Fantastic Fugitives makes non-fiction reading fun for tweens

As an adult I went through a big phase of reading non-fiction books. However, young readers, specifically children have a much harder time reading non-fiction. They’re perceived as wonky, humorless texts that lame teachers make them read so that they can learn about people they’ll promptly forget about. An added hurdle for young readers is that non-fiction requires context, as well as, a basic knowledge of history to fully comprehend, enjoy and hopefully learn something.

Fantastic Fugitives, book, wit, humor, non-fiction, Tubman

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Little Elliot, Big Family-great reading for 8 and under

When Mike Curato introduced young readers to Elliot in Little Elliot, Big City it felt good. It’s the kind of book that parents could read multiple times to children before bed time, has art with a timeless feel and a story that any age can relate to. The pink and blue polka dot elephant is back in Little Elliot, Big Family with an even more entertaining story and art that fills the pages with diverse, classic art.

Little Elliot, Big Family-great reading for 8 and under

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Be A Friend, a relatable lesson for kids of all ages

For us the best children’s books manage to make us smile from the cover. Be A Friend by Salina Yoon gets that (and many other things) right throughout the entire book. It has a boy dressed as a mime giving a young girl an imaginary flower. The image makes you smile and the happy vibes continue in this book that’s great for kids 3-7, but in reality any age can pick it up and learn something from it.

Dennis is the mime in Be A Friend. He’s a bit different, as anyone who is a mime would be; a little shy at times, but has fun in his own particular way.  We see his friends have fun playing in a tree, while he has fun pretending to be a tree.

Be A Friend, a relatable lesson for kids of all ages

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Welcome to the Symphony, interactive-audio for kids

“What’s that noise?” our 4 year old asked as he stumbled into the kitchen. “That’s a cello” I said, “press that pink button and you’ll hear a viola”. Just like that the purpose of Welcome to the Symphony, a new book by Carolyn Sloan and James Williamson proved its purpose. For the next ten minutes he quizzed me on what is a symphony, about the different instruments and why the mice wanted to hear it.

Welcome to the Symphony, interactive-audio for kids

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Spot It! Miles From Tomorrowland, learning made fun

Is it better to refer to Spot It! as learning made fun or fun made learning? It is a fun card game that kids of varying ages will enjoy and have fun with, but they’ll also learn something from it. We were provided with Spot It! Miles From Tomorrowland, Spot It! Basic French and Spot It! Basic Spanish for the kids to try out. Each deck of cards comes in a tin can with round cards that have letters, pictures, words or numbers on them. Any two cards will have one pair of things that are an exact match. It sounds simple and to an extent it is, but it’s also great practice for young minds who are learning early concepts.

Spot It! Miles From Tomorrowland, learning made fun

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SparkGift, fractional share investing-great for kids, really

We were compensated for this post. All thoughts are our own. If you’ve ever attended one of our child’s birthday parties thank you. Thank you for your generosity, for the remote control toy that broke the next day, the Sesame Street toy that was just a bit too young and that thing that they said they’d play with, but never saw the light of day again. SparkGift is the gift that long-term planning parents need to get on board with for many reasons. Call it a legacy, retirement, lesson in investing or whatever you’d like, but SparkGift is a way to give what people what they need-and will one day, want-and need.

I never really learned about investing until I was in my mid 20’s. While I’m glad that I learned those lessons I missed out on 25+ years of massive compounded interest that would have multiplied like bunnies by the time I’m ready to retire.

SparkGift is a way for people to give stocks and index funds as gifts. Between those options you’ve got more than 6,000 choices to invest in the commonly mentioned stocks like Apple, Netflix or the index funds that group together areas of interest or size.

SparkGift, fractional share investing-great for kids, really

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Do you have an emergency and natural disaster plan for your pets?

This is a sponsored post. All thoughts are our own and if you’re a pet owner you really do need an emergency plan.  Before being a dad and starting Daddy Mojo I worked at a large animal shelter for five years in management. When you work for a non-profit organization in management you have to know everything about the business from top to bottom. During my time there I helped the shelter deal with various disasters, both natural and man-made. In all of those instances a plan to deal with your pets, as well as, an emergency kit with their supplies was something that I did not see enough of that would’ve saved time, money and lives. October is National Animal Safety and Protection Month and here’s a brief overview of what we learned on the job.

Do you have an emergency and natural disaster plan for your pets?

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Imaginary Fred is a child’s pretend friend you want to meet again

There is not an “I” and “N” missing from the title for Imaginary Fred. Parents of a certain age will certainly remember a fabulous movie by the name of Drop Dead Fred. That pseudo classic film and Imaginary Fred have their one main named protagonist in common, but the film goes into PG-13 territory while the book is squarely aimed at children aged 4-8.  To be clear, Imaginary Fred is not based on the Rik Mayall character, but being a fan of that film and now this book, brings back memories.

Imaginary Fred is not what you think it is.

Imaginary Fred is real, and very clever for young readers

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