Bunch Family

What the cool parents are reading today:

1. The science of baby fever and the ticking biological clock. It can strike anytime, but it most keenly felt by women in their late 20s. Sound accurate to you?

2. OK parents who are teachers, weigh in: are there parent-teacher wars? Have you known colleagues to quit teaching because of issues with parents?

3. Judging our pals’ parenting styles is real. One theory stipulates that our parenting styles are based on insecurities from our own childhoods, so if a friend judges our decisions, it cuts deep.

4. Did you grow up reading Judy Blume? Of course you did! Did you know she still kicks all kinds of ass? We’d love to talk to her about Katniss and add her to our Monday morning Mad Men discussion. Judy Blume will rule forever.  Read more...

What to read with your kids

If you haven’t read The Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer, Bunch’s own Rebecca Brown says you’re missing out. It’s a favourite for both her 3-year-old girl (Rose) and her 7-year-old boy (Sam).

The Story: The three robbers rip off carriages. One day they hit a carriage that contains no treasure other than an orphan girl named Tiffany. So they steal her, make her a comfy bed in their cave and save her from a life with a wicked aunt. When she asks what they do with all the jewels and money they’ve stolen, the robbers are dumbfounded. So they decide to buy a castle and gather up “all the lost, unhappy and abandoned children.”

Who it’s written for: Kids 3-8  Read more...

Four fun ways to celebrate the beloved writer’s birthday

Dr. Seuss published his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, in 1937 and 75 years later, we’re still stoked on Seuss books. They’re staples on the baby book shelf, a new reader’s favourites and teacher treasures; they seem to get better and better with age. Were Theodore Seuss Geisal still alive, he’d be celebrating his 108th birthday today. If you’re looking for some other fun facts about Dr. Seuss, check out last year’s birthday tribute.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. What’s the first thing the wicked stepmother-to-be tells the adorable children as soon as their dad is out of earshot? Off to boarding school with you lot! But how young is too young to ship kids off?

2. Does children’s lit lack a relationship with nature?

3. A new report suggests what we kind of already know: in the future, a woman’s reproductive span will be far less limited than it is today. Those biological clocks won’t be ticking nearly so loudly.

4. Push presents: is this a thing? Really? Apparently Jessica Simpson is getting a $30, 000 one. Isn’t the present finally being able to hold your new baby?

5. If babies are going to be drinking coffee, they might as well learn to make it themselves like this baby:

Photo by esterina on silver via Flickr  Read more...

In case you needed more silly-wonderful poems and illustrations

Shel Silverstein died 12 years ago, but his works lives on. And lucky for us, as of today even more of his work lives on. Every Thing On It is a collection of poems and drawings in the style of Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic.

For those of you who can recite “Pancakes” “The Homework Machine” or “Hug-o-War” by heart, this is excellent news. Silverstein’s editor, Joan Robins told Publishers Weekly that, “ He had mountains of poems and stories, in bits and pieces, and in different versions, written on stray pieces of paper.”

That was in 2005 when his literary estate released Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook. For Every Thing On It, Silverstein’s nephew, agent and archivist “have put together the strongest collection they could.”  Read more...

Will you read The Boy With the Pink Hair?

In September, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton will join the likes of Madonna, Bill Cosby, John Travolta, Sarah the Duchess of York and many more as a children’s book author. In regards to celebrity-penned children’s books, we mostly agree with the Guardian’s Ed Pilkington, who figured celebrity reasoning would go thusly: “I’ve been making up bedtime stories for my children and suddenly I’ve had a brainwave. These stories are good! These stories are brilliant! I would be failing in my moral duty to my adoring public if I did not put them down on paper.”

But we’re kinda thinking we’re siding with the folks who think Perez’ book could be pretty good. Gossip or not, he actually writes everyday, plus he’s snarky and fun. He’s a little bit one of them, but also a little bit one of us. And if the celeb-bedtime story needs to have a big moral, a writer could do worse than embracing one’s individuality.  Read more...