April Fool's - PKTR 24

Wacky, kooky, nuts. That's what this show says to me. It's the worst show yet. So, listen at your own risk.

Happy April Fools Day!

The books we mentioned in the show were these (seriously):




and


Join us next week, when we hope the show is back on track...

As always, thanks for listening!


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Images from Amazon.

Halfway Hiatus

We're halfway through our first year of podcasting!

Wow!

We hope our listeners will tolerate a little hiatus. We'll be taking a few weeks off to work on the show, reflect on our progress, discuss possible changes, and more. In the meantime, send us a note at pktalkradio@yahoo.com if you have any ideas for our show. Should we bring in guests? Do you have any topic ideas? Let us know!

Then, join us on March 29 for our exciting return!

Thanks for your continued support! We really appreciate it!


:-)

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!