With childhood obesity becoming a national focus due to First Lady Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, many families are beginning to think about ways to help their children understand the many issues at play with health eating and staying in shape. One of our most powerful assets as parents is to use books aimed that not only educate our kids but due so in a fun and humorous way. For childhood obesity, Fat Tale, by librarian and puppeteer Karen Land, is one of the best.

What sets this book apart from many others on the market is that it is written for kids, it is simple, and it focuses not only on eating but on empowerment. This book has a happy ending and shows kids how easy it is to not only create a problem due to food but turn it around by being honest about the issues that created the weight gain. And, that working as a team with your family is the way to get to that happy ending.

The tale doesn’t use heavy handed tactics or guilt but simple, old-fashioned story telling. The premise is very simple: two kids meet a frog and realize the frog has a fondness for junk food. By helping this cute frog, Gorf, satisfy his habit, the kids, too, get hooked on the sugary treats. Soon, all three of the story’s protagonists find themselves overweight with a number of serious issues. Gorf can’t fit on his lily pad and dive. If he can’t dive, he won’t be able to hibernate for the winter, which is soon, and could die. The kids are finding the can’t fit into their clothes and have no energy at all to do anything athletic like they used to. They all turn to the grownups in their lives and forge a plan to shed the weight and not gain it back.

The ending was the best part of the story for me because there was no promise of a quick fix, just the realization that the path they were all on was not working. While very simplistic in many ways, the book accomplishes so many goals. It clearly shows what happens when you eat and not move. It clearly shows what happens to others if you encourage them to eat unhealthy. And, it shows by contrast what others are doing to help them be in more shape.

The book is billed for preschool through third grade but I’d push it a bit higher. While simplistic for a 4th or 5th grade for kids battling with obesity, sometimes simple is better and this book accomplishes that. Kids in school settings make more and more of their food choices independent of their parents as they progress through the grades. The earlier they learn to balance the pressures of the snacks and treats and eat an overall balanced diet, the healthier they will be. What kids need to learn is it is not the occasional treat that is the problem but the all the time treats. This book demonstrates this nicely by contrasting what the kids were doing with the grownup in their life, Jim, who only has the occasional treat.

Finally, one of the best attributes of the story is it is not preachy and actually puts the onus on the kids for a change. Regardless of who is offering the food, we have to recognize that the bottom line is the kids are the ones make the choices of what to eat and when and that they do have the control. Fat Tale helps show kids that without making them feel lousy about themselves.

All in all,  this book is a great addition to the landscape of nutrition books for kids and parents. This is a short tale with a huge morale, and very timely for the many kids right now who want to get to a healthier place but just don’t know how. This book can truly provide some inspiration to your family, if you are one of the many who are struggling with an overweight child but are just not sure how to begin a difficult conversation.

The book is also very affordable:

$8.20  at Author House   www.authorhouse.com
$12.99 at www.barnesandnoble.com or  www.amazon.com

My Final 2cents:  

Marketed as a game of “totally silly nonsensical fun” can make one wonder if that is really possible with kids of all ages and often stressed out adults. After playing this game with my family, as well as visiting friends and family over the holidays, I can tell you for a fact it is possible!

FlapDoodle is the latest in fun family games fromWiggity Bang Games. The best part of this game is it’s ability to bring families together for the shire purpose of fun. And, more than that, it allows kids, young and old, to let their hair down and just be silly.

The premise is simple: do what’s on the card and move the number of spaces indicated. There are cute characters, too, which the younger kids love. Some cards cause you to stumble and a few cause you to catch up quickly but overall you mostly move forward. And, all the cards have something interesting and fun to do – like sit on your hands until your next turn or lie down and pretend to be a sleeping dog…who is snoring! (until your next turn).

We found ourselves laughing by the middle of the first round and by the end of the game our kids were setting it up for another round. How often does that happen?

The game can be found at many locations including Amazon.com for under $20.00.

My Final 2cents:  

With gas prices soaring, no doubt we’ll all be a bit more home this summer than anticipated. This can be very unfamiliar territory for your girls and figuring what to do with down time not at all a comfortable situation. Thankfully, there’s a great book out to help your girls recapture their imaginations: The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz.

When we were girls, we didn’t need books like this. Our childhoods were filled with free time and time to explore the universe of the outside world and the world inside our minds. Today’s kids are so preprogrammed, figuring out what to do with those unscheduled times can be daunting. They very much need this book to reclaim what we had – and what they need.

There is a lot of data supporting the need for free plan and down time. The fact that we need books to help our kids capture their imaginations  is a testament to where our society has gone from and gone to. Where health is concerned, there is a lot to be said for a book that gives our girls the skills they need to just move their bodies – their entire bodies. We don’t want them to focus on just one part the way youth sports programs do today. We want them to run, jump, climb trees, play hopscotch and all the good things we did as kids. We want them to play jacks and hone those fine motor skills and the thrill of the next game. And, realize it is ok to lose this one and win the next.

There is a lot to be said for a book that gets our girls reading, creating, dreaming and imaging. My 10 year old daughter has honestly not been able to put this book down since it arrived – I can’t recall the last time any book has inspired her that way.

Andi Buchanan, co-author of The Daring Book For Girls, said it best by email when she told me:

“ Our basic philosophy about these things is that we want girls to know that the world is a big place and that they have a place in it; and our “daring girls credo” is probably worth quoting: Enjoy yourself, explore new things, and lead an interesting life.”

My advice for this summer is to avoid preplanning every minute for your girls. Instead, get them this book, pour yourself an ice tea, and just sit near by and watch what unfolds! And, during the school year, use the book to help them refuel their souls after focusing in those long school days….

My Final 2cents:  

Another wonderful book by Dav Pilkey! True to form, Captain Underpants taps into the minds of kids and provides good, solid fun.  The series combines silly characters with adventure and, of course, potty humor.  Perhaps the best feature of  any of the Captain Underpants books is their ability to get our kids reading! Granted, the story line is light. But that is just what early readers need to become competent readers; and, what older readers need to relax and just have fun – no different than beach reading for us.

I found the editorial reviews on Amazon.com right on the mark. Here are some highlights:

From Flunky Pizza Chunks:

“This hilarious book will crack Pilkey fans up with tiny toilets of truth, evil gerbils, and even Cher’s greatest hits.”

From School Library Journal, Sharon McNeil, LA County Office of Education:

“With its bathroom humor, madcap pranks, gross adventures, mini-comic strips, and flip-book pages, this rollicking laugh-out-loud cartoon story is certain to be a hit, especially with reluctant readers.”

My Final 2cents:

I love this series – everything about it! Perfect for young readers to have fun and to entice reluctant readers to read!

Many children are lucky – they live with at least one of their natural parents. But, what if a child can’t live with mom or dad? What if circumstances dictate that a child must be removed from the home to live with relatives, friends or a foster parent? If you are having trouble creating a mental image or even coming up with the words, you need to read “Finding The Right Spot” by Janice Levy. It fills just the right spots of this challenging topic in just the right way for kids and adults.

This book tells a heart-felt, simple story of a little girl separated by her mom and now living with a foster mother, a woman she calls “Aunt Dane”. While “Finding the Right Spot” deals with a foster situation due to drug abuse, it could easily apply to any child separted from parents for any reason because the emotional issues are the same.

“Finding the Right Spot” fills a void in the child health literature for children and adults. The benefits of the book for adults caring for children caring for children separated from their parents are enormous by helping the caregivers see and understand the experience of the child better. And, for the child, they’ll feel less alone knowing their experience is not too different from those of other kids separated from their parents. That peer connection is very powerful for kids.

For me, the best part of “Finding the Right Spot” is to show how the love of a patient caregiver can help a child heal when wounded by the frailty of parents facing insurmountable hurdles in their own lives. If there ever was a calling card for why we need more support for social services, “Finding the Right Spot” is it. It takes a special person to be a “Aunt Dane”. This books gives a voice to those people and the many children they care for, regardless of reason.

My Final 2cents:  

When my youngest daughter was 9 and solidly a tween, I noticed very quickly her interests changed overnight to included everything from fashion concerns to friendship angst, and even boys with noticeable hormones churning at every corner. Like most 4th graders, her teacher gave out the Scholastic Book order form each month. One particular month, my daughter asked for this Girl’s Club thing – sounded innocent enough. I figured we’d get the first round then cancel.

Here’s what Scholastic says about the club:

From fashion tips…to makeup suggestions…to expert advice on parents, dating and more, the GIRLS’ LIFE CLUB encourages young women to be smart, well-informed, down with latest trends and up on today’s growing-up issues.

Through timely and exciting articles in Girls Life Magazine and insightful books that keep relationships strong, the GIRLS’ ONLY CLUB can help your daughter gain the self-confidence she needs to make good friends…and good choices.

As you can tell, I didn’t have high expectations. I figured it would be a one shot deal – we’d get the introductory pack and call it a day. Well, to my surprise, this is a solid and very age-appropriate “club”.  The books and magazine have been insighful and age-appropriate.And, it has kept a very social child reading! The topics have also been great conversation starters around the dinner table on friends, girl stuff, school issues.Worth a few more months at least!

How can you get it? You can order it from Scholastic at school or At Home.

The downside: it is a monthly thing – that can get annoying and costly.

The upside: great information, age appropriate, family bonding. Easy to cancel should up decide to opt out after a month or more.

My Final 2cents:

– just keep in mind it is a subscription thing!

Two of the toughest areas of life to explain to kids, especially young kids, are health and illness. Dr. Charlotte Cowan tackles this task with just the right touch of information and humor for kids and parents in her book, The Little Elephant with the Big Earache.

What I loved about the story was how realistic it was without being overwhelming – for parent or child. Dr. Cowan was able to capture the anxiety of both parent and child when an earache strikes and all the real life issues that accompany that situation but without freaking anyone out!

The medical information was presented simply and accurately – and with a very lovable and cute character, Dr. Hippo, who returns in Dr. Cowan’s other books covering common medical issues children face. Plus, seeing in print what your own pediatrician has been telling you is very reassuring. While there will be some variations, Dr. Hippo’s advice could have come from my lips or any of my colleauges.

Designed for ages 2-7, the book has great value for read-a-loud moments as well as early readers once they get to that stage. Older kids, tweens and teens, will enjoy reading this story to their younger siblings and relatives – and may even learn something new about ear infections. The parent guide that comes with the book is also perfect for older kids who want more information and includes some simple anatomic illustrations that go into more depth than the original story. For parents, this guide will really help pull the pieces together of what is happening beyond where the eye can see in their kids’ ears.

This book is the first of a series of similar books that tackle some of the common childhood health complaints we all face with our kids. It would make a great addition to any family’s book library – and in fact, likely should given how few books on the market for kids actually cover these topics in a way kids of so many ages can grasp.

As parents, we have to remember that illness happens to our kids and is beyond their control. Helping them understand illness when they are well, will make the situation far less daunting and overwhelming. Plus, books like this introduce kids to the concept that books have multiple purposes: education, fun, and family time. Not too often a book for young children accomplishes all those goals in one – and can be extended to the entire family!

You can learn more about Dr. Cowan, the Hippocratic Press and the philosophy behind her books at her website.

The game sells for $13.46 at
Amazon.com as well as most other national book distributors.

My Final 2cents:  

Disney/Pixar’s Up has been the rage of reviews since it opened. Looking fun and having a cool story, I decided to take my 6th grade daughter and her friend last weekend, and was joined by just about every other family in a 10 mile radius – the theater was packed with kids in age from young toddlers to older teens.

It’s not a surprising site these days to see young kids in a PG movie. Most animated movies these days are PG and most turn out ok. In this case, though, perhaps we all should have previewed the film before taking our kids – or perhaps the reviewers should have looked at the film more realistically from the eyes of kids under 13 instead of through their very adult lenses.

We all entered that theater expecting the terrific animated adventure we had read about in reviews. We were all aware that the start of the film included a quick image of the passing of main character’s wife – but then expected the mood to lighten. It never did. Not a single person left that film with a happy look.

The movie was, indeed, a cinematic masterpiece in many, many ways. However, it was just too emotionally charged well beyond the opening montage with action that was far more intense for small children than any review had described. Ed Asner’s character, Carl, was so clearly in love with his late wife, Elle, that you could feel his grief throughout the movie. That theme was palpable until the very, very end – so much so that I had a few moments where I felt choked up. Looking over at my daughter and her friend during those times, they, too, had tears in their eyes.

Part of the issue, by the way, was the melancholy music which, other than the adventure moments, was incredibly pervasive. The other part of the issue was the bad guy – the adventurer we met in the opening scene when Carl was a small boy. He turns just plain creepy and evil – Indiana Jones nemesis evil, but animated.

Having now seen the movie, the issue is that the reviews all looked at the movie for it’s Oscar-worthiness and not for it’s kid-appropriateness. For example, Atopic Popcorn wrote: “Pixar has crafted a film that is their finest to date and so far, is the best film of the year.” No where in that review does it dissect the emotion of the flick or whether this really is a movie meant for kids under 13 at all.

However, another review from the Telegraph gives us a more realistic assessment of Up by noting that this is the first animated film to ever open at the Cannes. That alone is telling and an indicator of the overall emotional temperature of the film. The review goes on to say: “The film, in its aerial beauty and its melancholic undertow, recalls Albert Lamorrise’s The Red Balloon and Hiyao Miyzaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle. No recent animated picture has been quite so suffused with an awareness of human mortality.”

There you have it: “melancholic undertow” and “human mortality”. The only part this review left out is that those 2 themes were every present and quite intense.

So, who is Up meant for? Adults for sure, teens if they know what they are in for, and mature tweens. Keep in mind this is PG…and really should be PG-13 given the thematic content.

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