coloring book

Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away with Another Spoon

mandy — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away With the Spoon review, short version: If you have children, know children, or were ever a child yourself, you need this new coloring book by Jacinta Bunnell and Nathaniel Kusinitz.

Long version: As a child of the Free to Be...You and Me seventies, dressed androgynously by a pair of liberal-minded parents, I never dreamed that I would have difficulty recreating a gender-neutral environment for my first child, born at the turn of the new millennium. What I didn't know was that there was a counter-revolution afoot, and it believed that infants should only wear onesies of blue or pink. Despite great social and legal victories made for GLBTQ civil rights since I was a kid, gender nonconformity remains a huge threat to the status quo—and while grown-ups can get away with picking and choosing their participation in the Gender Games (I have not worn makeup in almost twenty years), the battle lines for children remain fixed. I daresay they've hardened, no thanks to the complete Disney Princessification of childhood culture, as any walk through the kids' aisles at Target will tell you.

What's a parent to do? Why, pick up a copy of Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away With the Spoon, of course! While the title might lead a parent to believe that this is merely a gay re-imagining of old Mother Goose rhymes, the real theme of the book is freedom. A furry, sharp-toothed beast with accessorizes with sparkly gems that Paris Hilton might envy. A “breadwinner in the family” is a man who's the proud winner of a baking contest. A mermaid decides “I am making my way out of this fairy tale and starting a new life with two strong legs and a voice.”

In my favorite picture, an adorable kid in a dinosaur t-shirt holds a to-do list that reads: “1. plant garden 2. fix carburetor in truck 3. start presidential campaign 4. end war.” If either of my children presented such a list to me, I could quite happily drop dead on the spot, knowing that my life's purpose was fulfilled! Really.

My only complaint with the book is its price. I realize that this is an important, educational project from a morally noble, independent publisher, but come on—there is no parent in earth, radical or otherwise, who is going to lay down ten bucks for a coloring book. Coloring books get scribbled on, ripped up, scrunched into backpacks and quickly destroyed. I want to pay three bucks for it, tops. I may be a sellout for suggesting this, but I wouldn't mind if the Human Rights Campaign got behind Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away With the Spoon and lent its considerable financial and political power to making copies available in libraries and classrooms. Every kid deserves to meet this great group of gender-fluid friends and to color outside of these pages' lines.

Written by: Shannon Drury, April 26th 2011

WonderToast Onesies

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:12:00 +0000

By WonderToast

I originally noticed Ann Woltz's charming illustrations when looking for a birthday gift for a surrogate niece. Odetta is flourishing on the other side of the planet, but no matter where she's planted, I have no doubt she will bloom. And what better food for a flower than knowledge of global cuisine? Even though one may be mashing bananas through its fists, it's never too early to expand an infant's palette. The items available at the WonderToast site provide assistance. Short- and long-sleeved one-hundred percent cotton onesies are available in bright cerulean, pale yellow, tangerine orange, aqua, and avocado green. Cartoon foodstuffs declaim “D is for Dim Sum,” “N is for Nigiri,” “T is for Tandoori,” “G is for Guacamole” and “F is for Falafel.” A coloring book and cocktail napkins are also available. Tots can wear the healthy reminder “V is for Vegetables” from the sale section. And who could resist chatty ebi? This is the place to pick up one-hundred percent of the daily recommended whimsicality value.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, July 13th 2009

Max's Moving Adventure: A Coloring Book for Kids on the Move

admin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:13:00 +0000

By Danelle Till, Joe Spooner

First Books

Max’s Moving Adventure is a coloring book for kids who are dealing with moving from their home to a new place. This book is long overdue. I know from experience, as both a child and as a parent, what trauma this change can cause. But I decided to do something a little different with this review. I handed it off to my seven year old daughter, Ella. I asked her to read the book and tell me what she thought. The next day we had a fallen tree that uprooted us. We went to stay with family 50 miles away. Ella took the book along on a trip that would turn into a longer stay than expected.

Max’s Moving Adventure is appealing to this parent. Unlike the traditional coloring book, this book has a quality soft back binding, a colorful glossy cover and a decently weighted paper. The illustrations were fun to look at and had enough detail to make coloring fun.

I must admit I’m not a big fan of coloring books because they seem to deter creativity, but this story made me think of a children’s picture book. It had a message that most parents and children could relate to. Danelle Till covers all the emotions of a child moving. My favorite page is the cave family, who invents the wheel so they can move to a new cave. Excellent imagination. The activities are added entertainment.

But really the opinion of a parent only goes so far. What did Ella think of Max’s Moving Adventure? After pouring over the book, Ella asked me if she could keep the book because she wanted to work the puzzles. She also wanted to know when we were moving. The book so appealed to her. She loved the idea of coloring in a picture book, usually a forbidden delight. So, there you go. I give this book a high mark based on the reaction of an expert, seven year old Ella Hite. Buy this for your kids. They’ll love it.

Written by: Ann Hite, July 25th 2007