A Great New Book

Whoops! Looks like its been over a month since I've posted to my blog. You can tell I'm over 40, can't you? Just can't get into that blog rhythm. I'll try to be better.

There is so much great stuff coming into my office these days. I was out of town for a few days and when I got back I found a big red backpack from the folks at General Mills with boxes of cereal, Lucky Charms and Trix.

I also got a very big and very beautiful book called "Hubble: Imagining Space and Time from the folks at National Geographic. What a gorgeous book! It would make a wonderful Christmas gift for the scientist in your family ($50.00).

We also got some new board games - the Party version of Apples to Apples and the newest version of Clue with updated locations, characters and murder weapons.

One the best finds, however, was a new book by Meg Cabot, the author of the Princess Diaries books. It's called "Allie Finkel's Rules for Girls: The New Girl." Its actually the second in a series and I passed it on to my 9-year-old daughter Melissa to review.

Here's what she had to say:

This is the second book about the new girl in school. She’s coming in the middle of November and has a little fit with her mom about what she can wear and her little brother wants to wear his pirate costume. When she goes into the class the teacher wants her to talk to people about herself. At first, she’s not sure what to say, but then she tells them about the new kitten she is getting. A girl named Rosemary is the one who has a question. She really rudely goes “You might want to tell your brother that Halloween is over.”

Rosemary doesn’t seem like a nice girl and she makes fun of Allie and threatens to beat her up. Allie gets to be in the final two of the school spelling bee and Rosemary really puts pressure on her to win.

I don’t want to spoil the book for you so I won’t tell you much else.

I really like this book because Allie is about my age and I like all the silly rules she makes up.

Keep your eyes open for more reviews from Melissa! I've just gotten a couple of new toys in the office that I think she might have strong opinions about.

Smelly Pencils

Say "smelly" and "pencils" really fast and what do you get? That's right "Smencils." Why is this important? Because Smencils really do exist! I know, because there was a package of them waiting for me on my chair when I got to work today.

They sound silly but these really are cool. Made of recycled newspapers (save a tree!) these Gourmet Scented pencils really do smell. And they smell good. My particular favorite is the chocolate scented pencil, but they also come in loads of smells like cotton candy, root beer, bubble gum, and grape.

You can buy regular #2 Smencils and colored Smencils, tool.

PTA fundraising Moms - check this out - The Smencils Company offers fundraising packages, too. I mean, who really wants another bucket of frozen cookie dough when you can have really cool recycled smelly pencils.

Check them out at http://www.smencils.com/

Have you seen the Sea Pals Friends that we are giving away in the magazine this month? These things are so stinkin' cute!

So I was a marine biology major in college so I have a soft spot for ocean critters, but I think my kids are gonna love these too.

What you get is a little stuffed sea creature (kinda like a webkinz) in a plastic package that looks like a squished fish bowl. There is an Angelfish, a Clownfish (Nemo!), a Sea Turtle, my favorite, the Blue Lobster, a Shark and several more. You scratch off the secret code on the inside and log on to http://www.seapalsworld.com/. When you register your critter it shows up in your on-line virtual aquarium.

You can feed your pet and add decorative items to your aquarium. Now this is where I found it confusing. There are games to play, but its not easy to find. You have to scroll down to the bottom of the screen where you see your pet and underneath it will be a small button that reads "Take me to my secret world." Click that and you find your fish's "home" with furniture (can a fish sleep in a bed?) and the Tube Station. Click on that to go to special worlds where you can play games and interact with other creatures. Kids are limited to stock phrases so there its quite safe. Play the games and you can win points to buy cool stuff in the store.

Sea Pals is still adding games, and there are still just a limited number of users, but I'll bet this place is as hoppin' as Club Penguin soon.

I just got the COOLEST book from Silver Dolphin books today. It's called "Explore Within a Medieval Castle." The book itself has a big window in the front that shows an intricate model of a castle. As you open each heavy page a piece of the castle moves with the page, revealing another layer of the castle.

Kids will learn how to become a knight, what a trebuchet is (do you know?), how the castle kitchen is run, even how waste is disposed of.

It's a gorgeous book, recommended for ages 8 and up. I'd stick to those guidelines as the castle itself is very fragile and requires careful handling. It retails for $21.95.

It Happens Every Time I Take Vacation.

My chair fills up with boxes and packages. I can't sit down the first hour I get back into the office because I've got to open all the boxes and padded envelopes.

We took the kids to our favorite vacation spot - the Sea Pines Plantation in Hilton Head - and spent a week riding bikes, swimming, jumping in the waves, waving at the dolpins, and eating seafood.

My chair full of goodies was waiting for me when I got back. Just take a look at what was inside all these packages!

Disney sent me their latest 'tweener CD, the soundtrack from "Camp Rock." My 9-year-old is dying to see that movie, I'm sure she'll be saving her allowance for the CD, too!

Next I found a couple of Advanced Reader's Copies of two new books from Thomas Nelson Publishing. I love the one titled "Boomtown" cuz its author is listed at Nowen N. Particular. This action/adventure novel for kids is set in Boomtown, home to Chang's Famous Fireworks factory, the Slush Olympics and the "Fighting Slugs" football team. Hmmmm, could be an interesting read.

One really cute book I received is "Ugly," billed as "a classic fairy tale retold." Its the ugly duckling story retold as a witty and entertaining novel. I really like this one.

My favorite find in this stash of stuff is "America's Best Zoos" a travel guide for zoo fans everywhere. This would be a great resource book to keep on hand. Going to Fort Wayne, Indiana for a family reunion? Check out this guide to see what they say about the local zoo (they like it!). One weird thing about this book though, the forward is written by Newt Gingrich, of all people. Didn't realize he was such a zoo aficianado. Turns out his childhood dream was to be a zookeeper.

The strangest find in my mountain of mail was a book entitled "Go Team! Mascots of the SEC." This pamphlet-sized book is aimed at kids and details the history of the mascots of all SEC teams including a message to kids from each mascot. The UK Wildcats message - "Exercise to stay healthy. Try something new every day." Not a bad idea at all.

The last box I opened this morning held new DVD from New Line called "The Business of Being Born." From producer Ricki Lake and director Abby Epstein, this DVD "provides a nation of mothers-to-be with insight into the process of childbirth and the various options available when preparing for life's most special event." Hey, where was this 15 years ago when I needed it!

Tune in next week for more Fabulous Finds from Laurie's Chair.

Hey, want a sneak peek into what I'm working on for the July issue? It's a guide to some of the coolest new products on the market for traveling with kids.

One of my favorite finds is the cute little Wildebeest pictured above. He's a Zoobie - a combination backpack, travel pillow and super-soft blanket. These Zoobies come in a huge variety of animals - many of them much more realistic than your average animal backpack. Pick something common like a monkey or a giraffe or something a little more unique like the Wildebeest, the Water Buffalo or the Babboon (love his cute little face).

You can see all the Zoobies at http://www.zoobies.com/ and you can buy them locally at Baby's Room & Kids Too on Nicholasville Rd. next to Gattitown.

Make sure you check out page 3 of the July issue (hits the streets June 26th) because we'll be giving away some cool new products for summer.

I just got the coolest new game in the mail. It's called Think-Ets and its a teeny-tiny game you can stick in your pocket or throw in your purse. It's a tiny little mesh bag filled with 15 little tiny trinkets, so of like the accessories you'd find in a dollhouse.

My little bag included things like a tiny child's letter block, a fake gold ring, an eensy, little horse, a jade pebble, a tiny version of Hamlet, doll-sized scissors.

So what do you do with this stuff? Well, my recommendation is that you just hand it to your kids an see what they come up with, but Think-ets does come with game ideas. For example, Isabella could spread out all the trinkets on a table and have Eduardo look them over. Then Eduardo shuts his eyes, Isabella removes one trinket, and challenges Eduardo to figure out what's left.

Or ask Jedediah to choose one Think-et at random and tell a story about it. I know how my kids would play with them - each little piece would become characters in their imaginary worlds.

The coolest thing about the game is that it's tiny! You can literally play it anywhere - the dentist's waiting room, on an airplane, waiting for food in a restaurant, riding in the car.

The game is only $9.99, and there are many different sets each with a unique set of Think-ets. You can buy them on-line at http://www.think-a-lot.com/. I've e-mailed them to find local retailers.