The Cricket in Times Square

Title: The Cricket in Times Square
Author: George Selden
Age: 7+

I read this book recently in order to help D with her book report at school. I quite enjoyed reading this book. The Cricket in Times Square is a heartwarming story about the blossoming friendship between a little boy, a cricket, a mouse and a cat. Chester who's a cricket gets lost from his home in Connecticut and unexpectedly ends up in Times Square New York. Chester becomes friends with a cat and a mouse here. Mario Bellini is a little boy who helps run his parents newspaper stand, finds Chester and wants to keep him. 

Chester and gang accidentally end up creating a lot of troubles for the Bellinis, who want him to leave. One day, Chester's friends and the Bellinis find out about his amazing music and opera abilities and soon he becomes an over-night fame in New York. Crowds gather to watch him sing and he soon has a full schedule of events like a celebrity. Chester even though is famous now quite hates the fact and yearns to get back to his home in the countryside of Connecticut. He decides to leave the crowded NYC and hops on the train back to his home. His friends including Mario fully support his decision and tell him to follow what his heart says and what makes him happy.

It is a very warm story which teaches kids the value of good friendships, loyalty, generosity, and honesty. Throughout various incidents in the book, all these values are brought to light which kids really enjoy learning about. It is a lesson for adults too as it teaches one that being a celebrity is not all that glamorous and comes with its own set of problems. Overall a great book to read over a holiday weekend. 

The Kicks

Title: The Kicks
Ag: 6+

D started watching this TV series during her summer break this year. I am usually very picky on what the kids watch on TV and when I caught D watching this one day I questioned her as usual and expressed my displeasure about the fact she's spending her time watching TV. But when I heard the theme of the story I was very intrigued. When the plot is about a girl who's an aspiring soccer star moves to a new city and has to face a lot of challenges in her new school's soccer team, but ultimately ends up winning against all adversities and becomes a leader on the field it is definitely something I would love to watch as well!

The show was inspired by the book series with the same title by Alex Morgan, an American Soccer Player.  The Kicks is all about teaching kids the value of hardwork, dedication, resiliency during times of adversities and team work. Devin Burke, a 12-year old girl is the main character in the story. Her family moves from her hometown in Connecticut to California and she joins her new school's soccer team named "The Kicks". Devin initially faces a lot of challenges w.r.t to preteen friendships and becoming part of the team and trying to fit in. Devin takes her time, but finally manages to turn an average team into a winning team after they face a lot of hurdles together but stay strong to overcome them.  Devin's parents are portrayed as very normal and realistic letting her explore and face the challenges without trying to shield her from them. Another lesson and reminder for me as a parent. I love the fact that even though all the girls in the series are preteens, yet how they are portrayed as independent, confident, strong women without the crappy preteen problems that a number of other trashy shows depict.

Kudos to Amazon for yet another series with strong female characters. This is definitely one to watch for both kids and adults.

National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia: 2,500 Animals with Photos, Maps, and More!

Title: National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia
Author: Lucy Spelman
Age: 3+

I have always wanted my kids to develop a fascination for animals and learn more and more about them. There has been so much research on why kids love animals : The Menagerie of the Child's Imagination I have always encouraged D and A to watch National Geographic's animal 101 series which gives a short and sweet summary on different kinds of animals and based on their interest, they pick and choose in depth NatGeo videos of specific ones. I personally have always loved animal watching in their natural habitats and don't have a great feeling about zoos of any kind as such. It breaks my heart to see their sad faces in the cage/space they are in at the zoo.

We just got back from a vacation to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. It was one of the best vacations we've had as a family. Both the national parks were simply spectacular and the scenery was just breathtaking. I was stunned at the sceneries and most times I just stared in awe. One of the main reasons we picked Yellowstone was the chance to see some amazing wildlife. We got to see plenty of bisons, elks, heron, chipmunks and bald eagle. I was pretty apprehensive about how the kids will survive the long drives through the park daily without cell phones and tablets but they kept themselves very engaged looking out for wildlife throughout our drive. It was the perfect detox for all of us. They got so excited spotting bisons and elks everyday. Every single spotting of them sparked a Yay! in them. We never got tired of trying to spot one. We spent all four days trying really hard to spot a bear and a wolf. D, A and I even hiked at least 3 miles into the woods in search of a bear, but in vain. At the end of the trip we were pretty bummed that we were so unlucky. We all literally jumped in joy when we accidentally spotted a grizzly bear and her cub while driving back home through Shoshone national forest. D commented that watching the grizzly with her cub was so fascinating. We will cherish the memories from this trip forever and it has sparked a lot of interest in wildlife watching in all of us. We have come to love national parks for this very reason and I am sure we will do a lot more such trips.

The book in this post was a birthday gift to D from one of her classmates when she was in kindergarten. This is a great book for any animal lover. The book is divided into different sections - each grouped by similar kinds of animals and in depth details of each of them - Their habitats, range, diet, description, characteristics, size/length. It also has information on the status of each of the animals - endangered, domestic, in trouble etc. A just loves turning through the pages to look at the beautiful pictures of all the animals. D has an animal sketch book and when she's bored will draw and color many from this book on her sketchpad. Whenever the kids are bored, I usually pick up this book and we all just pick a page and read it together. We also use this book as a record to check mark against the ones we have seen either at a zoo (I'm still trying hard to get D and A away from going to a zoo for an outing) or out in the wild.

National Geographic has done amazing things for our planet and I love all their books. This will make a great gift for anyone who loves animals and are fascinated by them. 

Dictionary of dinosaurs : an illustrated A to Z of every dinosaur ever discovered

Title: Dictionary of dinosaurs : an illustrated A to Z of every dinosaur ever discovered
Author: Illustrated by Dieter Braun and Edited by Dr. Matthew G. Baron
Age: 6+

D's dinosaur obsession is still in full swing and I got this book as a Christmas present for her this year. It is a neat collection of all the dinosaurs that have been discovered up until now. It has a good list of facts about each dinosaur - meaning of the name, length, diet, which period the animal lived, the country it was discovered in and a name pronunciation guide. D was very excited to turn the pages and look at all the different dinosaurs when we bought the book. Once she was done looking at most of them, she started to study each one in detail. I also got her a sketch book to go along with this book and she loves sketching all the different dinosaurs from this book. I am quite glad that activity kept her fully engaged through most of the winter break. This is a good starter book for kids who are curious about dinosaurs and it should go into the collection of every dinosaur lover.

Who was Marie Curie?

Title: Who was Marie Curie?
Author: Megan Stine
Age: 8+

We chanced upon this book at Barnes and Noble while looking for a birthday present for one of D's friends. I am a sucker for anything and everything that has a strong female presence and needless to say I picked up this book the moment it caught my eye. I have been consciously introducing a lot of topics to D that question gender stereotypes because it is something that is very important and close to my heart. I want D to be mentally strong and challenge every stereotype out there, be it at school, at playground and later when she grows up, at her workplace. This book proved to be yet another brilliant one at doing exactly that.

This is a fantastic book that describes the life of Marie Curie from start to end.  Along with learning about how she made one of the most important contributions to science - polonium and radium, we read about the hardships she had to face at every step and how she fought against all of them and won a Nobel Prize at the end. She was forbidden to attend the male-only University of Warsaw and hence enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris to study Physics and Math. She was the only female scientist to win a Nobel Prize and the first woman in Europe to get a doctorate degree and become a professor.

This is a great little book for kids and especially for little girls. Look forward to reading the other books in the "Who was" series.

Dino Dana

One day, as I walked into the house from work, I hear A running up to me and saying - "Mommy, this video is very fun!". D and A were watching an episode from this Amazon Original Series and I was well on my way to giving them and my husband(duh!) my usual lectures on the harmful effects of screen time on children's brains. Lo and behold, 30 minutes later, I was sitting on the couch with them completely hooked on to the episode!

Dino Dana follows the adventures of a 9 year old girl, Dana Jain who is obsessed with dinosaurs and is able to see real life dinosaurs in her neighborhood with the help of a Dino Field Guide. The Dino Field Guide contains experiments that encourage Dana to explore and interact with the dinosaurs.
Honestly, as a mother of a girl, I am so thankful for this series as this is one of the firsts that has sparked a curiosity and love for science in D. The series has been so educational for all four of us and often times we talk about evolution and pre historic creatures and even quiz each other sometimes!

Here is what my kids love about Dino Dana:

• The hundreds of different kinds of dinosaurs and the experiments Dana performs on them. Surprisingly, A understands so much about them when we didn't really expect him to. Towards the end of all the seasons, he knew pretty much all of their names just by looking at them and each of their associated features/behavior.
• D loves Dana who's become a great role model for her. She's not only learnt a great deal about dinosaurs but some important life lessons like passion, compassion, camaraderie and sportsmanship! 
• She even managed to convince me to get her a sketchbook just like the one Dana has!

Here is what I love about Dino Dana:

• Apart from the educational value of this series, I love the entire cast. No points for guessing who is my favorite of all - Dana. I adore her. The inherent quirkiness, her costume and the things she carries around in her backpack - I could relate to all of them, I used to be and wanted to be very much like her when I was a kid. Dana is just so much fun! Her energy is so contagious.
• The tightly knit Jain family - The way Dana's parents encourage her with the experiments and even look up facts related to them to fuel her passion makes them a role model for me as a parent. And Dana's father who's into crafting! - Do I need to say more? If there is one TV series out there which shatters all gender stereotypes - this has to be it!
• The bond between the step sisters - Dana and Saara is heartwarming. The way they squabble but also make up and are supportive of each other is so nice to watch. 
• The strong female cast - Dana, Saara, Dana's mother and grandmother and none of them talking about boys or men. 

Overall, Dino Dana gets a gold star from me. It is a breath of fresh air amidst all the cliched princess and barbies series out there. Thank you Dana for not being a princess and for taking over our lives and house with your Dino experiments! We love you!

Mayil will not be quiet

Title: Mayil will not be quiet
Author: Niveditha Subramaniam and Sowmya Rajendran
Age: 10+
Publisher: Tulika Books

My father got this book from Chennai for D during his last visit. He knows my love for Tulika books (after I asked him to get almost all of their books when D was 2) and he has subscribed to their news letter. He keeps sending me their new book titles once in a while and asks me if I need any for D or A :) 

Mayil will not be quiet is an oh-so-lovely read. D and I read this book together. It is about Mayil, a spirited 12 year old girl who is full of opinions, stubborn at times, witty and will just not keep quiet. Her dad gave her a diary and asked her to practice writing to get her to keep quiet and since Mayil aspires to be a writer when she grows up. From the get go, I felt that Mayil was so similar to D, the questions she asks, the thoughts that run through her mind, her conversations with her friends and mother. Thanks to this book, I've already caught a glimpse of a "teenager-D"! Although the main story revolves around Mayil's day-to-day life, every other character was so well-etched. I loved her mother. The way she was protective of Mayil when she had to, but also giving her the space and time at other times to get Mayil to figure things out for herself. I can't count the number of times I've spoken to D when she talked about "being pretty and beautiful" about how its the inner beauty that matters. It was so heartwarming to see that being reinforced through this book when Mayil's mother tells her - "You look good if you feel good". Mayil's love-hate relationship with her brother, Thamarai - its classic. I could just see D and A when we read about Mayil and Thamarai. The book talks about a myriad of issues ranging from gender discrimination to sex education to adolescent crushes - All of these were introduced in a fantastic way and how they were dealt with was even better. I loved how this book was devoid of any gender stereotyping - Mayil packs a punch and Thamarai loves dolls! And the way gender stereotyping was questioned. Oh and such cute and creative names for a boy and a girl!

This was a great opportunity for me to talk to D about female body and hormonal changes and answer all her questions. We also talked a bit about transgender, sex education - although I did feel she couldn't fully grasp it. But, this was a wonderful way to introduce some of these things because the book made it all seem so normal, exactly the way it should be. It totally transported me back to my teen/pre-teen days and all the warm, fuzzy feelings that come right along with it! It will make a lovely gift!