Monique was here visiting from France for the past two weeks and we worked on creating Spanish and French versions of our books and apps. (They should be available soon.) Here’s a link to our current books and apps.

Our friends at DIA asked us to post this message about their program… The Día! Diversity in Action 2013 Celebration is only a month away, have you registered your library or school’s program yet?  Register your Día Celebration in the 2013 Día National Program Registry to build a national database that showcases all types and sizes...

It’s so nice to give homemade gifts! This year I decided to make homemade vanilla extract to give to my friends and family.  It’s easy!  Here’s the recipe… Recipe for Homemade Vanilla Ingredients: 2 to 2 1/2 Vanilla Beans (I used organic vanilla beans) 1/2 cup Vodka (or Brandy) 1. Slice the vanilla bean pods down the side leaving about...

Check out a list of 100 Best Chapter Books for Kids at Children’s Book Guide.  I see many of my family’s favorites there, such as: The Phantom Tollbooth The Graveyard Book From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler The Hobbit Happy Reading! Mama Lisa

It can be difficult to roll your R’s when speaking in Spanish.  This video gives some great tips to get those R’s a-rolling! Enjoy! Mama Lisa

Open Culture has a page of free language learning links covering 40 languages. Here are some of the languages you can find links for… Arabic, English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, Gaelic, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Maori, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Swahili,...

Edit’ Dupont is a talented artist as well as a lovely singer!  She has sung over 100 French songs for us.  You can hear them on our French Song Pages. When Edit’ is creating art she likes to work with paint on paper.  She wrote: "Paper expresses strength, fragility, softness, transparency…  It readily transforms itself, welcomes color...

Emperor Cuckoo is a new site about human interest stories in China.  Articles from mainland Chinese-language newspapers are posted on this blog in Chinese with English translations. You can read stories about ordinary Chinese people who speak about their traditions, values, interests and beliefs. The latest post The Storyteller is about a 92 year old lady...

I love this photo that Valerie Mellema took of La Pedrera in Barcelona, Spain.  She used Photoshop and a different picture of a log to make the texture in the sky.  It looks like a fantastical place in a kids book.  It could be fun to show this pic to a child and have them...

My 10 year old daughter loves the image editing site called PiZap.  Here’s what she wrote about it. PiZap is a fun website for kids if they want to edit or add things to pictures. You don’t even have to use pictures! You can use the backgrounds that it gives you. There are so many to...

In our house, The Phantom Tollbooth is one of our favorite children’s novels.  Now you can watch a short YouTube video featuring the author (Norton Juster) and the illustrator (Jules Feiffer) of The Phantom Tollbooth.  It’s 50 years since they created it.  In October, The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth will come out.  You’ll be able to...

The Secret Mountain publishes a great line of books and music for kids, many with an international focus. They were kind enough to share this catchy, funny song performed by Trout Fishing In America. This is just one of the fun songs on the musical story book Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important. I wish I could get 16...

Sara Quintanar was kind enough to share with us a Spanish song she wrote and sang with some of her students.  It’s called Mamá te quiero mucho (I Love You Mommy). This is a wonderful song for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day or really any day at all.  What mother wouldn’t love to hear their children singing...

Check out Paper Tigers – a site that "seeks to highlight the richness of the children’s book world both in the region and globally, and to be a useful resource for librarians, teachers, parents, and publishers." While visiting Paper Tigers, make sure to check out their Illustrators’ Gallery, Book Reviews and Blog. Enjoy! Mama Lisa

American children’s folk singer Ella Jenkins released a new cd earlier this year.  It’s called A Life of Song. Ella’s music is a lovely way to introduce kids to American folk songs and spirituals.  She actually sings some of the songs with children on this cd. The cd starts out with Pick a Bale of Cotton. ...

Dragons Under My Bed is New Zealand singer and songwriter Kath Bee’s first cd.  Kids will love her friendly style of singing.  Kath’s New Zealand accent is charming.  Her rhythms are upbeat and the lyrics clear and understandable (a must for kids).  The lyrics and themes are fun too… dragons (of course!), animals at the...

The other day my son got an email from himself from the past.  He had sent it over five years ago using a service called futureme.org. What a great idea!  It’s fun in and of itself.  Yet, you can also use it short term to remind yourself of stuff… are you still following your diet a...

I get a lot of inspiration for cooking from Mark Bittman.  He’s created recipes for the NY Times for years. Bittman encourages creative cooking with a minimal list of ingredients.  He puts in dollops and dashes and doesn’t agonize about every painstakingly measured item.  Because he doesn’t seem to measure!  That’s how our grandmas cooked. I...

A lot of people are still having a tough time financially.  Even if you’re not, who can’t use ways to spend less money for Christmas, but still give nice, fun gifts?   One great idea is to trade in old electronic games and equipment to GameStop for credit towards new toys.  You won’t get the...

Sometimes it’s hard to come up with gift ideas.  If the person you’re shopping for loves to cook, here are some simple suggestions.  These are items I love to have in my kitchen.  You can give them for the holidays, for a housewarming, a wedding shower or even a birthday.  There’s a range of items...