Hours.” Talk about ways you can stop child trafficking in your community.

5. Start a book club and have everyone read Terrify No More or Good News About Injustice both by Gary Haugen, Not For Sale by David Batstone, or Beyond the Soiled Curtain by David and Beth Grant. Brainstorm how you can become further involved.

6. Pick a country and take an immersion trip to acquaint yourself with what’s happening in the child trafficking industry. Make appointments to meet with community organizations working to stop the traffic.

7. Set aside part of your vacation to volunteer with an organization that works to stop trafficking or helps victims. Whatever your skills—medical, counseling, administration, legal, or education—they’re needed somewhere.

8. Organize a fundraising party for the Born to Fly Project and invite your friends, family, and co-workers.

9. Forgo birthday, Christmas, holiday, or wedding presents. Instead, ask guests to give gifts in your name to the Born to Fly Project.

10. Flex your political muscles. When you learn about proposed legislation, such as the annual bill in the US Congress to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, contact your congressional representatives. (Click here to find email and phone numbers for US senators and representatives.)

11. Donate to organizations that work to stop child trafficking, such as Born to Fly.

12. Introduce Born to Fly to a foundation or corporation that might like to support our work.

13. Educate yourself on what’s happening in countries where you travel, study, or do business. The U.S. State Department TIPS (Trafficking in Persons) List ranks 150 countries according to their efforts to end trafficking.

14. Display an anti-trafficking poster in your school, church, or office. Download posters (in English, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese, and Korean) here.

15. Blog about child trafficking.

16.  Forward the “Get Angry. Please” video to your friends.

17. Write about the realities of child sex slavery in an article or letter to the editor for your local newspaper (print or web edition).

18. Email your state or federal legislators asking what they’re doing to stop child trafficking. Click here for senators and representatives.

19. Post instances of human slavery around the world—including child sex slavery—on the Slavery Map.

20. Talk to your school, university, church, or community organization about sponsoring a Born to Fly day, and invite a local child advocate to speak.

21. Pray. Never underestimate the power of one person’s prayer. You are the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13 NKJV). Just as salt changes what’s around it, God gave you the power to change what’s around you.

Want more ways to get involved?  Click here — and join the conversation as people all over the world share ideas about how to get involved with the effort to stop global trafficking.

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