May 14th, 2009

Books My Daughter Loves: “I’ll Always Love You”

March 26th, 2009

Product Review: The Perfect Baby Handbook by Dan Hrabi

I wish that I had a copy of “The Per­fect Baby Hand­book: A Guide for Exces­sively Moti­vated Par­ents” when I was on bed rest dur­ing my preg­nancy back in 2005. Dale Hrabi has a unique and hilar­i­ous way of instruct­ing expec­tant par­ents on the proper way to raise a per­fect child.

“The Per­fect Baby Hand­book: A Guide for Exces­sively Moti­vated Par­ents”. fol­lows the same for­mat as that of the overly-popular “What to Expect When Expect­ing” book given to every expec­tant mom. How­ever, The Per­fect Baby is not filled with the mun­dane psy­chob­a­b­ble from highly-decorated aca­d­e­mics. Nope, the advice writ­ten here comes from a “flawed adult” who, unfor­tu­nately, “began life as an eerily non-verbal baby.”

Take the first chap­ter of the book in which Hrabi dis­cusses how to choose the per­fect name for your per­fect child. He answers the age old ques­tion, “Are vow­els really nec­es­sary,” and even helps a cou­ple decided what mid­dle name works best with the first name, “Almighty” for a girl.

Chap­ter 4 offers par­ents an amaz­ing and accu­rate list of the best “gear” for mir­a­cle chil­dren. Hrabi ques­tions what Picasso might have accom­plished had his par­ents neglected him and not pro­vided him with even the basic tools on the list. Even Dr. Seuss’ fail­ure to achieve Sur­geon sta­tus may be attrib­uted to his par­ents’ lack of atten­tion to detail. He would have ben­e­fited from the pimped-out stroller, the Bar-Hop baby Bouncer, and the New­born Hair Scrunchy. I believe that because these items were with­held, Dr. Seuss was left to live out his years speak­ing in rhyme and forg­ing friend­ships with lit­tle whoosits and whatsits.

Just as funny as the wit­ting is the real-to-life sketch­ing that illus­trates the book. They serve as visual excla­ma­tion points for very impor­tant infor­ma­tion. Take a look at the Book Trailer posted on YouTube.

I am almost tempted to scan every page of the book that I found use­ful and while I will not, I do urge you to buy The Per­fect Baby Hand­book: A Guide for Exces­sively Moti­vated Par­ents for your­self and for every parent/grandparent and expec­tants that you know.

Few books solve life’s mys­ter­ies and ensure suc­cess while keep­ing the info light, real­is­tic, and inter­est­ing all at the same time. This book gets the “Mom on the Rise” seal of approval. I may have to get preg­nant again just to test Hrabi’s theory.

http://​www​.per​fect​baby​hand​book​.com/.

August 22nd, 2008

Product Review: Lilly P Badilly and My Daughter go to Cost Rico

The Adven­tures of Lilly P Badilly: Costa Rica by Deb­bie Glade

When I received my copy of the new children’s book The Adven­tures of Lilly P Badilly: Cost Rica, by Deb­bie Glade, the first thing that caught my eye was the vivid col­ors. The cover of the book invites its reader to indulge in rich land­scapes and an even richer imag­i­na­tion. I was amazed because while the old adage, “never judge a book by its cover” holds true, as an Eng­lish Teacher I under­stand the impor­tance of mak­ing read­ing an activ­ity in which chil­dren want to engage.

My daugh­ter thought the cover was amaz­ing as well. She grabbed the book from me and screamed, “Mommy, WEAD. WEAD.” and when “She Who Has Spo­ken” speaks, we lis­ten. Before I could begin read­ing, she was entranced by the pic­tures. I have never been to Cost Rica, but if the paint­ings in the book are any indi­ca­tion of the scenery, I am miss­ing out on a BEAUTIFUL place. We pointed out pic­tures of trees and the inhab­i­tants of the rain­for­est. And, we even prac­ticed our col­ors. And then we read. The book is rather long, but it is not meant for chil­dren younger than four years of age. My daugh­ter was able to sit through a lit­tle less than half of the story.

And what a story it is. Lilly, a pre­co­cious mil­li­pede, along with her grand­mother and grand­fa­ther, embark on a very unpre­dictable adven­ture to Costa Rica. The story is filled with dan­ger, and learn­ing, and expe­ri­ences that can only be enjoyed through the eyes of a very small..er, millipede.

Bet­ter yet, pop in the CD and lis­ten as the story comes to life through the voice tal­ents of the book’s author.  Deb­bie Glade does a very unique job of por­tray­ing each character’s unique per­son­al­ity on the CD. And she had help. Her daugh­ter, who is 15, helped write the lyrics and music, and her hus­band even pitched in with the songs as well. It is a fam­ily book writ­ten by a very lov­ing family.

This book is a breathe of fresh air and will pro­vide your child with many hours of enter­tain­ment. So, go get one and surpise your lit­tle one with this amaz­ing gift.