Reach and Teach Kids in Fun, Fresh Ways: Ten Under $10

Dec. 20, 2009 In my last post I went for ‘free media finds that are priceless year-round,’ today I’ll nudge it up a notch to prove you can gift meaning and mindfulness without spending a fortune (not even a Hamilton!) I attended the Peace and Social Justice crafts fair and barely made it past the Reach and Teach table and Free the Children’s Me to We booth finding tidbits to … [Read more...]

Meaningful Manga: Graphic Novels and Growth

Update: May 21, 2014 Our friends at Reach and Teach have added another clever manga style illustrated book called "A is for Action" which merits an update! I love the seeding of social change in a fun fresh manner. The A is for Action book and HelpTakeAction.com website are a result of a teacher-initiated action research project published in the IB Journal of Teaching Practice: … [Read more...]

Dora The Explorer: Discover the World, Not the Mall

Feb. 26, 2009 Oh fer cripes sakes. Say it ain’t so. Is Dora the Explorer getting a makeover and turning tween TOO?! Leave her alone! This "age-compression" bit is putting a new dent in my TMJ-clenched jaw as we once again see marketers "vy for the buy" with zero regard for the integrity of the message being delivered. Just LOOK at the cues being sent to ‘tween girls’ as … [Read more...]

Manga Makeovers and Other Body Image Cartoon Capers (Part 2)

It’s devil’s advocate day here, as I try to flush out my bias and take a centrist point of view on the cartoon character facelift conundrum, exploring ‘then and now’ from a sociological perspective, with a bit more analysis from yesterday's post on my own marketing background in terms of branding overhauls. After all, Pooh Bear got a makeover. So did Mickey. Popeye. Charlie … [Read more...]

Facelifts for Kiddie Characters: Rebranding ’80s Icons?

Last week’s New York Times article on 21st century ‘facelifts’ for kiddie characters gave me the willies on a variety of fronts, despite the fact that I’ve personally ‘freshened’ many a brand in my time. From Peanuts to Barbie, I 'get' that mega-brands need to stay au courant... I’ve admittedly had a hard time tapping into specific analysis of what’s irking me most about … [Read more...]