'Do You Want to Play with my Balls?' Crude kids' books for Literacy Month?

September, National Literacy Month celebrates reading, particularly to children says the Fort Bend Herald on September 15. But there's a trend in children's literature to cater to the lowest common denominator: adult humor. It began when Adam Mansbach published"Go the F to Sleep" and then "You Have to F*cking Eat." Now the latest is "Do You Want to Play with My Balls?" by the Cifaldi Brothers. This ostensibly-child's story features gratuitous references to male genitalia, cloaked as puns. It's supposed to be for adults, but juxtaposed with cartoon pictures of children, it borders on pedophaelic pornography. How appropriate are crude kids books for anyone to read, let alone kids?'Do You Want to Play with my Balls?' Crude kids' books for Literacy Month?

 

Technology-Free Family--Why We Raised Kids With Books and Nixed Television

I chuckle remembering my husband's and my early parenting selves--so radical it hurt. In the ultra-conventional 80s, nonconformity did not enjoy the vogue it does now. We were hipsters when that word still meant jeans!
One big concern was the effect of TV on kids. I had steeped myself in organic childhood teaching, following Dr. Maria Montessori and reading books like Marie Winn's "The Plug-in Drug." Even when we were dating, we agreed that nature was nurture. I give us credit looking back. We'd seen nothing yet of internet, video games, Blu-Ray, cellphones and cyber culture. VCRs were pretty young. We worried about cable television and vowed never to have a TV set in our home. We'd grow our kids on books we said. Technology-Free Family--Why We Raised Kids Without Television

Activities for Bored, Winterbound Kids: Throw a Book Party

If your weather is anything like mine this winter, there's a lot of cold, but little snow. For kids, winter's no fun without the snow-just chill and wet. When it's too cold to play outside and too boring to play inside, most kids' attention turns to mischief. Why not head off your little troublemakers off at the pass with a cheap (mostly free) afternoon of fun, compliments of your bookshelf? Activities for Bored Children: Literature Party

Help, my child hates to read! Tips to inspire the reluctant reader

Habits, both good and bad, are generational. Children absorb, by osmosis, the vices and virtues of their parents. I'm a reader, as were my parents before me. My husband's family were bibliophiles. Our children grew up reading and being read to. Now in middle school and adulthood, our kids have continued the reading habit. Are you struggling to find ways to spark a love of reading in your kids? Here are some tips and tricks to help. Books for kids who hate to read

Kids Books about Bullying--Funny Bully-Buster Stories

Bullying: 10 Books for Home and School Ten witty and ingenious books for kids and adults to address the problem of bullying at home and school. Read as bullied underdogs take on their persecutors in proactive, bully-busting ways. View more »