I'm nearly finished reading Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls to my kids at bedtime, and they've become so fascinated by these biographies that I've been trying to find even more more for them to read when we're done. So when I received …
Wow, journals have come a long way since I was a kid and I had a choice between a plain lined composition book or some cutesy diary with an easily pickable lock. Now, journals are so creative, with so many different kinds of approaches a…
Holocaust books for kids? Absolutely. Without a doubt. There's no room for "but we have to keep our kids innocent!" -- this is important. This week was Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, and we were all shocked to see…
As we're busy sharing all the traditionally cute bunny books and gifts for kids' Easter baskets , here comes one that...well, it's a long way off the beaten path of your typical bunny book. Presenting: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo ,…
I desperately need handwriting help for kids in my home, and so I've been working so hard to find resources, printables, and other tricks to help make handwriting practice more fun (hopefully? maybe?) for them. My requirements: They have…
Today marks the beginning of Holi, the Indian festival of color, love and springtime. You know, the one with the bright, colorful powder that's tossed in celebration of good triumphing over evil, fertility and love. (Concepts we can tota…
The Rabbit Listened , by Cori Doerrfeld, is hands down, my favorite kids' book that's come across my desk lately. It's a simple story about how to respond with compassion when you see someone suffering and it couldn't come along at a bet…
We're all huge fans of RJ Palacio's Wonder and the 2017 Wonder movie that the book inspired. Fans as in, we all sobbed into our popcorn bowls and loved every minute. So I was psyched to discover these free printable Wonder-themed activit…
This is a sponsored message from Candlewick Press It's here, it's here! Splish, Splash, Ducky has hit the stands, ready to mesmerize your little ones with interactive prose and friendly drawings from New York Times best-selling author Lu…
If you happen to be anticipating a new baby this year -- whether your own or a friend's -- you're in luck. Because February 16 marks the of Chinese New Year and the official start of the Year of the Dog, which means you can celebrate bab…
It's Black History Month and hopefully you and your children are spending time learning and celebrating our nation's Black inventors and innovators , activists and leaders . There are just so many wonderful children's books about African…
Today is World Read Aloud Day (or for those of us on social media, #WorldReadAloudDay) and there are so many great ways to celebrate with your kids. And not just today, either! When you consider how essential a love of reading is to a ch…
As avid advocates of diverse books of all kinds, but especially diverse children's books, we work hard to share carefully curated lists of children's books. Our amazing writers have shared impressive lists of wonderful books about divers…
Each year, Black History Month is a wonderful time for Americans to celebrate the historical achievements and contributions of Black people in this country. But I dream of a time that these achievements will be given equal representation…
As a strong proponent of bookshelves filled with diverse books -- in our libraries, our schools, and certainly at home -- I've become much more aware of not seeking out books featuring heroes of color, but ensuring that a diverse group o…
It's become devastatingly clear that not everyone recognizes Haiti as the naturally beautiful, culturally rich, nation that it is. Not to mention a resilient one, as we commemorate the 8-year anniversary today of the massive Port-au-Prin…
This is my favorite recurring post every year on Cool Mom Picks, in which we collect all the best children's books of 2017 lists from all over the internet -- from big publications like the New York Times to our favorite indie bloggers w…
The truth is, we want to give a shout out to the many wonderful children's authors this year who dedicated their energies to supporting, uplifting, and empowering girls -- and to those publishers who gave them the opportunity. But the on…
Since the introduction to Harry Potter 20 years ago (wha-aa?) I can't think of a children's book that's resonated with so many kids and adults as RJ Palacio's Wonder . It's made my own daughters' lists of Favorite Books Ever, and they ad…
If you've followed us for any length of time, you know that we're big fans of children's books that reflect real-life diversity . The percentage of books that deliver on this is getting better, but still not nearly high enough. But we've…
Our local bookstore has a kids' section that's a swath of red and green right now. But books like Clifford's Christmas or It's a SpongeBob Christmas are not my first choices. (You guys, I totally just made up those titles in my head, sea…
Over the last few months I've received a stack of advance review novels that's now literally taller than I am. But from the pile of books, three great middle-grade novels in particular have caught my attention. Each explores themes of ju…
I'm not going to pull punches here; like a lot of parents, I'm concerned about so many American kids growing up in an age where the normalization of a lot of really awful stuff -- hatred, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, mass shootings -- …
Let's be honest, middle school sucks in more ways than we can count. Which is probably why so many of us relate to the plight of outsider-turned-insider-turned-outsider-again heroines like Cady Haron of Mean Girls , Heathers ' Veronica S…