by Shel Silverstein (1964)

While I may not believe in the religious specifics of the holiday, it’s the spirit that moves me: love, kindness, giving… and no book tells the story of selflessness better than The Giving Tree. Like all of Silverstein’s books that played a large formative part in my younger days, it’s a seemingly simple book expressing complex things with quirky line drawings to match.

I remember the book as a very touching one, but as an adult I also find it as quietly sad as it is lovely. The unclear point of view (is self sacrifice a good or bad thing? is the boy bad in all his demands?) leaves many readers at the very least confused and sometimes up in arms with words of controversy.

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Posted on December 20, 2009

Cool Kid Style

Planet Awesome Kid is, in a word, Awesome! Like The Sartorialist for the under twelve set, the blog is packed with smile-inducing images of cool kids in cool threads. With my days of aunt-hood rapidly approaching, and as a designer in the children’s clothing business, it’s a well of inspiration and one of the most pleasant places to stop on my daily internet journeys. In addition, the site links up with local and global children-based charities

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Posted on November 29, 2009

The decade before the word 'tween' was invented offered much in the way of young adult television and I myself have a sentimental soft spot for most of the shows preteens spent the 90s in front of (Breaker High, Swan's Crossing, Flash Forward, etc); so you can imagine I was looking forward to filling this week's TV pick with Nickelodeon's semi-forgotten spooky anthology series, Are You Afraid of the Dark??/p>

But from the wildly disappointed comments of fellow Netflix subscribers and Jim's own pretty clear memories of the show, I've learned that the “freaky favorites” double disc (the only one currently available on Netflix) is, contrary to what the title suggests, not representative of the best of the show at all. The three episodes on the DVD feature a “new” cast of kids making up the Midnight Society (an admittedly nerdy nocturnal story-telling club) who, according to Jim, are way lamer than Gary and the original dorks.

Still, it's a fun late afternoon view and, while the episodes we saw weren't particularly mind-blowing, this sweetly nostalgic Canadian show (one episode is actually about a demonic hockey stick) is certainly a hell of a lot better than most other horror anthology shows out there (the dreadful Hitchhiker and, what is bound to be my worst TV show of the year, Masters of Horror quickly come to mind).

Despite a seemingly vast fan base, the seven seasons of the show are particularly hard to find on DVD…

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Posted on October 26, 2009

My dad's recent alphabet book The Little Bitty Mousie is absolutely adorable. Sure, I'm his daughter and therefore you might think I'm not the most objective reader, but the bright colors and realistic illustrations of a little girl mouse's late-night adventures are undeniably cute.

For me it's particularly exciting to see a few actual objects from my childhood home (including my brother's stuffed monkey) making an appearance; recently I've been handing the book out to everyone I know with a new baby because it's such a cute and charming book. The sing-songy poem is written by Jim Aylesworth.

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Posted on August 17, 2009

? Once again Pixar has surprised and amazed me. While I have to admit that my first reaction to advertisements for Wall-E wasn't one of wonder (I actually thought it might be a bit too precious and contrived), in a way I'm glad that the animation powerhouse keeps proving me to be too cranky and cynical because let me tell you, this thing is fantastic and it nearly brought myself and Jim (who never cries) to tears.

Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter and team managed to make magic from the simplest ingredients: a desolate landscape that is an environmentalist's worst nightmare is rendered so exquisitely that you're left marveling at dust and trash; a cockroach, universally rather despised, becomes an adorable and loyal companion.

The warnings of impending environmental collapse (including morbid obesity, laziness and human gluttony destroying the earth) are harsh and direct, I'm hard pressed to think of another recent mainstream movie so clear in its message, especially a children's film. It's quite an achievement in this testy time to be so political without alienating audiences and coming off preachy.

I think the film manages this feat by instilling so much humanity in its nonhuman stars. Wall-E and Eve, just scraps of metal and computer chips, can make you laugh, cry and want to be a better person – pretty powerful stuff for a cartoon.

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Posted on April 20, 2009