11 Birthdays is one of my favorite books of 2008.It is the story of a girl named Amanda who always has her birthday with a boy named Leo. For their eleventh birthday they don’t have their birthday together. Then, something odd happens: their birthday starts repeating over and over again. Why is this happening? Read this book to find out! This is a great book and a mind-bending mystery.I think this book is for ages nine and up. I think that Wendy Mass is a great writer and I think she should write other books too!

Hadley ( age 8 )

Well, sorta… Excite Books (ExciteBooks.com) is a subscription book service that sends books monthly to your child, along with a few extra toys and goodies to keep him or her interested. Packages start at $4.95 per month and books are selected based on grade level and sex of child.

ExciteBooks is the brainchild of Austin George, a commercial pilot, who has always had a commitment to education. Before founding Excite Books, George volunteered as a motivational speaker in schools, where he was often surprised at the lack of books in the school library. George created Excite Books to “add excitement and energy into a child’s reading activities by allowing the child to be an active participant in all phases of learning and development through responsibility, motivation, and giving back to the community.”

A key element of the Excite Books program is a large plastic return prepaid envelope so you can send used or unwanted books back at the end of twelve months. Unfortunately, you can not use the bag to send all of your extra books to the chosen school since postage weight has already been determined.

Plans are available at a $4.99, $9.99 and $14.95 (one, two and three books per month) levels and comes with an “excitement guarantee.” If the books aren’t interesting to the child, he’ll refund the purchase price. Each package is engineered to excite a child, starting with the red metallic envelope. Three-book subscribers also get added educational activities.

Our sample package had books that immediately interested both my four and eight year olds, though they might not have been books they would have personally picked. This looks like a fun gift from faraway grandparents that want to foster the joy of reading in a small child, but can’t be there to help buy books on a regular basis. The price is right, the message is good, and as parents suffering always from too much clutter, we like the option of easily sending the books to schools that need them.

Astronomy and star-gazing has always been a great dad and child experience. Nothing beats lying on the grass on a warm August evening staring up in the sky and conveying the majesty and mystery of the heavens to a small child. This is a completely free activity, there are also plenty of accessories around if you’re so inclined. Here are a few of our favorites this year:

1.
Moon in my room - $39 - This light up moon hangs on your wall and shows the moon in 12 different settings, controlled by an infrared remote control. An audio CD tells more about the moon.

2.
Planisphere watch - $59.95 - This watch glows in the dark for 2-3 hours. It’s a great present for the astronomy geek who always wants to take advantage of a dark night sky. The watch shows northern constellations only.

3.
Celestron Skyscout - $199 (50% cheaper than in 2007) - The Skyscout uses GPS to ID and 8000 starts and planets and then will even tell you about via audio or text. All the astronomer has to do is point this gadget into the night sky and it actually finds constellations for you. As one reviewer on Amazon says, “This is the astronomy device I’ve been waiting for all my life.”

4. Orion Star Target Planisphere ” target=”_blank”>Orion Star Target Planishere - $11.00 - This stargazing the old fashioned way, with a map of the heavens you hold up in the night sky. You’ll also need a red flashlight to read the map in the dark.

5.
Barska Travel Telescope - 59.95 - Savings priced telescope for aspiring astronomers with 300X magnification and a 5×24 finder scope. Don’t expect the world, but this is a good intro telescope. Minor to major inconvenience is the table level telescope. It’s perfect for setting up on a picnic table and taking turns looking from there, but impossible to use at ground level.

Happy stargazing!

The Cloud B Sea Turtle is a fun addition to the nighttime routine. My kids say it helps them get to sleep because is has a soothing light. I like it because it turns their entire room into a planetarium, with choices of blue or green stars (and a moon). Stargazing has always been a special time for me with the kids and, while they can’t always figure out what I’m pointing at, they like the time lying on the grass staring up at the sky with daddy and talking about ’stuff.’ While the Cloud B Sea Turtle, and it’s other endangered animal constellation brothers, can’t replace that experience, it reminds of good times we’ve had and to come. The lights turn off after 45 minutes, which is usually long after they’ve fallen asleep.

LEGO City Advent Calendar 2008 - If you wait very much longer this cool advent calendar will be sold out for Christmas. This calendar has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday, but kids love to open up the little parts every day at breakfast, counting down the days ’till they have more stuff to open. Make sure to get a little plastic box as well to hold all the little tiny parts. Once the tiny pieces are assembled, they come apart and end up all over the house.

Lego CASTLE Advent Calendar 2008

LEGO City Advent Calendar (2007)

This rocking horse actually moves forward as the child (up to 130 lbs.) rocks. It works like popular inchworm. This is one cool pony for $350.

Some times, rather than a present for themselves, dads just like to see the kids enjoy a new toy or book. Here is a selection of books for young kids where the dad is the star. I’m an old softie when it comes to books and images of dads spending good times with their kids. My daughter has two or three books that feature dads and daughters and it makes me feel very special that she reserves a special place on her shelf for them. While we have not read any of the titles listed in this article, I’m going to check them out before next Sunday.

Here’s an excerpt from the Seattle Times Article and the list of books.

One girl likens her dad to a dog. One dad is convinced he’s a bird. Another dad lives away and a fourth works late but has a great lullaby in a wide-ranging selection of children’s books for Father’s Day.

“My Father the Dog” by Elizabeth Bluemle and illustrated by Randy Cecil (Candlewick Press, $6.99, ages 4-7). He scratches, fetches and growls when startled out of a nap. He likes the window rolled down and the breeze on his face during a drive. He pees on a tree and toots on the couch. Yep, this clownish dad is a lot like a dog as his daughter observes, but he’s a loyal, loving one. Bluemle reassuringly promises in a postscript: “This book is not based on my own father. Honest, Dad, it’s not.”

[From Books | Father's Day books celebrate dads of all kinds | Seattle Times Newspaper]

1.

My Father the Dog

2.

Papa and Me

3.

A Day with Dad

4.

Daddy Hug

5.

My Dad’s a Birdman

Nerf Vortex Mega Howler from (Hasbro) We like this new invention from the Nerf people. It reminds us of the lawn darts of our youth, without the fear of spearing the cat. The principle is somewhat similar: a light football that is attached to the rear-end of an arrow, making for an aerodynamic missle. The spin is that it’s a football, so the arrow tip is blunted and the Nerf, or course, is soft; not soft enough to save mom’s crystal vase, but safe enough not to snag a passing cat.

What’s also cool here though is that the ball is small enough for a five year old to get his fingers around it. His throws, aided by the rear fins, give him or her confidence in his natural throwing ability. Dads will enjoy the ability to really throw this ball a long distance even if you were a wimpy passer in high school. It’s not quite as easy to catch this little ball, but it sure is simple to toss.

We demo’d the Vortex Ultra Light so I can’t vouch for how the whistle works on the Howler version, and if it makes too much noise to use in the house. In general, this is not an indoor item, however, so plan for beach or yard use.

Like most people, I have a dirty little secret: I collect tacky souvenirs from monuments and buildings when I travel.

Like collections of snow globes, one monument alone is a tasteless souvenir. But put together a FULL CITY of monuments and you make a statement. My wife could never understand this mania, or “neurosis,” as she puts it, until a few years ago when the San Francisco International Airport featured a full concourse exhibit of souvenir monuments from around the world. There, in plenty of glory, were miniature reproductions of every major edifice in the world. Suddenly, my puny collection gained stature and value, rather then just being the goofy past-time of a middle-aged traveler. Some day, I could bequeath my collection to the Museum of Modern Art or even the Met!

As a former New Yorker, when I saw these, I knew I had to have them. The cars are cute too, but I’d skip them for a PanAm building, miniature Whitney, or a Columbus Circle. In fact, I’m getting two sets. I’m getting one set for my little boy to place between tracks of his train set (yes, the scale is a bit off), and one to go up on the shelf until I get a call from the mus

eum asking to take my collection on tour. They will make a perfect addition to my collection of stone, plaster, bronze and wood miniatures from cities I’ve visited around the world.

To read more about the history of this crazy hobby, check out this book: Souvenir Buildings Miniature Monuments: From the Collection of Ace Architects, which is a good book for dads and kids. My four-year-old son loves looking at the monuments. The book is divided mostly into major city-scapes, composed of mostly bronze and iron replicas of local landmarks and buildings. This is a fun book for both dads, kids, and budding architects.

I have to say that when my three and a half year old son opened this present on Christmas, I thought it was really a gift for a little baby. But it’s turned into one of his favorite toys.

When he first opened it, putting the puzzle together was a big endeavor that he always asked me to help him with. I don’t know how many times I’ve put this thing together, but I always sit with him a minute and try to think of another angle on the activity. At first, it was putting the numbers face up (they are only printed on one side), then we learned the order. Then I helped him count by repeating the sequence of the numbers, so he could fill in what comes next. We then advanced to number recognition, Greek prefixes (”octo means eight”), and today he surprised me by counting backwards. While he has learned how to count to ten (a not small achievement), I’ve relearned an important lesson on the value of sitting down with your kids and engaging with them even on something as seemingly infantile as this silly puzzle. The Imagiplay Number Snail is $20.

Postscript: my son walked into the room just now, saw this image on my screen, and exclaimed, “That’s my puzzle!”