Mar. 23, 2015 "Dogs make the best teachers"...Today is National Puppy Day, time to give a big "paws up" to our friends at A Puppy's New Home, creating respect, social emotional learning, and diversity lessons embedded in this new book series preparing families in a 'what to know before you go' mindset on adopting animals into your home. Excellent message for this day, and … [Read more...]
Sept. 1, 2014 I admit, my first reaction to The Guardian Princesses was wince-worthy...“Oh please, NOT more freakin’ princesses!”Followed by, “Here we go with the chocolate covered broccoli bit embedding a stealth health “better for you” media message into the junk food genre of princess pablum.” Finally, I settled into a more measured,“Well, if they're upending kid lit to … [Read more...]
Update: June 26, 2015It's official. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 5 to 4 in favor of marriage equality (see Justice Kennedy's closing paragraph summation which poignantly concludes, "it is so ordered.") Here's hoping this "kidlit" gets revisited with fresh eyes and an empathetic lens to see how profoundly meaningful this is for children whose families have been denied this … [Read more...]
Nov. 29, 2012 Kuala Lumpur’s famous Petronas twin towers will now always look like ‘stacking cups’ to me, the Guggenheim Museum in New York upside down stacking rings, and Tokyo’s Yoyogi National Stadium a cozy fort “blankets flung, stretched chair to chair”…As I close the picture book “Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building,” brought to life by author and illustrator Christy … [Read more...]
May 8, 2012 Happy Children's Book Week all! (May 7-13 2012) No secret I prefer media that has a social enterprise tie-in or a deeper message than the vapid values of commercialism circulating in the mainstream, so was thrilled to see this Surfrider Foundation "protect the oceans" message wrapped in a girls empowerment, active how-to book for kids, called My Mommy Taught Me … [Read more...]
     |
 | ShapingYouth is offered under a Creative Commons “Attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives” license. (Details) |