Learn more about Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel and find all his books in the Dr. Seuss Amazon Author Store.

Here are some favorites:

The Lorax – Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth’s natural beauty. The Lorax is an ecological warning that still rings true today amidst the dangers of clear-cutting, pollution, and disregard for the earth’s environment.

Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches the Egg – Surely among the most lovable of all Dr. Seuss creations, Horton the Elephant represents kindness, trustworthiness, loyalty and perseverance. Now, the two books that introduced the heroic Horton to the world – Horton Hears A Who! and Horton Hatches the Egg – are available together for the first time in the Dr. Seuss’s Horton Collection Boxed Set.

Green Eggs and Ham – We can’t leave out Sam I Am now, can we?

A great companion of any Dr. Seuss books is the Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook with its Seuss-inspired recipes.

What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book? Comment below and let us know!

For once in a Disney film, there’s no princess pining over a prince. Or any dead parents to make you feel sorry for the main character. So in this, The Little Mermaid II is perfect for the younger set who are in love with mermaids like my five-year-old daughter Lucie. She especially loves the songs and doesn’t care that the animation isn’t quite up to Disney standards.

Mermaid snacks and recipes

If you’re looking for some mermaid food to snack on while you watch the movie, check out MermaidMary.com from Lynn E. Hazen. She’s the author of Mermaid Mary Margaret, about a ten-year-old girl who accompanies her recently widowed grandmother on a cruise to the Greek Islands (for ages nine to 12).

Lynn has recipes for Blue Jello Mini Oceans, Octopus and Other Sea Creature Pretzels, and Mermaid Cookies, as well as mermaid activities and projects for teachers, parents and homeschoolers.

If you’re looking for more recipes, check out the The Mermaid Cookbook, which offers ones perfect for mermaid, ocean voyage, treasure island, and pirate parties for kids. (Or just for watching an Arial movie!)

This spiral bound cookbook offers an abundance of fun recipes including Paradise Pineapple Fruit Dip, Sea Foam Floats, Treasure Island Trail Mix, Goldfish Gorp, Mermaid Hair Salad, Sea Turtle Cookies, Little Luau Cakes, Water Fairy Ice Pops, Rainbow Fish Fudge, and more. Includes salads, fruit dishes, and main courses as well as snacks and desserts.

More mermaid books for kids

I’ve already covered Usborne Books extensive mermaid book collection. Amazon has an long list of mermaid books for children, too. Here are a few that stand out:

• Mermaid Dreams – As her mother scrubs behind her ears and combs the seashells out of her tangled hair, little beach babe Meriam describes a most extraordinary day: diving for pearls, swimming with dolphins, even frolicking with octopuses. Is she a mermaid or just a little girl who doesn’t want to go to bed? For ages four to eight.
• The Secret World of Mermaids – In scrapbook form, this book is a collection of writings and “evidence” about mermaids. The four mermaid figures bundled with the book represent the four types that can be found all over the world: the frequently spotted shipsavers; the wishgivers who help those in trouble; the shapeshifters who whimsically enter and exit the human world; and the weatherworks mermaids who bargain with humans for favors. For ages four to eight.
• The Book of Mermaids – For ages four to eight, if you’ve ever wondered what mermaid life was really like, you can now journey under the sea into the everyday life of these enchanting creatures with this lavishly illustrated guide to mermaid art, culture, fashion and magic. This is a must have guide for all things Mer.

Not only does the book feature food recipes, but it has directions on how to make salt dough, play clay and this one:

Giant Bubbles

What you’ll need:

1. 1 large wire coat hanger
2. Liquid measuring cup
3. Large, flat pan, big enough for the coat hanger circle to fit into (a deep tray would work, too)
4. Whisk
5. 1/2 cup dishwashing liquid
6. 4 1/2 cups cold water

What you’ll do:

1. Get an adult to bend the coat hanger into a circle for you, making sure there aren’t any rough ends that could scratch you.
2. Mix the dishwashing liquid and the water in the large flat plan. Whisk the two together.
3. When the rain stops (Paul recommends doing this on a rainy day since the damp air makes the bubbles bigger and last longer before they pop.) go outside with your supplies. Dip the coat hanger into the bubble solution and lift it straight up, then wave it through the air. Giant bubbles should appear.
4. If you have leftovers, keep them in a jar and use them again. They won’t go bad!

Have fun and check out Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook for more terrific recipes and children’s cooking activities.

Heck, these would be especially nice for a party. Or if your child were getting their tonsils out around Halloween. If you don’t live in warm sunny Florida, Texas or California, put away a few cans of pumpkin puree and make these next summer.

Sugar Pumpkin Pops
Makes six 8-ounce pops or eight 6-ounce pops

Ingredients:

1. 2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, homemade or canned (see note)
2. 1 cup milk (divided use)
3. 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (divided use)
4. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
5. 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6. 1 cup roasted, hulled pumpkin seeds

Directions:

1. Combine the pumpkin puree, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup of the milk, 1/4 cup of the sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon and nutmeg in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Stir in the pumpkin seeds.
2. In a bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk.
3. Add the pumpkin mixture to the popsicle molds until about 2/3 full. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Fill the molds to the top with the milk mixture and insert the sticks. Freeze for an additional 6 hours.
4. Remove from the freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the pops from the molds.

Note: When using canned pumpkin puree, add 1 additional cup of water in the first step.

To make a healthier version use 1% or skim milk and low fat sweetened condensed milk. Skip the pumpkin seeds if you think your kids will find them too weird.

Per serving: 261 calories, 11 grams protein, 14 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 28 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fiber, 12 milligrams cholesterol, 57 milligrams sodium

So no excuses, let’s indulge in some egg recipes!

Making crepes with the kids

I love typical French egg dishes – quiche, chocolate mousse and crepes. So when I learned to make crepes in home economics class back in seventh grade, my French mother was thrilled to share Julia Child’s Crepe Fines Sucrees recipe from Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One. It’s a bit involved and uses orange liqueur, rum, or brandy. Still, it was the recipe we loved to use.

Since my kids are a bit younger, I wanted something simpler to make, so I picked the crepe recipe from the Disney-Pixar Ratatouille movie cookbook, What’s Cooking?: A Cookbook for Kids. What I like about it is that it’s simple and the cookbook has a pictorial on how to cook and flip a crepe.

Making the batter: We made the batter on Saturday night (you have to refrigerate it overnight) so we’d have crepes for Sunday morning. I pre-measured the ingredients and let the kids pour them into the blender.

Cooking the crepes: Please be forewarned that making crepes is a bit tricky. You have to be generous with the butter, make sure the pan is hot, and throw out the first crepe, which is usually a mess. (Mine magically turned out O.K. But if yours doesn’t, I won’t tell if you decide to scarf it down or feed it to the dog.) This may be something you want to handle instead of the kids.

Also, it takes a lot of time to make 12 crepes. Either start early before everyone’s famished, or get two pans going at once. I kept my kids busy by letting them drink cafe au lait (more lait than cafe), put on music (DEVO, go figure) and having them dance around the house in their underpants. Daddy missed all the fun because he was hunting.

Colette’s Crepes

Makes 12 crepes

Ingredients:

1. 3 eggs
2. 1 1/2 cups milk
3. 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
4. 1 tablespoon sugar
5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
6. 2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender in the order listed. (To avoid getting egg shells in the mix, crack the eggs into a bowl, remove any shell bits, and then pour it into the blender.) Blend until smooth.
2. Remove the lid and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Briefly blend the mixture again. Set the covered blender in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight. (Overnight is best.)
3. When it’s time to cook the crepes, heat an 8- or 9-inch shallow nonstick frying pan over medium heat. To tell if the pan is hot enough, wet your fingers and then flick the water on to the pan. If the water sizzles and jumps off the pan, it’s ready.
4. Then melt a very thin pat of butter in the pan and swirl it around to coat it. I used a silicon pastry brush to evenly distribute it.
5. Blend the batter again in the blender to smooth it.
6. For the first crepe, pour 1/4 cup of batter into a measuring cup and pour the batter into your heated pan. Immediately tilt and swirl the pan to evenly coat the bottom until the batter stops running.

7. Cook the crepe on the first side for about 45 seconds, then quickly flip it with a spatula and cook the other side for about half as long.
8. Grasping the pan securely, swiftly invert it so the cooked crepe will fall on to the large plate. Rub a little butter in the pan before cooking the next crepe.
9. Adjust the heat if they brown too quickly or slowly.

• When I was melting the butter for the next crepe, I dipped my silicon pastry brush into it and brushed the previous crepe so it wouldn’t stick to the next one.
• While I was cooking, I had the crepes in a warm oven on a oven-proof plate. I turned the oven to 200 degrees F, then turned it off to keep the crepes warm but not dried out.

Toppings

Now it’s time to get the kids involved! In home ec class, we used powdered sugar and fresh squeezed lemon juice. You cannot believe how good this is. If you only have concentrated lemon juice in house, use a pastry brush to apply the juice then sprinkle the powdered sugar on top.

Other ideas for toppings are jam, melted chocolate, Nutella hazelnut spread, cream cheese, and thin banana slices. We used the delicious raspberry jelly our neighbors made from berries from our bushes and theirs. But the kids’ favorite and mine was Madhava Pure Organic Raw Agave Nectar. Wow.

Get creative and have fun with your crepes!

Topping directions:

1. Apply your favorite topping to the crepe.
2. Fold in half. Then fold in half again.
3. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with strawberries or raspberries and mint leaves.
4. For dessert crepes, you can drizzle a little melted chocolate on top, too.

Celebrate World Egg Day with more egg recipes

Here are some more recipes from my cooking blogs:

• Julia Child’s chocolate mousse (the best ever!)
• The universal quiche
• Pepper and onion egg-white omelet
• Fat Smash frittata
• Ham palascintas with mustard cream sauce
• French toast casserole
• Chinese hot-and-sour soup
• Strained eyeballs (Halloween hard boiled egg recipe)
• Hard boiled mice (Easter hard boiled egg recipe)
• Sunshine toast

Thanks to the folks at the Incredible Edible Egg (the American Egg Board) and Parent Bloggers Network for sponsoring this post and providing a stipend for the ingredients.

Note: For my regular readers, you may remember that my daughter Lucie has an egg allergy. We think she may be growing out of it, so I’m slowly adding eggs back into her diet. We’re still avoiding nuts and peanuts, though.