While shopping at Barnes and Noble…

Yesterday while shopping at Barnes and Noble I came across, and bought some books that were so great, I had to share.
For me: Pam Socolows Family-Facts Life Organizer. I have searched high and low, for years and years, for a single binder organizer that does it all. I had all but given up when I stumbled on this one, stacked next to the bookstore coffee shop. Halfway through my decaf latte, I was sold. This binder truly helps you keep track of it all. From calendars, school, afterschool activities, doctors (for you, kids and your parents), local food delivery, insurance, auto repairs, banking, bills, home maintenance and repair/improvements, local contractors, summer camp packing lists, you name it and there is a space in this book for it. There are tons of pockets, biz card organizers, and internal folders to keep your papers straight. And get this – it was only $19.95! Bonus points for the calendar which goes through 2010. Despite being so comprehensive this binder is not intimidating. So I think I may actually fill it all out. Buy yours online or at your local Barnes and Noble store.
For the Kids: You may be familiar with artist Taro Gomi’s books “Everyone Poops” and “The Gas We Pass”, But have you heard about his “Doodles”, “Squiggles”, and “Scribbles” books? These ingenious books let your child be the artist and story teller. Each volume is chock full of incomplete pages that your child must take over and illustrate. What I love about it is the wit and creativity of the jumping off points. Some examples: drawing the contents of the shelves of two competing stores, designing the flags of the bunnies and field mice, creating “wanted” posters, filling in the speech bubbles of two arguing people, drawing the missing “front” end of imaginary animals and filling in the other passengers sitting next to a couple of kids on the subway. This is merely the tip of the iceberg as each volume is hundreds of imagination stimulating pages long and each page is more fun than the last. The books are works of such infectious creativity that it is all I myself can do not to start coloring in them before I give them to the girls for a holiday gift. I am humbled to think of everytime I have heard the question ” Mommy, what should I draw?” and I myself drew a blank.
For me, the books will be even more of a gift when they are all colored in and I get to see the fruits of my kids’ creativity. Doodles, Squiggles and Scribbles by Taro Gomi are available at Chronicle Books or your local Barnes and Noble book store. This book is rated for kids from 3 to 99 yrs old and I think makes a great gift for 7-11 yr olds who are in a rather tricky gifting category.