Happy BlogDay 2006! Here’s how you can participate:

1. Find five new blogs that you find interesting.
2. Notify the five bloggers that you’re recommending them on BlogDay 2006.
3. Write a BlogDay post today with a short description of each blog, and a link back to each one.
4. Add a "BlogDay 2006" Technorati tag and/or link back to Technorati BlogDay 2006 page.
5. Link to BlogDay website (which at the time of this posting, isn’t working).

So here are my five reading/book blog choices:

1. Chicken Spaghetti, Books for kids and the rest of us, too – Lots of good industry news and the latest on kid lit.
2. Book Buds Kidlit Reviews – I’m a huge fan of anything Anne does, so I’m glad to see she’s kept the book reviews going even after her recent move to Chicagoland.
3. The Library Lady Rants – I love her rants about library patrons and her kids’ school as much as I enjoy her book recommendations.
4. A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy – Always terrifically written reviews of children’s literature.
5. Nancy Lotinsky on Usborne Books – Everything you wanted to know about Usborne Books but were afraid to ask.

Technorati tags: book blogs, BlogDay 2006, children’s books, blogging, kid lit

Colgate-Palmolive and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s oldest and largest children’s literacy nonprofit organization, have been working togethter since 2004 to provide new books to children nationwide. In 2006, Colgate and RIF will donate books to select children’s organizations and at overseas U.S. military bases.

This year’s joint campaign — Healthy Bedtime Habits For a Lifetime — assists parents in getting their children to build healthy reading and brushing habits while earning a free toothbrush. The  Healthy Bedtime Habits For a Lifetime website offers online tools and tips for parents to make bedtime less stressful and more fun. Parents can find a family reading and brushing log and a customizable chart to track your child’s progress. There are lots of online activities such as games and printables, plus coupons and links to articles on nightime rituals, dental health, and reading.

Visit the website, check it out, and sign up. It’s obvious that Colgate is using this campaign to sell their products. But honestly, who can argue that toothbrushes (even SpongeBob ones), toothpaste, and reading to your kids aren’t good things?

And while you’re there, sign up for RIF’s newsletter to get the latest news on books and reading.

(Picture courtesy of About Kids Health.)

Technorati tags: dental health, Colgate, Reading Is Fundamental, reading, families, bedtime

Considering my previous post on devilish children’s literature, I couldn’t resist writing about devil’s food cake. According to Linda Stradley at What’s Cooking America, devil’s food cake was originally red, though today it’s dark chocolate probably because of the red food dye scare back in the 1970s.

Red Devil’s Food Cake Recipe
From Diana Rattray of About.com

Red devil’s food cake recipe is similar to red velvet cake, made with buttermilk and red food coloring.

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups sugar
2. 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3. 1/2 cup hot melted shortening
4. 2 large eggs, beaten
5. 1 teaspoon liquid red food coloring
6. 2 tablespoons hot brewed coffee
7. 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8. 1 teaspoon salt
9. 1 scant teaspoon baking soda
10. 2 teaspoons baking powder
11. 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
12. 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Sift together sugar and cocoa.
2. In mixing bowl, blend the sugar and cocoa with melted shortening. Add beaten eggs; stir to mix well.
3. Blend in hot coffee and food coloring.
4. Sift remaining dry ingredients together; add to the first mixture, alternating with the sour milk or buttermilk and vanilla.
5. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 8-inch layer cake pans.
6. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Frost with either fluffy white frosting or fudge frosting.

(Above photo courtesy of OChef.com, who posts a good though slightly more complicated recipe for devil’s food cake.)

Honestly, if you’re pressed for time, Duncan Hines makes a terrific Devil’s Food cake mix. I use it frequently and highly recommend it because it’s moist, delicious, and bakes up well every time you use it. The DH frostings are good, too.

Technorati tags: baking, devil’s food cake, dessert, cake, Duncan Hines

I’ve volunteered to read aloud to Nathan’s class every Monday afternoon. So when Sparks Fly High: The Legend of Dancing Point arrived, I put it in my pile of books to read aloud along with such Core Knowledge classics as The Frog Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Princess and the Pea.

Sparks Fly High: The Legend of Dancing Point is a Colonial Virgina folk tale about Colonel Lightfoot and the Devil competing in a dancing contest to reclaim a parcel of marshy land. The book is beautifully illustrated, well written, and my children loved it. Also, this tale brought back childhood memories of Jersey Devil stories.

As a folk tale that meshes with what the kids will be learning about Colonial America, I thought it was a good choice. Then I remembered the story of Tresa Waggoner and the Bennett, Colorado school district.

As reported by Madeline Jenkins Millard at Music & Vision Daily:

The mischief erupted when she showed approximately 12 minutes of a children’s videotape about Faust to 200 six-through-nine-year-olds.

Waggoner had discovered the video from the Who’s Afraid of Opera? series in the school library. It features Dame Joan Sutherland who introduces three puppet friends to the stories behind Faust and Rigoletto, then performs their highlights in complete costumes and sets.School staff had pre-approved Waggoner’s use of the video in her lesson plan.

[Shorty after showing the video] some parents complained to the school superintendent that their children had been exposed to a satanic video. Cory Babi, wife of school board member Michael Babi, claimed: ‘My child came home and asked me what "abortion" was and what "suicide" was.’ Neither word appears in the video.

Later on, Waggoner was accused of being a devil worshiper and a lesbian, as reported by Playbill Arts and the Rocky Mountain News.

Taking into consideration that Bennett is about 54 miles away from our charter school and that there are a faction of parents there who are religious conservatives, I told Nathan’s teacher about the book. She feels that it’s fine that I read to her class. After all a dancing devil is pretty harmless compared to a child-eating witch and evil step mother in Hansel and Gretel. At least, that’s how I hope people will see it.

Technorati tags: children’s books, devil, Faust, education, Core Knowledge, controversial teachers

Blame The Denver Post for their story, For birthday compromise, cook up a meatloaf cake. But after my husband came home with enough ground antelope to feed half the neighborhood, I’m up for a cake made out of ground meat. And I think the kids would love it.

The Post gives credit to Black Widow Bakery’s meatcake by pasty chef (and computer engineer) Vashti (see the FilmLoop above for the step-by-step pictures). But writer Ellen Sweets claims that the birthday meatloaf cake Martha Stewart created on her show in May was the first one. (And don’t forget to watch the video of Martha and actress Rosie Perez, who’s adorable, making the cake. It shows you why Vashti decided to use potato flakes. Real mash potatoes are hard to spread.)

However, the 1969 edition of Better Homes and Gardens Ground Meat Cook Book has a recipe for stuffed meatloaf, which is done in a round baking dish and features a layer of rice, but no mashed potato "frosting." There’s also a recipe for a filled beef roll that looks like a carnivore’s version of the jelly roll. As Vashti says in her FAQs document, "great minds think alike." But actually I think necessity is the mother of invention, like Vashti’s jokingly sarcastic friend and his idea that a groom’s cake should be, "A guy’s cake. Like..made out of meat." Or a freezer full of ground up game animals.

Technorati tags: cookbooks, ground meat, recipes, cooking, cakes, meat cake, Martha Stewart, Denver Post food section

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The statistics are alarming. Of the 15% of the children in the United States who live in poverty, on average these kids have one or two age appropriate books in their homes. Compare this to children in middle-income communities who have an average of 54 books in their homes, and children in high-income communities with an average of 199.1 age appropriate books in their homes.

Sixty-one percent of the children in low-income families have no books at all. And while the national average estimates 18 books per student in school libraries, many schools in depressed areas often have less than one book per student. (Statistics are from Jeff McQuillan, the Literacy Crisis, California State University, 1998 via The Heart of America Foundation’s Books of the Heart program.)

Some of ClubMom’s bloggers are trying to get the word out about two terrific programs that get books to kids. First, Dana at Since Eve… is inviting you to print a Border’s coupon to help First Book while saving 10% on your purchases on August 27-28.

Melissa at The Lilting House writes about how schools, homeschooling families, and groups can participate in Write-a-Thons to collect money for Kids In Need, Books In Deed.

Finally, as an Usborne Books educational and literacy consultant, I’m trying to promote EDC’s Literacy for a Lifetime a 50% matching grant program that gets more books to kids, schools, and libraries. If you need more information on this program or want to pursue this for your organization, please email me.

Please consider participating in these programs. Or help out with a book fair for your school or a fundraiser for your local library. GIVE THE GIFT OF LITERACY TODAY!

Maybe it was the hectic day we had yesterday getting last minute things done for today’s first day of school. Or maybe I need to learn how to use the search function in Amazon better. Seems that if you search "robot," "rocket," and "moon" you get a lot of science fiction type books for young kids like:

• Nova’s Ark – I’m embarassed to say that I totally forgot we owned this book. In fact, David Kirk has built a Nova the Robot empire with related stories and sticker and activity books. For ages 4 to 8.
• My Robot - An African American boy narrates a story about his personal robot, Cecil. Speaking in short sentences and basic vocabulary, he tells about all the ways the robot participates in his life. For grades K to 2.
• Me and My Robot – Since this features a friend named Lucy, and the search for her lost kitten, I may have to get this one since we collect Lucy books. For ages 4 to 8.
• Hello, Robots!- Blink, Zinc, Blip, and Zip are very busy robots. From the kitchen to the living room, from the garage to the garden, nothing can stop this industrious bunch. Except . . . rain! For preschoolers to second graders.
• Curious George and the Rocket (Curious George Board Books)- Curious George gets a medal for being the first monkey in space. For babies to preschool age children.
• If You Decide To Go To The Moon- Featuring a fantasy trip to the moon. For ages 4 to 8.

So if you share a love of all things space and science fiction – or just think Commander Riker is a hottie – please join me at the Star Trek 40th Anniversary Blog Carnival next month.

Technorati tags: children’s books, science fiction, robots