App Turns iPhone Into Portable Picture Book Reader

by on December 29, 2008
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There’s a cool new app for your iPhone. And it’s FREE! I’m all about free.

The International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) provides the world’s largest collection of children’s literature freely on the Internet. ICDL for the iPhone application allows users to read a selection of books from the ICDL’s master collection. And supposedly the technology makes it possible to read story text clearly, even in highly illustrated children’s picture books on the small mobile screen.

Plus you can download books directly to the device, giving children and parents access to content offline and in airplane mode. Great for the doctor’s office. Because really – who wants to touch all those germy ACTUAL books?

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Story Books From the 1970s: Chicken Soup with Rice

by on November 12, 2008
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Oh yay! You all are in for a treat…. if you like 1970s children’s literature! Check out the video below!

I’m time traveling back to the 1970s again today with another classic story – Chicken Soup with Rice, by Maurice Sendak. If you’re not familiar with this book, it’s a stroll through the calendar extolling the virtues of chicken soup. It’s not fair, but I don’t associate this book with Sendak as much as Carole King, who sang the song. I don’t know if I ever actually heard the story without the accompanying cassette tape. If you emerged from a 1970s childhood without at least a fondness for King, then you never heard this song. Sendak is also responsible for another of my favorites – Where the Wild Things Are.

This is such a cozy book and song. And it’s catchy. I love it so much that a few years ago I checked out the book and tape from the library and played it over and over for my kids in the car. I’m glad I did that, because now I probably couldn’t get through it once before they were asking me to switch to 101.9.

I’m collecting all these classics, along with my memories of them. You can get Chicken Soup with Rice on Amazon. You can even download an MP3 file for $.99!

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Story Books From the 1970s: Tikki Tikki Tembo

by on November 6, 2008
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Do you ever find yourself reverting to your childhood as the holiday’s approach? Instead of channeling all that energy into tired family squabbles, such as who poisoned the dog back in ’83, why not put a happy spin on your mental time travel with a bit of classic 1970s children’s literature.

Tikki Tikki Tembo, no sarembo mari bari puchi pip peri pembo ….. or something like that. This is a great Chinese fable about a boy with a very long name who falls into a well. A bit grim by today’s standards, but the kids with love the rhythm and repetition of the prose.
What’s your favorite 1970s childhood classic?

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