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| Free holiday cards on Hubblesite |
Faster than you can say “crab nebula,” children
can also see snapshots of the Hubble Space
Telescope in flight, and learn about
Hubble’s “ground crew” - the people who make it all happen.
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Free out of this world holiday cards from the Hubble Space Telescope
Faster than you can say “crab nebula,” children
can also see snapshots of the Hubble Space
Telescope in flight, and learn about
Hubble’s “ground crew” - the people who make it all happen.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
2011 Holiday Guide: Holiday DVDs for gift-giving
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| "Santas" photo by Paula Slade |
With Thanksgiving just a week away, we turn our attention to preparing for the upcoming holiday season.
This article, the first installment in this series, provides information and ideas for parents and caregivers for children’s entertainment-oriented gifts.
From now until December 21, 2011, new offerings will be featured in multiple entertainment categories.
Today, we focus on some new DVD releases for this year.
The products, which appear below have been researched for quality as well as value, and are geared to provide the children in your life with many hours of positive and fun-filled entertainment.
Although pricing has been provided for you at time of this publication, it is suggested that you cross-compare with various online as well as stick and brick retailers when available.
For some of the listed DVDs, trailers are provided, so you may wish to bookmark this page to enable viewing, or further explorations of the highlighted links at your leisure.
As always, you are the best judge of what is appropriate for your child's entertainment.
GIVING THANKS…AND MORE STORIES TO CELEBRATE AMERICAN HERITAGE
Just in time for Thanksgiving, and as families gather together, comes the latest offering from Scholastic Storybook Treasures – Giving Thanks… and More Stories to Celebrate American Heritage.
American history and friendship skills, are the emphasis on this DVD, which includes four stories to help celebrate what makes our country great, including the recent Parent’s Choice Award winner “Lincoln & Douglass: An American Friendship” by Nikki Giovanni, narrated by Danny Glover.
Other stories include “Giving Thanks”, narrated by Native American Mohawk leader Chief Jake Swamp and offering an alternative language track in the Mohawk language, “Hiawatha” and Marcia Sewall’s “The Pilgrims of Plimouth”, which dramatically chronicles the arrival of the Pilgrims in the New World.
The 92-minute DVD (plus bonus extras) includes the ever-popular read-along function, and an interview with “Lincoln & Douglass” author Nikki Giovanni.
The suggested retail price for Giving Thanks… and More Stories to Celebrate American Heritage is $14.95 and is available through Amazon Marketplace starting at $5.69.
A CHRISTMAS WEDDING TAIL
From Anchor Bay Entertainment and Michael Feifer (producer/director of The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation and Your Love Never Fails) comes an adorable and heartwarming new holiday release, A Christmas Wedding Tail, which launches at retailers nationwide starting Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011.
A Christmas Wedding Tail is a Family/Romantic-Comedy about canine matchmakers and their blended families, as they navigate the challenges and triumphs of relationships.
Product Details
“Jennie Garth (“90210”) stars as Susan, an unemployed Los Angeles museum curator and widowed single mom temporarily living in a small California town with her three sensitive sons.
Jake (Brad Rowe of “General Hospital”) is a single dad of two tomboys who owns a local winery.
When Susan’s dog Rusty (voiced by Jay Mohr of “Ghost Whisperer”) falls for Jake’s poodle Cheri (voiced by Nikki Cox of “Las Vegas”), these canine matchmakers help their owners fall in love too.
Tom Arnold and Catherine Hicks (“Seventh Heaven”) also co-star in this film.”
A Christmas Wedding Tail is rated PG for “mild language” and includes an Audio Commentary with Executive Producers Jeffery Schenck and Barry Barnholtz and Writer/Co-Producer Peter Sullivan, plus A Christmas Wedding Tail: Dog Tracks.
Suggested retail price: $19.98 and the DVD is available at Amazon.com with release-day delivery option, which may be available at checkout for most continental U.S. addresses.
Below, for your enjoyment is the trailer for A Christmas Wedding Tail
A Christmas Wedding Tail Trailer
BABAR AND FATHER CHRISTMAS
From Entertainment One, comes a beloved holiday classic that has been digitally restored and re-mastered on DVD – Babar and Father Christmas.
This delightful holiday animated tale takes Babar on a journey to find Father Christmas, and save the day for his children and everyone in Celestville.
This year, Babar celebrates his 80th birthday being everyone’s favorite elephant whose stories highlight core family values.
As a special bonus this DVD includes a Babar coloring book plus two extra episodes of Babar - “A Child in the Snow” and “The Gift”
As a special bonus this DVD includes a Babar coloring book plus two extra episodes of Babar - “A Child in the Snow” and “The Gift”
The suggested retail price of Babar and Father Christmas, which runs 70-minutes, is $14.98. The DVD is now available through Amazon Marketplace starting at $6.22.
Below, for your enjoyment is the trailer that includes complete storyline for Babar and Father Christmas
Babar and Father Christmas Trailer
25 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS
Also from Entertainment One, and at retailers nationwide comes, 25 Days Until Christmas, a unique Advent calendar on DVD.
A wonderful way to start a new family holiday tradition, 25 Days Until Christmas reintroduces the Bible into your holiday festivities by counting down the Advent calendar with daily scripture readings of the Christmas story, beautiful high definition winter scenes, seasonal devotions and beloved inspirational music
Listen one day at a time or “play all.”
Suggested retail price this 60-minute plus extras DVD is: $14.98. 25 Days Until Christmas is available for immediate shipping through Amazon with a price of $9.99.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
2010 Holiday Guide: Best books of the year
The products, which appear, below have been researched for quality as well as value, and are geared to provide hours of positive and fun-filled entertainment.
Best pricing options, at the time of this posting are provided below, but it is suggested that you cross-compare, when available book prices and editions with your favorite online as well as stick and brick retailers, as pricing may fluctuate on a daily basis.
If you happened to have missed earlier posts, links are provided at the end of this article.
Also, you may wish to bookmark this page, as the links include reviews or author videos that enable further in-depth exploration at your leisure.
As always, you are the best judge of what is appropriate for your child’s entertainment.
When You Reach Me is written by Rebecca Stead and published by Wendy Lamb Books (an imprint of Random House Children's Books.)
Designated this year’s winner of the John Newbery Medal, for the “most outstanding contribution to children's literature,” When You Reach Me will not disappoint, it is beautifully written and suspenseful.“ From School Library Journal Starred Review. Grade 5-8–Sixth-grader Miranda lives in 1978 New York City with her mother, and her life compass is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. When she receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life, she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future.”
Explore a video interview with Rebecca Stead at Amazon.com, which includes additional storyline and background information.
Best pricing for the hardcover edition is through Amazon Marketplace for $5.15. Best pricing for soon-to-be-released (12/28/10) paperback edition is available for pre-order through Barnes and Noble for $6.29.
The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney, publisher Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers is the 2010 winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal for the “most distinguished American picture book for children.”
The book is a retelling of the classic Aesop’s Fable and is an incredible visual feast that will enthrall youngsters.
“From School Library Journal Starred Review. Preschool-Grade 3—This story starts on the cover with the glorious, golden countenance of a lion. No text is necessary to communicate the title: the direction of the beast's gaze and the conflicted expression on his tightly cropped face compel readers to turn the book over, where a mouse, almost filling the vertical space, glances back. The endpapers and artist's note place these creatures among the animal families of the African Serengeti. Each spread contributes something new in this nearly wordless narrative, including the title opening. “
Connect to a video with author/illustrator Jerry Pinkney, and more visuals of this amazing picture book by following this link.
More detailed customer reviews for The Lion & the Mouse are available through Amazon.com.
Best price for this hardbound edition is through Amazon Marketplace for $8.95.
Going Bovine is written by Libba Bray, publisher Delacorte Press (an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House.)
Going Bovine was honored with the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award for “excellence in literature written for young adults.”
This may be viewed as a controversial book choice, but it is a touching, witty, gritty and a very sobering read.
Going Bovine is recommended for older teens, as it leaves its marks about life’s priorities. Some parents may wish to extensively check reviews as to the appropriateness of their child’s ability to comprehend the book’s message. It is long but well written, and includes some profanity and mature content. However, it definitely provides room for parent-teen conversations.
“From School Library Journal Grade 8 Up—In this ambitious novel, Cameron, a 16-year-old slacker whose somewhat dysfunctional family has just about given up on him, as perhaps he himself has, when his diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jacob, "mad cow" disease, reunites them, if too late. The heart of the story, though, is a hallucinatory—or is it?—quest with many parallels to the hopeless but inspirational efforts of Don Quixote, about whom Cameron had been reading before his illness.”
Read reviews, both pro and con at Amazon.com, and best price is the paperback edition at $5.70 through Amazon Marketplace.
My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr., written by Langston Hughes and published by Ginee Seo Books, Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
This Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award-winner is an exquisite marriage of poetry and photography.
“From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. At just thirty-three words total, [this] poem is a study in its visual simplicity. This picture-book presentation is a tour de force. Introducing the poem two or three words at a time, Smith pairs each phrase with a portrait of one or more African-Americans; printed in sepia, the faces of his subjects materialize on black pages. The night, reads the opening spread, across from an image of a mans face, his eyes shut; is beautiful, continues the next spread, showing the same face, now with eyes open and a wide smile. The text, sized big to balance the portraits, shows up in hues that range from white to tan to brown-black, reflecting Smiths reading that the words celebrate black people of differing shades and ages.”
To find out more about My People, visit Amazon.com, and where best pricing is available through the Amazon Marketplace at $6.48 for the hardcover edition.
Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, and published by Carolrhoda Books (a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.)
This year, the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award, which recognizes “an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults”, was awarded to Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal.
A superb read geared for middle school children, which features a true-life hero, Bass Reeves, the first African-American deputy U.S. marshal who brought law and order to the old west.
Bad News for Outlaws was also designated with the honor of being an “Amazon Best Books of the Month” selection.
This edition of Bad News comes in a Library Binding and is available with best pricing through Amazon Marketplace for $10.98.
A Faraway Island is the 2010 winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for “an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States.”
A poignant and riveting novel that takes a different look at the Holocaust, as two Austrian sisters are separated from their family, and evacuated to an island off the coast of Sweden. Each girl placed with a different foster family.
"From School Library Journal Grade 5–8— In this gripping story, Stephie and Nellie, two Austrian Jewish sisters, are evacuated in 1938 from Vienna to a Swedish island and placed in separate foster homes. Twelve-year-old Stephie has promised her parents that she will try to ease her younger sister's way, a burdensome promise to keep. Auntie Alma, Nellie's Swedish mother, is warmer and more welcoming than Auntie Märta, Stephie's more austere foster parent. “
Reviews for A Faraway Island are available at Amazon.com, and best pricing for this hardbound edition is through Amazon Marketplace at $3.58.
To view other installments of the Holiday Gift Guide 2010, please click on the following:
Thursday, November 4, 2010
2010 Holiday Guide: Gifts of Music
With Halloween now behind us, and your pumpkin waiting for the first frost, we turn our attention to the upcoming holiday season.
This article, the first installment in this series, provides information and ideas for parents and caregivers for children’s entertainment-oriented gifts for the upcoming holidays.
From now until December 21, 2010, new offerings will be featured in many entertainment categories in addition to music, so you may wish to bookmark this page to enable further explorations of the highlighted links at your leisure.
The products, which appear below have been researched for quality as well as value, and are geared to provide the children in your life with many hours of positive and fun-filled entertainment.
Today we take a look at the gift of music.
There are numerous choices in this category, and we will work backwards from the most recent music releases, to those that occurred earlier in the year.
It is suggested that you cross-compare pricing with various online as well as stick and brick retailers when available.
As always, you are the best judge of what is appropriate for your child’s entertainment.
Enjoy the musical journey, as there will be many choices provided, which cover a multitude of musical tastes.
The New Explorers Club by Flannery Brothers
A recent release from October 19, 2010, The New Explorers Club by Flannery Brothers marks this energizing duo’s third album launch.
Winners of 13 prestigious awards, including the Lennon Award for Best Children’s Song in the 2008 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, the Flannery Brothers (Mike and Dan) are fun, engaging, and easy-going with their brand of family music.
You can sound sample all 13 tracks of Flannery Brothers’ New Explorer’s Club as well as order the complete compact disc for $15.00, or the down-loadable format for $9.99 direct from the artists’ website.
For your enjoyment, below is “Pirate or Parrot,” a video interpretation from one of Flannery’s songs from their New Explorers Club album.
Jim Cosgrove’s Swimming in Noodles
For the last decade, Jim Cosgrove has delighted audiences with his “Free Range Family Rock” in over 200 performances throughout the year that included stops around the United States, Europe and even The White House.
Swimming in Noodles, Cosgrove’s latest release, which debuted October 5, 2010, joins his extensive discography and marks his first collaboration with Grammy-nominated producer Tor Hyams, and provides a mixture of bright effervescent tunes that celebrate “the wonder of youth.”On November 1, the National Association of Parenting Publications (NAPPA) announced it’s 2010 Audio Award winners and Cosgrove’s Swimming in Noodles has been honored with a gold award.
All 14 tracks of Swimming in Noodles along with lyrics are available as a download for $8.00, or ordered in a full CD format for $12.00; selections may be sound sampled direct from Cosgrove’s online store.
To learn more about Jim Cosgrove and his trio band, The Hiccups, along with his extensive discography, latest concerts and seminars, his blog, “Mr. Stinky Feet’s Road Trip,” and to view music videos, go directly to the artist’s website.
Use Your Words
Released September 28, 2010, New York City musician Jeremy Zmuda’s, Use Your Words, is a unique “language based music” album that features lyrics developed by early childhood specialists.
Use Your Words offers a mixture of musical genres including pop, country, folk, Jazz and rock to ease in subtle messages that highlight children’s feelings in everyday social encounters.
Joined on the album are musical artists Madeleine Peyroux, Kirk Douglas (The Roots), Joy Dragland and Leo Sidran.
The 14 original songs, for children ages two through six may be sound sampled at Zmuda’s website, and where you will also learn more about Zmuda’s unique qualifications for this album, check out his upcoming live performances, download song lyrics and purchase the CD at the suggested retail price of $13.99.
Use Your Words is also available through online retailers Amazon.com and Best Buy.
The Best Candy in the Whole World and Other Stories by Bill Harley
Launched September 14, 2010, another hit album from Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter, storyteller, author and playwright Bill Harley.
This 67-minute album features a collection of two original Harley stories plus folktale adaptations from Africa, Appalachia and the British Isles, along with a bit of music.
Entertainment Weekly called Harley “the Mark Twain of contemporary children’s music,” and he’s as equally at home and accomplished as an author and storyteller.
Harley’s latest recording imparts the important message that “a little kindness can bring magic to everyday life.”
You can read all about Harley, along with his newsletter and check out his upcoming tour schedule when you visit his official website.
Excerpts from The Best Candy in the Whole World and Other Stories are available for listening, and may be purchased as an individual MP3 track download or full album download for $8.00, or ordered in the CD format for $15.00 through Harley’s online store.
Meet the Squeegees
Meet the Squeegees, a debut EP album from the Southern California based group of the same name features lots of positive messages, which include such topics as healthy eating, environmental awareness and animal rescue.
Songs are arranged for vocals, acoustic guitar, and sometimes a shaker or two, with music that appeals to infants, toddlers, parents and caregivers.
Sound samples and music videos of Meet the Squeegees are available directly from the artist’s website, where you’ll also find news, information about upcoming shows, and a special “Mommy’s Corner.”The Squeegees debut album was released August 24, 2010, and
all 14 tracks of Meet the Squeegees are available in CD format exclusively at Target for $7.99.
Matt Clark’s Funnier Little Fellas
A nice mix of country, blues, pop and even rap, written by composer Matt Clark for his two young sons, Rowlin and Quillan. The album takes toddlers, young children and parents on a musical journey reflecting family insights of everyday life.
Released in August 2010, this is a companion album to Clark’s debut disc, “Funny Little Fella.”
Sound samples for all 14 tracks of Funnier Little Fellas are available through CD Baby,where you will find the entire download MP 3 album for $9.99 or complete CD for $12.00.
Biographical information about Clark along with news, reviews and some free musical downloads are accessible through the artist’s website.
To learn about many other musical releases from the earliest portion of the year, please visit my home page at the National Edition of Examiner.com.
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