NBC Hit "Making It" Is Casting for Season 2

Sure, you’re six degrees from Kevin Bacon. But now’s your chance to be ZERO DEGREES from Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, all while earning cool badges and a cash prize.

NBC’s hit craft competition, “Making It,” is looking for contestants to join their cast for Season 2. So if you’re the good kind of crafty, consider applying. Or if you know someone who fits the bill, pass along the good news.

I, for one, enjoy creating things but don’t quite have the crafting chops to make the final cut. So, please, give yourself a shot. I’d love to live vicariously through someone I know.

Or someone who knows someone I know. Or someone who knows someone who knows someone I know.

(You get the idea.)

Anyway. Get thee to Makingitnbc.com to apply.

The Winner and Still “Chompion” (Book Review)

Halfway through “Chomp Goes the Alligator,” I was growing a wee bit anxious for all of the poor animals being grabbed, one by one, by the hungry alligator.

By the final page, I was pleased not only with the happy ending (apologies for the spoiler; whatever you do, don’t show your toddler this review) – but also just the all-around amazing mechanics behind this book. It’s a die-cut marvel but doesn’t sacrifice the story for looks.

The “touch-and-feel” component of this book is irresistible to young fingers.

It teaches numbers and counting, all with a fun cadence. It teaches animals. It teaches textures. And it even teaches manners – all with tactile/touch-and-feel experiences; pop-ups; cutouts that somehow tie two very different images/pages together; and a “tab” you can pull to make the alligator's mouth go up and down with every “chomp, chomp, chomp.”

It took our kid a couple tries, but she quickly got the hang of pulling this tab to make the alligator’s mouth move. Now she’s a pro and smiles the whole time she does it.

This book is so full of layers and lessons, I found myself asking “Where has (author and illustrator) Matthew Van Fleet been my whole (parenting) life?”

Turns out he’s been creating books of this caliber for over 20 years, but “Chomp Goes the Alligator” was my first introduction to his work. My husband and I love it but – and I suppose this is important – our 2-year-old loves it, too. She’s requested to read it more than a dozen times since we got it, and she LOVES to work the “chomp, chomp, chomp” mechanism all by herself.

I really can’t say enough good things about this one. So many layers. So much learning. So much fun. Highly recommended for ages 2 and up. 

A word of advice to parents: you might want to store this away from toddlers still working on impulse control. Our daughter — who lists “ripping paper” among her hobbies — can’t seem to resist thumbing through this one on her lonesome, which was bad news for the pop-up page at the end. We’ve repaired it to the best of our ability, and the tear hasn’t prevented her from requesting to read it. It’s in our regular rotation, and I suspect it will be for years to come.

Día de los Muertos (Book Review)

Día de los Muertos is an educational board book that teaches young readers about “The Day of the Dead” – a festival celebrated in some parts of Mexico that honors loved ones who have passed.

Written by Hannah Eliot and illustrated by Golden Globe-nominated Mexican artist Jorge Gutierrez, this book is visually engaging and chock-full of insight into the occasion. Although the bulk of the story is told in English, bilingual lessons are scattered throughout (primarily as captions to select illustrations, though Spanish words are occasionally defined in the text). As the mother to a child being raised speaking both English and Spanish, I was happy to see those Spanish “Easter eggs."

My only caveat: since this is a board book, I expected it to be for a very young audience. But in fact, there is a decent amount of copy (to be fair, I can’t imagine cutting it down further without losing essential narrative), which is why I recommend Día de los Muertos for ages 4-8 (though it could work as an educational tool for older kids, too). My 2-year-old had no problems sitting still for this, but I'm not sure how much she retained. We’ll revisit it as she gets older; it’s worth the wait (and the board book format gives it a longer shelf life, notwithstanding toddler chewing and book-throwing tantrums).

Día de los Muertos is the second board book in the “Celebrate the World” series, which features special occasions and holidays across the globe (the first book in the series covered Ramadan). Whether you’re teaching kids about their own culture or exposing them to worlds beyond their front door, this series is shaping up to be a fine addition to classrooms (and home libraries) for teachers and parents alike.

BUYING TIP: Halloween (and with it: Día de los Muertos) will be here before we know it. Whether you’re creating a goodie basket for a young reader or looking for door prizes for your Halloween party, consider adding Día de los Muertos to the fun.

Wee Beasties are My Toddler’s New Besties (Book Review)

I'm convinced the sign of a good book, for a toddler, is anything they grab off of the shelf and "read" to themselves (as seen here).

Let’s be honest: many “board books” are really just “bored books.” They often teach valuable lessons, but they don’t always do so in a way that engages the child and the parent. The new “Wee Beasties” books from Ame Dyckman (writer) and Alex G. Griffiths (illustrator) are a wonderful (and welcome) exception.

There are two books in the series thus far: “Roary the Lion Roars Too Loud” and “Huggy the Python Hugs Too Hard.” Each book is as delightful as the previous, with both exploring concepts in social etiquette. In “Roary,” a baby lion learns how to control the volume of his voice, whereas “Huggy the Python” learns how to hug just right. Both involve audience interaction and challenge the child reader to help the protagonist in their quest.

These books are charmingly illustrated, and my daughter laughs right along with us at the funny bits (there are a few). Highly recommended for 2-5 year olds, particularly those who need a little help understanding concepts like using their inside voice (Roary) or gentle touches (Huggy). I'm hoping we'll see more from this series in the months ahead.

Baby's First Mystery: The Case of the Pinched Stradivarius (Book Review)

Bedtime is a sacred time in our household, as I suppose it likely is for many families with toddlers.

It’s that wonderful window of shrieks and snuggles, offset by the occasional battle to put on PJs and brush two ever-expanding rows of teeth.  

And what follows is little short of bliss: a window of quiet as you remind yourself that you have an existence beyond parenthood.

But let’s back up a minute. Bedtime.

There are a few constants in our end-of-day routine: bath, beverage and books.

We typically leave book selection up to our daughter, who has surprised us by frequently foregoing age-appropriate board books for the Little Golden Book Library edition of Star Wars (which skews older).

So when I had the opportunity to check out another book written for slightly older kids, "The Case of the Pinched Stradivarius,” I jumped at the chance.

Ready, set, read!

Written by Elaine Loeser and illustrated by Greg Arvanitakis, “The Case of the Pinched Stradivarius” is geared toward kids ages 3-8: well beyond the range for our not-quite-two-year-old. It’s the story of two pet turtles who witness a crime and try their darndest to make sure the bad guy is caught. Only problem is: they’re turtles, and their owner doesn’t seem to hear a single thing they say to her. Even the household dogs – who seem to understand slightly better – aren’t much help.

It’s a fun idea with a cast of characters that’s a little longer than what we're used to seeing in toddler lit. In fact, when we looked at the character list, my husband and I both got a tad nervous. Our daughter can’t read yet (underachiever, I know), so the responsibility of doing all of the voices fell squarely on our shoulders. And unlike the children’s books we’re used to, this one takes a fairly unique approach to storytelling: each page includes dialog that reads a little like a script. In fact, the format is somewhere in-between "storyboard for a television show" and "comic book." Each character’s lines appear next to their face, with the dialog going back and forth. There’s minimal narrative/stage direction, with the illustrations telling that part of the story (fitting when you consider the author used to write for Law & Order).

No, I'm not holding her down. This is an actual toddler staying still entirely on her own.

If there are other kids’ books out there that follow this format, we haven’t seen them. We’re a family of actors, writers and comic book readers, so we were open to the approach. That said, it was a bit tricky doing the same voice for each character whenever it was their turn to “speak.” Perhaps the fault is on us for not divvying up characters and establishing voices before we got started. Or perhaps we shouldn’t have bothered with voices at all. Point is, that was our one hesitation with the book: reading it out loud with just two people can be tricky. Fun. But tricky.

Our daughter didn’t seem to mind our inconsistent voices; she stayed engaged with the story and enjoyed the illustrations. With some “longer” stories – the aforementioned Star Wars books notwithstanding – she loses focus and wanders off. But with “The Case of the Pinched Stradivarius,” she stayed on my lap for all 40 pages (anyone who has ever parented a toddler knows what an amazing feat that is). Since our initial read-through, she has grabbed the book a couple times and paged through it, talking to the pictures and repeating the words she remembers.

All in all, a success even for a pre-reader. But this format works especially well for kids who are learning to read and so can either play the part of a character or two – or read quietly to themselves.