The mail came just as I was leaving to pick up the girls at school. Catalog, catalog, bill, catalog, billโฆHey! A PACKAGE addressed to me! Inside was A Heroโs Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy. I knew it was coming โ Chris was Cookie magazineโs main childrensโ book reviewer and I worked closely with him and Myles McDonnell (of the great blog You Know for Kids) on that section month after month. But, as Myles wrote, if we knew how good heโd be at writing adventure novels for kids, we would have encouraged him to miss a few deadlines and start sooner! I strategically placed Heroโs Guide in between two car seats in the back of the Mazda and drove off to school. It took about three seconds for 10-year-old Phoebe to discover the book, and once she did, that was it. All attempts to find out how her social studies test went that day: GONE. Ballet class that afternoon, something she usually enjoys? Merely something to endure to get back to reading. Which she did all the way home in the car, nose about one inch from book because the sun had set and she had no light, and for the next 24 waking hours straight. All 448 pages of the book were dispatched by bedtime the following night. The book tells the story of the four fairy tale princes who are often lumped together with the generic moniker โPrince Charmingโ and who are, it turns out, resentful about this. In Phoebeโs words โYouโd never expect the princes to be this interesting because theyโre usually the most boring characters in the Princess books!โ Myles goes into more detail about the plot on his site but the underlying premise is all you really need to know to be hooked: When Prince Gustav, Liam, Frederic, and Duncan (yes, they have real names!) find their kingdoms are endangered, they set about on a joint adventure to establish themselves as real heroes โ battling trolls and witches andโฆtheir wives, the princesses themselves. Iโm pretty sure itโs going to be the birthday gift for all my daughtersโ friends for the next two years.
What else is going on? A Friday round-up:
Thisย could be the next VIP on myย quick weeknight dinnerย circuit.
How Not to Read Aloud to Your Kids.
Do you guys know this site,ย Kids in Mind? You type in any movie and it gives you a very clinical play-by-play of anything that could possibly be inappropriate for your kid. It doesnโt editorialize at all. It just presents the facts. Iโve been relying on it heavily.
How much do I love a goodย leaving-the-rat-race storyโฆespecially when a dairy farm is involved? A lot.
Healthy Hot Dogsย in time for Memorial Day grilling. Orโฆfor dinner tonight actually.
Iโm really late to the party on this, but I canโt believe Alec Baldwin has his own podcast on WNYC! (Just when I thought I couldnโt love him more.) I just listened to his interview with Kristen Wiigย while I was running and it made the usually brutal three milesย fly by.
A quote from Daily Show most senior correspondent Samantha Bee made my year: This bookโฆโgives me hope that one day my family will also assemble around an actual table and eat an actual meal that was actually cooked by me; a meal not solely comprised of animal shaped cheese crackers dipped in peanut butter. Although those are good too.โ Donโt you think you need to own the book sheโs talking about?
Andy: Close your eyes. Everyone else: Some version ofย theseย will be gifted on Fatherโs Day or Birthday or for our Anniversary or maybe even all three.
Rules to Help Avoid Dressing Like Your Kids, by one of my favorite writersย Sally Schultheiss. (Iโm guilty of almost all the offenses.)
In honor of what wouldโve been Julia Childโs 100th birthday:ย A biography of the master (with recipes) geared towards children. (Iโd say itโs always a good sign when a kidsโ cookbook is compared to Fanny at Chez Panisse.)
And look what nice little thing popped up on my Shelf Awareness newsletter this week. Click on the banner to check out their giveaway.
Lastly, if youโre following me on Twitterย and have something nice to say about the book, please use #dalsbook so I can find it and thank you.
Have a great weekend!
Yes. All of it! Yes. The book. Pinning. Waiting for Julia to be old enough! Hot dogs. Very important info. Also pinning.
I havenโt seen Kids in Mind, but we have been using http://www.commonsensemedia.org for reviews of movies, tv shows, apps, music and games etc. Same โjust the factsโ tone without a religious/political/moral agenda and I like that similar breakdown of potential dealbreakers.
LOVE the link on how NOT to read to your kids. Forwarded to all my librarian friends who will also love it. Looking forward to checking out Kids In Mind. Like christina, Iโve always relied heavily on Common Sense Media. They have an iPhone app that has come in handy.
Mango rice looks fab. Eclectic Mom looks like a great source for so much stuff! In fact she seems so very creative, thoughtful and organized that I nearly had a panic attack. Itโs okay. I opened a beer instead. Will go back for the recipe when Iโm feeling stronger.
Soule Mama does the same thing to me. Sheโs amazing, but I can only take so much!
http://www.soulemama.com/
Thanks for the book tip. Just popped over to amazon and purchased!
Does anybody have a source for books, like the movie site โKids in Mindโ?
Now that my daughter is 9-(going-on-19), she wants to read lots of books I donโt know, and itโs often hard to judge if the content will be too scary, too-advanced-boy-girl stuff, etc . Help!
I read your newsletter, do I win the Jane Marvel tote?
@jen- commonsensemedia.org has a books section. I havenโt use it much myself so Iโm not sure how comprehensive it is, but itโs worth checking out.
Thanks for all of these great links. The Julia Child biography looks wonderful.
Love this. The Healy book is on its way to my nieces โฆ my guys are too little, but hopefully by the time they are old enough it will be in a hand-me-down bag back on its way to them ๐ Great list.