Jazz ABZ is a classic book of poetry for children of all races and ages. It was written by Wynton Marasalis. His idea was that for each letter in the alphabet, he would take a legendary jazz musician and writes a poem about them. The poems he writes tell about the life and character of the musician, their music using their key letter lots. Also, there Marsalis chooses a different kind of poem for each musician, according to what poem’s structure will best mirror that musician’s style of jazz. The illustrations (by Paul Rogers) also helps to give students and children a feel for the way jazz is heard, (the musicality of words) and it helps introduce children to a new kind of music through a medium they’re already familiar with — a picture book.

It’s a multilayered concept, so probably the best way to explain it is to give an example. Here is a lyrical poem that Wynton Marsalis wrote for Billie Holiday (whose nickname was Lady Day) using the Letter L:

Lazy, listless, languishing longly

laying low and all alone.

Losing at love and living.  I’m

lost in life….Lost and left alone.

Last-ditch lyrics idle on a low frequency, liminal song.

It’s a Lady.

Lady Bountiful leading the lilting lullaby,

Lady of the Lake with letter-perfect delivery,

Ladies Luna and Sol, luminous as the day is long,

It’s Lady Day.

She lavishes loving-kindness on a lonely lament.

Languid becomes luscious; lackluster, luxuriant.

Limp becomes lively; a little — a lot.  And

laughter lifts longing

all because a relentless lady loosed liquid life

on lines of mulish melody and lugubrious language

to deliver me from lasting lovelessness.

Should I laud my lady with gold leaf clusters?

With a lavaliere of lapis lazuli

or lotus and lilac poems?

Well, let me applaud Lady Day in song:

Always will I love you and love to always love you.

I think Jazz ABZ is a classic book, one that will enrich the library of any adult or child, and one that has definitely helped my digital kids to get in touch with a different kind of music to what they’re used to.

[Images: mocada.org; Text quoted from Jazz ABZ by Wynton Marsalis]

[FTC: This review is based  on my personal experience and I have not been paid by any publishing company to endorse it]

Rainbowsauce.com may not be a site that appeals to everyone, but it certainly appealed to me and my kids. It’s a site that sells lots of different things, particularly alternative books for kids. I never even knew such types of products existed. But I’m so happy I know now.

The section of the site that I love, is the childrens books. Each book is available to purchase online in the UK, Austraila and the US, and ususally shipped within the next working day. There are synopses and reviews for each book so the buyer has a clear idea of what they’re getting. The books mainly contain child characters or loveable animals from alternative families.

I think this site is important and a great resource for all children. In the case when a child is from a “traditional” family, these books can teach tolerance, acceptance and awareness of the various types of family structures that exist. For children in alternative families, this book can help them realise that their family is not so bizarre. I imagine it must be difficult for a child with no father and two mothers to constantly to read about all sorts of families except their own.

So the next time you want to buy a book for your kid choose something a bit different, open their eyes a bit and forget Amazon. Choose rainbowsauce.com

Image: gwynethleech.com

There is so much media attention given the issue of healthy diets for kids that sometimes it’s hard to know where to get helpful, relevant, straightforward information. Like most mothers, I have picky kids. My daughter will eat just about anything. She’s a chef’s dream. But my 5 yr old son is so difficult sometimes! He refuses to eat a meal unless its covered in gravy or floating in it.

Not only does this make life difficult (especially when we’re dinning out), but I have lost some of my cooking talent because I am forced to make the same thing over and over again. I went online to try and find some kind of resource that could help me. I found loads of websites with the inevitable “amazing, tasty yet healthy recipes,” but only one of these not only provides this but also offers a solution to the eating habits of picky children. The site suggests ways a parent in introduce creativity into the kitchen and involve the children directly. It helps children to understand about food, cooking and nutrition.  The site is called kidsandcooking.co.uk.

Yesterday I cooked a jacket potato with red peppers and cheese. I cut the potato in half and stuck the cheese on a cocktail stick so it looked like a boat. The red peppers looked like waves around the potato. My son loved it and now he thinks of different ways to present food and is always involved in the cooking process in the evening.

Sometimes kids are not picky eaters, they just get comfortable with what they know.  I recommend this site for every parent. Who knows? You might raise the next Jamie Oliver.

Image: yesnet.yk

image: dashinfashion.com

I’m probably not like other Mums. I hate shopping, but when I have to do it, I don’t like bringing the kids. I much prefer to browse at my own ease. Shopping is stressful enough without having to worry about whether my 5yr old son is attempting to drink perfume, or my 8yr daughter has decided to hide amongst the vegetables in the supermarket. So I choose to do get all my shopping done while they’re at school/nursery.

But one problem I have always had is, what do I do when I actually shopping for my children. Surely, I have to bring them along if I’m going to buy them  new clothes. Luckily I have found a fantastic kids clothes website that has just about every type of style for children for almost any budget. It’s called Dashinfashion.com, and it helps you to find all the latest styles, trends and fashion for your children at a very reasonable price. Boys, girls, couture, budget, large, thin, tall, small… you name your specification, and you’ll find a design for your child.

If you don’t like the clothes when they arrive, you can return them within a week. Simply take your child’s measurements yourself and browse at your leisure while they’re fast asleep! It’s exactly how I love shopping.  Check it out for yourself.

I have found a fantastic website that almost every parent will find useful. Its called supernanny.co.uk.

Based on the popular television show, supernanny.co.uk contains loads of resources to help parents deal with difficult family situations. Aiming specifically at parents seeking advise about their children, the site is clearly laid out, with the title of each helpful article appearing in the homepage.  The site is a few years old but is constantly being updated with new information and handy hints and tips for British parents.

I found the site useful for a variety reasons. Firstly, it covers a wide range of different parenting issues, such as team work between both parents, education, discipline, and health and fitness. I found the section on excerise very useful. There is an article that suggests 15 ideas on how you and your child can excerise together. The article taught me how important it is to encourage children to excerise. Obviously, good health is important, but excerise can help a child sleep better and focus the mind. It can also eliminate some behavioural problems that stimulate from an overactive mind. This is a particular problem I was having with my youngest son. He was frustrated and mentally over active, which led him to lash out at times. Luckily with regular organised excerise, this seems to have stopped.

I would strongly recommend this site. Yes, its an excellent site if you need advice, or you are experiencing difficulties with your child. But even if you’re not, it’s still useful. There’s always room for improvement and almost all the articles are written from parents who have had similar problems, so the information is relevant and not overly authoritative.

Image: realitytvmagazines.

Whilst browsing the internet the other night, I stumbled upon a great children’s website and a great resource for parents and teachers alike. I have young children who, like most youngsters, are amazed with my computer and are constantly trying to get on it. But monitoring the content they are watching can sometimes be so time consumi-ng, it’s almost impratical. Enter www.ecomiki4kids.com, the answer to my prayers!

To sum up, this website is fab. It’s colourful, interactive and very educational. The aim of the site is to promote enviromental awareness to children using fun characters and games. The site is completely free from third party advertisments. It even has a teachers corner and a parents corner to inform adults on exactly what the site aims to promote, how to use the features, and put your concerns to rest.

It requires a flash driver to work properly, but this can be downloaded for free. The site will educate your child on the enviroment, everything from daily conservation in the household to climate change and even the Polar Ice Caps and the Rainforest.  As the user journeys through the website, they collect coins according to how much information they have learnt. They can then spend the coins on customising their characters.

The site is very creative, colourful and screams fun. It will instantly grab your child’s attention.  It’s also extremely user friendly for both adults and children. Thank you Ecomiki4kids, your site has proved an instant hit with my children.

Image: ecomiki4kids.

Prongo

Like all parents, I am naturally cautious when I allow my children to surf the Net. I am scared to let them wander the REAL world let alone the Cyber one! But instead of saying “No” to Internet usage completely, I decided to explore the Web for suitable sites I could potentially introduce to my children.

As a result, I came across Prongo.com. This interactive site offers children with features which are ‘Fun, Positive and Safe’. It also allows kids to access educational games from which they can actually learn something.
Prongo is user friendly and offers games on topics like Mathematics, The Stock Market, Memory games (for brain stimulation) and there is also a ‘Wise Wizard’ who answers any appropriate questions the children might have (without setting them loose on search engines like Google). There are also Brain Teasers which quiz the children on areas such as; Human Body, Outer Space, Inventors, Dinosaurs and The Earth.

Whilst Prongo is great for educational purposes, it also offers extras such as childish jokes posted by other kids and contains links to other child-friendly sites!

Overall,  Prongo is a great site to occupy the kids with in the evening, once they have completed their homework and finished their dinner of course (vegetables too!).

The ‘Online Resources’ in the children’s section of the website is amazing; it’s a colourful, interactive site that looks fun and appeals to kids of all ages.

All the fun TV shows that kids are familar with can be found here as well the latest music, celeb interviews and games. There is something fun for everyone, no matter what your child is interested in.

But thats not all. The best thing about this site, and the main reason I love it, lies ins its educational value. Kids can learn all sorts of things — from how to be environmentally aware to cooking skills. It even has a kids’ version of the news for kids who are bit older and interested in the world around them.

I strongly recommend this site and encourage parents to check it out!

1. BookSpot.com: This online resource is divided into categories, such as African American, Native American and Asian American. You can read book reviews, find book lists, and even find books in their entirety online.

2. Kidlink.org: This  website is a great free resource from a nonprofit organization. It’s got artwork, photos, music, chat and books for children below secondary school age. You can interface in 19 separate languages, learn about all the countries in the world, and participate in games and activities with children from around the world.

3.The Willesden Bookshop: If you want to directly order books about a foriegn country or books that are in a foriegn language, you can choose from popular regions such as Poland & Eastern Europe and the Carribbean.  You can select books based upon the age of your child, or you can choose from themes of books like refugee stories and festivals & celebrations.  You can also visit the bookstore directly if you happen to live in London.

For additional resources, such as books for children fluent in more than one language, check your local library.

Good Luck!

The first things I want to talk about is safety on the Internet. I know I’ve been encouraging children’s interaction with software and websites recently, and I stand by this choice. I want my kids to understand and be able to navigate the Internet because it’s powerful and an incredible way to get information and communicate.

But what about privacy? I was reading The Telegraph today, and there was an article about parents’ views on compulsory education in schools about internet privacy. Louis Halpern, a social medi expert basically said that this kind of education is important because kids are very eager to use online social media, but they don’t have the caution and street smarts of adults to know the right ways to use the technology.

I googled Louis Halpern, and he’s got a blog. In one of his blog posts, he talks about how to use sites like Facebook if you have high profile parents. Now, I’m not a millionnare or a celebrity, but I do want to keep my kids safe. As any adult can tell you, you don’t have to be famous to become a target. Mr. Halpern recommends that we utilise privacy settings, only confirm actual friends that we know well in real life, and think hard about what picutre is provided for the world to see.

It’s inevitable that your kids will start to use social media tools but with your help, they can use them the right way.