By John Carney 11:44am

Reading Aloud

The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks

Unbearable: How The Bad News Berenstains Wrecked Everything

Late last October, I found myself looking for a children’s book about Thanksgiving, something to introduce my two-and-half year old daughter to the approaching holiday. Owing to a surprising dearth of children’s literature about this cherished autumn feast, I wound up with The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks.

Here’s what happens in the book: Papa Bear has been doing work for a local farmer, who pays with a live turkey. Sister Bear adopts the turkey as a pet and refuses to eat turkey at Thanksgiving. The family relents and eats fish for Thanksgiving instead.

Give Thanks is part of the Berenstain’s “Living Lights” series, a subdivision of Berenstain country in which lessons about God are imparted. I have no idea why the Berenstain God approves the eating of fish but not turkey on Thanksgiving. But I do know that the last thing a parent of a toddler needs is literary and faith-based encouragement for picky eating. Read More

By Alizah Salario 6/06/12 3:39pm

Scooter Lit

Maurice Sendak

Kids’ E-Books Are Better Than Ray Bradbury And Maurice Sendak Believed

With the death of Ray Bradbury last night and the loss of Maurice Sendak in May, two of Time Magazine’s “5 Famous Writers Who Loathe E-Books” have left us within the past month. As the Village Voice recalled today, Bradbury mistrusted all digital technology, and only last year finally allowed Fahrenheit 451 to be issued as an e-book.

And in a memorable appearance on the Colbert Report this January, Sendak railed against the growing popularity of e-books for kids. “Fuck them, is what I say. I hate those e-books. They cannot be the future. They may well be. I will be dead, I won’t give a shit.”

“I don’t write for children,” the revered author of Where The Wild Things Are told host Stephen Colbert, confirming his status as a lovable curmudgeon. “I write, and someone says, ‘That’s for children.’ I don’t set out to make children happy, or make life better for them, or easier for them.” Read More

By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay 6:56pm

Kids at Play

4 Photos

Kelly Florio Kasouf reads to the kids!

Balloons, Face Paint and ‘The Super Adventures of Sophie and the City!’

What’s not to love when a kid gets to enjoy an afternoon filled with balloons, face painting and colorful books? Elizabeth Street, the go-to site for trendy moms in the city, recently hosted a book launch for children’s author Kelly Florio Kasouf’s debut title. “The Super Adventures of Sophie and the City: All in a Day’s Work” follows Sophie as she discovers her dad’s work in fashion publishing. Ms. Florio Kasouf based the story on her own experiences with her late father, Steven Florio, who was CEO and president of Condé Nast for over a decade. Diane Von Furstenberg and Isaac Mizrahi make star appearances, as Sophie realizes some terrific life lessons. The book is available at Amazon.com, Barney’s, Bergdorf Goodman and Fred Segal. Read More