A few weeks back, we launched our first Hanukkah contest of the season: Parents Get Lit(erature). The contest wrapped up earlier this week and we wanted to announce the winner–Ory Sandel, from California. Congratulations Ory! Check the mail for your bag o’ books from Kar-Ben Publishing.

Ory’s winning entry?

In line waiting to get into a Phish show in Chico, California, 12/4/94.

The fact that a Phish Phan (get it?) could remember the exact date of the show after seven years speaks volumes to both his commitment to Hanukkah and the perseverance of his brain cells despite any “ambience” at the concert.

And if you didn’t win that contest, luckily for you there’s a few hours left to win our other one–the Worst Hanukkah Present Ever. Simply follow THIS LINK, and add your worst Hanukkah present to the comment section at the bottom. We’ll choose a winner by the end of the day. Good luck!

• Posted in Traditions
• Tags: Books, contest, Hanukkah

We fully support raising book nerds.

If you still need some gift ideas to fill in all those nights of Hanukkah, we’ve got an old-fashioned idea that’s sure to please any kid: books! And what’s better than books? Books about books!

Our resident book expert Laurel Snyder (author of Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher and Bigger Than a Breadbox) tells us about her family’s long-standing book giving tradition, and shares her favorite picks for kids in this new article on Kveller.

With books starring elephants, monsters, dogs, and real life kids, there’s no doubt that one of these is bound to make a lasting impression on your young readers. And in Laurel’s own lovely words:

Winter is a dark season, and books provide as strong a light as candles. They shine and transform the nighttime. They put us to sleep, and teach us things. They give us a reason to cuddle up to our kids and share a few quiet moments.

Check out the full article here and then get ye to the bookstore!

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books, Gifts, Hanukkah

Last week, we announced that we’d be giving away a copy of Amy Meltzer’s newest book, The Shabbat Princess. The only catch was, you all had to send in your cute photos of your little ones celebrating Shabbat anyway they knew how. We got some great entries–from challah-baking to dressing up for Shabbat to playing outside with family. But this one was our runaway favorite. We think the way he’s shoving the challah in his mouth is adorable, and did you notice he’s using a fork? So civilized!

Congratulations to the Gerber family, and keep your eyes peeled for the book’s arrival in the mail.

Shabbat Shalom!

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books, contest, shabbat

Our friend Amy Meltzer has just released a new book called The Shabbat Princess. It’s the story of a little girl who might be a tiny bit princess-obsessed, and wants to dress up the Shabbat table so it’s worthy of a princess. (Traditionally, Jews welcome the Sabbath Queen on Shabbat, but there’s nothing in the prayerbook about a princess!) This sweet story has been a hit with the preschool set, and we have no doubt that your little one will love it too.

So how do you get your hands on a copy? Well, besides buying it on Amazon, you can enter our Shabbat giveaway! Send in a photo of your kid doing something Shabbat-related (making challah, taking a Shabbat nap, or well, do anything really) and you’re officially entered in the contest. Please know that by sending us your photo, you’re allowing us to use it on Kveller and show the world how darn cute your kid is. Send photos to info@kveller.com by Thursday, November 10, and we’ll pick a winner and announce it on the blog next Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom!

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books, contest, friday night, giveaway, shabbat

I don’t know about you, but we used to read books. That was before the babies, of course. But we liked reading books and enjoyed the shared of experience of reading something. And talking about it. And that got us thinking. So, we present you Kveller’s newest addition: Too Busy for Book Club. Instead of books, we’ll talk about articles, stuff in the news. In other words, stuff that’s short. We are pleased to introduce Dawn Siff, a kick ass journalist and mom who will be choosing articles each week. And with that, we give you Dawn…

Dearest Kvellerati,

For years I worked in the news biz, now I work in the mom biz. I quit my job in April, a few months after my little boy was born. I realized soon after that, while momming full-time is great – best job in the world… puppies and rainbows etc – I was losing something in my ability to keep up with the outside world.

I remember going on dates back when I was young(er), (more) fabulous and single. If the guy wasn’t terribly interesting my friends and I would say, “He had no bullshit.”

So, traipsing to the park and back, hanging out at the swings with other moms, realizing “Oh I already told them that banal story,” I worried that I was running out of bullshit. I started looking for “talk-about” articles that I could mention to my friends. Occasionally we would send them around and get a good discussion going. I think, this is what book club is for, but who the F has time to read a whole book, right?

So, I give you, “Too Busy for Book Club.” Every week, in this space we’ll find a topic relevant to you, or just interesting and we want to hear your thoughts, feedback, arguments and …well, we want to hear your bullshit!

Dawn Siff

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books, Too Busy for Book Club

I recently picked up a whole new library for my 2-year-old at a stoop sale (that would be a Brooklyn version of a garage sale). I didn’t pay much attention to the titles, but gathered as much 25-cent loot as I could carry.

Among the new bag of goodies, was a copy of the Story of Babar. If memory serves me right (and it usually doesn’t) I loved this book as a child. So I had one of those WTF moments when Babar’s mom gets shot in the head somewhere around page 3. Babar then runs away to be educated and cultured in the big city where he’s taken in by a rich, old white lady who lavishes him with fine clothes. In the end, he marries his cousin and is crowned king, thanks to his time in the civilized world.

Um, really?

Perhaps, I’m late to the game, maybe you all got a memo about your favorite childhood books that are actually crap. So, help me out here. Any other classics I should be avoiding? Let’s try for a Top 10 list.

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books

I recently got a mass email from a parenting website telling me seven ways I can raise a smart child.  As a second-time parent, over-scheduled, under-slept parent, I usually delete those emails, but I did open this one.

You see, I just finished reading Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think by Bryan Caplan. Caplan got a fair amount of press on NPR when the book came out in April, a few months after the Tiger-Mama debate.  He believes that parents worry too much about raising smart or funny or hard-working kids, and that in the end, it’s all in the genes anyway. Basically, Caplan says, you might have some influence on your child’s functioning in the short term, or how your kids feel about you, but that’s about it.  If you really want to raise a child with specific skills or interests or values, you’d better start by choosing a partner who also has those traits, and hope that the right genes get passed along.

Caplan bases his ideas on a number of twin and adoption studies, which are common ways to measure the effects of nature versus nurture.  If, for example, being a good citizen was entirely the result of being raised in a law-abiding, volunteering family, then adopted children would be about as civic-minded as their adopted parents. But what Caplan found from these studies is just the opposite—that the adopted children were no more likely to follow in their adopted family’s footsteps than a randomly chosen person. Basically, he says, your kid is going to grow up to be whoever he or she will be, and the most powerful force is genetics. Read the rest of this entry →

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books, nature vs nurture, parenting books

What should dads read?

One of the things Ronia’s mother and I argued about was my lack of reading relevant literature, first pregnancy then childrearing books. It is somewhat impossible to argue for not reading them without making excuses for yourself, and I had the same reaction to Dan Friedman’s recent(ish) Kveller post about what men read.

My defense for not reading parenting lit was similar to Dan’s, that I was using my downtime to focus on other things. I still maintain that the parts of our brains that aren’t  devoted to parenting are precious and need to be nurtured. As a stay at home parent, no one was going to guilt me. In fact, I felt like the great advantage of fatherhood is that expectations were so low for me, that I didn’t have to worry about the guilt that people heap on mothers.

Still, I find Dan’s response rather thin. That’s great that Dan reads a lot of literary fiction. I love fiction, and read it too. I could probably even come up with reasons why it makes me a better father. But if you asked me to make a list of “things parents should do that they don’t have enough time for” or more to the point “things fathers aren’t involved enough in,” reading literary fiction would not be at the top of my list. Read the rest of this entry →

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books, Dads, parenting books, parenting style, reading

There are some excellent Jewish children’s books out there, both classic and new, and we’re here to see if you’ve been doing your homework. Whether they’re the books you remember from your own childhood or the ones you’ve been reading with your kids at bedtime, test how much you know with our latest quiz.

And if you’re not familiar with these books, maybe a low score on the quiz will shame you into checking them out.

Take the QUIZ now!

• Posted in Activities
• Tags: Books, featured, quiz

I have an important announcement to make.

I made a fabulous discovery this past week.

Fancy Nancy is Jewish.

(If you don’t know who Fancy Nancy is, go get yourself a preschool-aged girl. Hang out with her for a few hours, and you’ll learn.)

In case you were expecting something more exciting than Fancy Nancy, let me remind you that I live with a toddler and a one-year old. The most excitement we get around here is a new Caillou episode or a poopy diaper that didn’t leak.

Anyway, back to what I was saying. Oh, yes, Fancy Nancy is a MOT. I have the proof. Or at least the evidence.

But first, let’s talk about why this is important. I get major points in the ongoing game of “Is she/he a Jew?” (I also get points for knowing that although Elvis was technically Jewish, he once worked as a Shabbos goy for a Jewish family.) Anyway, I need all the points I can get—I’m competing against my husband, my family, and of course, every other Jew on the planet. (Don’t tell me you’ve never wandered the mall, picking out the Jews. You totally have.)

Second, I’m eager to find Jewish books other than the ones the PJ Library sends me. Don’t get me wrong, the PJ Library is fantastic, and if you haven’t already signed up, you should do so immediately. But we have enough Hannukah and Passover books, enough books about life back in the shtetl. I’m looking for stories that reflect our lives now, books in which the family has funny sounding names, and maybe they don’t eat pork, but they do have friends who aren’t Jewish and they live a diaspora life, balancing Jewish living with American culture. I’m looking for stories about sibling rivalry and tantrums and exhausted parents who also happen to be Jewish. That’s the story of my life, much more so than a rhyming book about making hamentashen for Purim. (Mama doesn’t cook, remember?)

That’s why I was so excited when I realized Fancy Nancy was Jewish.

Ok, on to the evidence. Read the rest of this entry →

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: Books, who's Jewish?