Everyone tells you to raise a reader. Read to them when they are babies, read them stories every night, model reading behavior. A great, or even good dad, will devote hours in slavish devotion to this idea. Well, here's one dad who will tell you what the evil publishing scientists and lobbyists won't: reading isn't fundamental; it's fundamentally mental. Teach your child to … [Read more...] about Why you should NOT raise a reader
Books
Mini-Review – Pocket Doodles for Kids – a good book for a plane ride
Pocket Doodles for Kids is a fun book for kids who like to draw. When my daughter first saw this book at nine, though she fancied herself a budding an artist, it was hard for her to know what to do. At almost 10 though, she had a a lot of fun with it. The principle of the book is simple. It's a lot of half-finished drawings that give just enough detail that a young artist can … [Read more...] about Mini-Review – Pocket Doodles for Kids – a good book for a plane ride
2009 Dads in Movies Contest – first in a series – Winners get 5 books!
Okay, it's on! We promised we'd put together a contest with a movie theme in time to give away a lot of stuff before and during Academy Awards season. We need nominations for the best dad movies in 2009. That means best for dads and best with dads. We'll be doing more contests with this theme, including an eventual vote on visitor favorites, but to kick it off, here is a cool … [Read more...] about 2009 Dads in Movies Contest – first in a series – Winners get 5 books!
How evolved are you? New book for kids tells all!
The Giant Timeline is a new book out by a new publisher, Charlie's Playhouse, which makes books and toys to teach kids about evolution and natural selection. The Giant Timeline is an 18 foot long unfolding book that takes the reader through the past 600 million years of history of life on this planet. The book is big, big, big, like its subject matter, but makes the story … [Read more...] about How evolved are you? New book for kids tells all!
“Daddy, you don’t read books…”
My son was hunting around for a bookmark and asked me if I had one. I replied in the negative and he said, "Oh yeah. You don't read books." Wow, that hurt. I was a French major in college and have an MA in French literature. I once felt as bookish as my nine year old does today, but my book-reading habits have fallen off. Now, I plow around the internet and read a lot of … [Read more...] about “Daddy, you don’t read books…”