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Can’t Catch a Butterfly

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Look under a bush and high in the sky but you can’t catch all of the butterflies in the world–but along your adventure, you may just find something even more important.

Can’t Catch a Butterfly is a sweet book, illustrated in the style of children’s crayon drawings. I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Zimmerman, author and publisher of Rainbow Star Books, at a local wildlife center fair. As a speech-language pathologist, Zimmerman has written a book filled with love and help for pre-readers and children with special needs…

Charming and Kooky: Two New Children’s Books from Neil Gaiman

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The best children’s books stick in your head long past your childhood–and if you first encounter them as an adult, reading the stories to your own children, the tales transport you back to that time of childlike wonder and whimsy.

Although many of Neil Gaiman’s first children’s books (The Graveyard Book and Coraline) are macabre chapter books and better suited for school-aged children, Blueberry Girl and Crazy Hair are perfectly kooky reads for preschoolers.

Teaching Preschoolers About Money

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Learning to recognize different coins and understanding their value is an essential part of the preschool and the kindergarten curriculum.

Parents can use coins to introduce math concepts like sorting and counting. You can help your child learn to identify coins and their value while teaching them to save money using Coin County: A Bank in a Book, an award-winning book by Innovative Kids.

Little Chefs Cook Chinese

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If your child is a picky eater, try preparing meals together. If your child feels some ownership over a meal, he’s more likely to eat it. Start by picking an easy-to-make recipe or by using a children’s cookbook.

I received a review sample of the Handstand Kids Chinese Cookbook, the newest book in their cookbook series for children ages 3 to 12. The Handstand Kids Cookbook series introduces children to the language and cuisine of other cultures through fun, easy-t0-make recipes. Ingredients and utensils are listed in both English and Mandarin.

Sweet Dreams

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Bedtime can be quality time rather than battle time. By establishing a consistent routine, you can make bedtime more enjoyable for the whole family.

Haydenburri Lane’s Bedtime Safari products were designed in conjunction with child development specialists to help children learn the necessary skills and activities needed to get ready for bed.

Haydenburri Lane provides advice to parents on how to establish a positive bedtime routine and why routines are important. (Click here to read their Parents’ Guide.) And they offer a series of board books for preschoolers that make learning routines fun. There are five main characters- Bubbles the Hippo, P.J. the Bear, Chomper the Crocodile, Paige the elephant, and Rory the tiger. Each character stars in a board book and teaches a different skill.

Momma Loves Her Little Son Book Review

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Momma Loves Her Little Son, a new book by the son of June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash, has won a place in my heart and on my bookshelf. John Carter Cash explains that the book is based on his own relationship with his mother who frequently told him that “Momma loves her little son.”

Scat Like That!

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For kids, scatting is a natural creative outlet–made-up words with a bouncy rhythm? Sure! Two books provide children a great entry into this surprisingly sophisticated jazz form: When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat ($11.50) is moving, grooving story about a little girl who dances to jazz with her mother before going to bed with her […]

Wabi Sabi: Finding Grace in the Ordinary

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Children already appreciate the simple beauty of the ordinary, so Wabi Sabi will just feel right. Beautifully illustrated with collages of torn paper, found objects, and natural materials, Wabi Sabi follows the eponymous kitty on a journey to find the meaning of his name. Along the way he discovers that wabi sabi is “hard to […]

The opinions expressed on Mamanista.com are based on a single consumer user testing, and are solely those of the author. Any factual claims, including but not limited to safety testing, are based on information from the manufacturer. Mamanista.com receives sample products for testing. Paid placements, such as announcements of sales or sponsored contests are clearly marked. See our disclosure policy.