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Nathan and Lucie are big fans of the Man in Black. So for Christmas, I got them The Johnny Cash Children’s Album. I recently loaded it on the computer so I could copy it for Nathan’s use. Since he’s only six and is really bad about putting his CDs away, we make him copies of music he likes. This way, if he scratches the copy, it’s no big deal. We have the original safe in it’s case, and the music stored in the computer as a back up.

I started listening to The Johnny Cash Children’s Album and liked it more than the kids did. Unlike his gospel stuff, it’s not cheesy at all. The songs are really quite nice, especially his duet with June Carter Cash called, "I Got a Boy And His Name Is John."

This got me thinking about Johnny’s appearances on Sesame Street. I had heard he was on the program, but after doing a search on YouTube, I found out that he was on twice - once in the ’70s and once in the ’80s or ’90s. (YouTube is a great resource if you’re looking for old Sesame Street spots. I especially like the one when Robert DeNiro explains acting to Elmo and turns into a cabbage.)

Johnny Cash on Sesame Street

"Nasty Dan" with Oscar the Grouch (sang on the The Johnny Cash Children’s Album)

"Don’t Take Your Ones To Town" along with Big Bird

If you’re ever stuck for something quick for the kids to do and a way to keep them busy while you work, try this website:

Free Kids Coloring features pictures of famous people like Martin Luther King, Jr. to animals and pirates. If you’re reading about polar bears, print out some pictures for the kids to color while you read to them. Combining an activity along with reading will help spark interest and increase reading comprehension.

The website is part of Suring the Net with Kids produced by syndicated newspaper columnist and mom, Barbara Feldman. Both sites are great resources for parents and homeschoolers, so check it out!

Goodness, no, we’re not going to see if Whole Foods has any free range penguins on sale. Yuck. Instead, here are some recipes inspired by penguins.

Cream Cheese Penguins 
Submitted by: Valerie
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 35 Minutes
Yields: 18 servings

"Just imagine a cute display of penguins, made with black olives, carrots and cream cheese! You can add scarves and hats by using fresh red pepper strips, or canned pimentos cut into different shapes. Use frilly toothpicks if you can."

Ingredients:

• 18 jumbo black olives, pitted
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 18 small black olives
• 1 carrot

Directions:

1. Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.
2. Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2005 Allrecipes.com

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The New York Times says that 2007 is the year of the penguin:

Penguins have long been popular in advertising, but they have become even more so after three successful movies with penguin characters: Madagascar and March of the Penguins in 2005 and Happy Feet last year. They have helped turn the penguin into the new pitchbeast of choice.

There’s even Club Penguin, a kid-friendly (and parent approved) virtual world where children can play games, have fun and interact with each other.

Penguins have taken the book world by storm, too. Here’s a sampling of some penguin books:

• Your Personal Penguin - A read-aloud, listen-along favorite for young children and the grown-ups who read to them. Fun to hold, the book tells the story of a slightly bewildered hippo and the loyal penguin who wants nothing more than to be his pal.
• Cinderella Penguin: Little Glass Flipper and The Penguin and the Pea- Adaptations of the traditional tales with penguins rather than humans as characters.
• 365 Penguins - On the first day of the new year, the mailman brings a surprise—a penguin! One by one, day by day, penguins fill the house. Who is sending these penguins, and why?
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins- Mr. Popper spends his spare time between house-painting jobs reading all about polar explorations. Admiral Drake, in response to Mr. Popper’s fan letter, sends him a penguin. Life at 432 Proudfoot Avenue is never the same again.
• If you need to get a Happy Feet movie tie-in book, try Happy Feet Mad Libs. Nothing like Mad Libs to keep kids laughing while they’re learning.

All seriousness aside, who do you like better? The penguins from Madagascar or those from Happy Feet?

Reading Is Fundamental is recommending the following reading resolutions for 2007:

1. Create a personal library.
2. Read for 15 minutes a day.
3. Play online reading games.

These are all terrific ideas, and RIF gives you tons of great resources to tackle each one. They also give you three lists: 100 Best Multicultural Books, 100 Best Nonfiction Books, and the "What-Kids-Who-Don’t-Like-to-Read-Like-to-Read" Reading List. But there are other resources as well, like:

• Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers - a terrific book if your child attends a Core Knowledge based school
• The New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children - extremely comprehensive and one of the best guides out there
• Valerie & Walter’s Best Books for Children 2nd Ed: A Lively, Opinionated Guide - this book makes looking for children’s titles a lot of fun

Are you the type of parent who buys new books? Are you a regular Scholastic Book Club purchaser? Do you hunt out the gently used bargain books at Amazon.com, children’s consignment, used book, and thrift stores? Do your children have wonderful grandparent who buy them books? Or did you luck out like my children and inherit their father’s childhood book collection?

How do you build your personal library?