Dr. Seuss and Read Across America - PKTR 23

My blogger friend over at Building Camelot wrote a great post about Read Across America and we liked it so much, we decided to devote a show to this celebration of reading.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Well, that wish would undoubtedly mean more if he were still alive, but...in honor of his birthday, we discuss all things Seuss in this show.



You'll hear about Seussville, Fox in Socks, Cat in the Hat and so much more!

Is your tongue numb yet?

We mentioned a place in Universal Studios where you feel as if you're in Seussville. That place is called Seuss Landing and it's at Islands of Adventure within Universal Orlando. For more information, just visit their site.

Thanks for listening!

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Images from Seussville.com and Amazon.

Don't Tell Me - Sponge Bob? PKTR 21

This might just be the silliest, wackiest PKTR show yet.

Inspired by National Public Radio's entertaining show called Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, (that's their logo above) the PKTR hosts play a similar fill-in-the blank game today, but instead of using current events from the past week, our happy tween host asks her mom questions about...

SpongeBob!!

Join in the fun, play along and see how many questions you can answer correctly. Can you beat the hosts?

If you're looking for a silly fun podcast to listen to while you work out or do your blog surfing, download this show!

Thanks for listening!

Join us again next week on Parents & Kids Talk Radio!!

Oh, and here's a photo of the invisibility cloak we talked about on the show:

This article explains how it would work and this one talks about the discovery of the blackest black color.

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Images from NPR and Google Images.

American Idol - PKTR 21

UPDATE (5.1.08): David Cook is a star. Plain and simple. He far outshone everyone on the show this week. He had the best stage presence, the best vocals, and the most passion. And he played the guitar (something the producers were excited about introducing this year - having the contestants play an instrument). We would love to see him win.

UPDATE (4.1.08): At this point, we're rooting for Michael Johns and David Cook.

UPDATE: There are a few controversies brewing with some of the contestants: read about some here and view this:

Click here to see the photo shoot of the top 12 guys.
Click here to see how to get the seminfinalists' performances on iTunes.
Click here to see an article about the probability of judges' biases.

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Those annoying auditions are over. We're down to the top 24 contestants and this is when, we think, the show really gets interesting.

You might be surprised that we actually watch Idol, but we do (not obsessively, but enough to have a lot to say about it!). So that's the topic for show #21. Download our show and check out the links on this post.

We're wacky and super talkative today; we tell you who we like the most and what we think about most of the top 24. Here are some of PKTR's faves:









And we're sorry to say that we completely forgot to mention another one of our favorites:


Let us know your favorites!

Thanks for listening!

Tune in again next week on Parents & Kids Talk Radio!

What are Strategy Games? - PKTR 20

Saturday, February 9, 2008

It was our 20th show and we were giddy. We called it Fun and Games. Download the show (or click on the play button over in the right sidebar) if you want to hear the co-hosts being silly and spirited.

In terms of substance...

Safari Rush Hour

You'll hear about a variety of games for your kids (and for you!), like Tipover, Safari Rush Hour, Rush Hour, and Quarto.

Quarto

We engaged in a rather spirited debate about this game (above). Please leave a comment (below) and tell us whom you agreed with. Is it like tic-tac-toe or Connect Four (or neither one)?

Midway through the show, you'll hear about a little known online game that will most likely start picking up speed with tweens (especially girls).

Finally, the co-hosts give a little shout out to a candy store they recently discovered that they would just love to visit some day.

Yum!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you take some time to have your own fun and games.

Thanks for listening. Join us again Saturday on Blog Talk Radio for Parents and Kids Talk Radio!!

Choosing Childrens' Books - PKTR 19

If you've listened to our past shows, you already know how much we love Apple. I've even been told that I should've called one of our shows the "I Want to Marry Steve Jobs" show. I love that comment. It really does capture how passionately I feel about the company (with no stake in it, either!).


If you've listened to our show about Amazon's Kindle, then you also know about my obsession with books.

So when I heard that Mr. Jobs actually said, "Nobody reads anymore." oh, it still feels like a punch in the gut when I hear that...NNNOOOOO!!!

It was hard to hear.

When it settled in a little bit, I began to feel inspired to do something. But what? Well, at the very least I could help people find books for their kids more easily. Does any parent believe that it doesn't matter if the extent of their children's reading is limited to what they read online or in magazines?

Oy.

Good books will always be good for your kids and we're here to help.

Today's show provides great tips on how to choose good children's books for your kids, including a couple of websites that will check the appropriateness of the book. So, if you have kids who are ready to read young adult books, you can find out whether a book is filled with racy scenes and bad language or is just a great adventure or well written mystery.

Here are some of the links mentioned in the show (and a few we didn't have time to discuss):

PKTR's Three Top Picks - Best Websites to Help You Find Great Books:

Book Adventure - a great site to help you find books according to your child's interests, grade level, and reading level.

Having trouble finding something for boys? Check out Guys Read. Great source for all ages of males.

Guys Read screen shot

Kathi Mitchell - Handy summer reading reference full of links to libraries and other resources.

Other great resources:

Houghton Mifflin (Education Place)
New York Times Children's Bestseller Lists
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Capitol Choices
I Love Libraries
Kids' Reads
Scholastic Book Talks (and Discussion Guides)
Harper Collins Teacher Resources
International Reading Association
Newberry Awards

And to check the appropriateness of the content, try either one of these sites:

Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media screen shot

Kid Confidence

Kid Confidence screen shot

Thanks for listening! Join us again next week at 2:00 (ET) on Parents and Kids Talk Radio!

Rage in the Internet Age - PKTR 18

Have you heard about the school superintendent's wife who left a harsh message for a disgruntled student?

YouTube is not new, but what is new is its use as a tool to fight bullying behavior. Now students (and others) are using it to stand up to authority figures (or their spouses) who are, arguably, abusing their positions of (relative) power.

Download the show and listen to an interesting discussion about this topic.

Chicken Soup and TV for Tweens - PKTR 17

Can you identify the author of this quote?

"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand ... Simplify, simplify."

Maybe this photo will help:

If some of us lived by his words, perhaps our lives would be more fun and less stressful.

Does all of this seem (as my daughter would say) off topic (from the usual topics found on this blog and on our podcast)? Well, tune in today to find out how it applies...trust us...it will.

The hosts started out a bit slowly on this episode, but eventually ended up being silly enough to sing a song from American Idol. You've got to hear it to believe it. Download the show now from BlogTalkRadio or listen by clicking on the "play" symbol in the blue button on the right.

Here's one of the books that the hosts mentioned on the show. We think it will help you by providing great parenting tips and words of encouragement:

The "Saturday Box" concept the hosts told you about is not in that book, so you'll have to listen to the show for its explanation.

Another series of books that will help you understand the phases and stages your children experience is written by Louise Bates Ames, Ph.D. Here's the example the hosts mentioned in the show:

Finally, the Chicken Soup story book was this one:


Thanks for listening.

Tune in again next Saturday at 2:00 pm (ET) on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.