A Labor Day Hooray

A puppy explains the meaning of Labor Day.

Bedtime was special when my children were very young. We enjoyed reading aloud and telling stories to each other. Such times were special, to be savored and treasured; out of those times came The Davey Family Stories. Each is an extension of our family at the time, and each embodies a modicum of truth--the way it was and the way we wanted it to remain. This wish is still true. As with all fiction, this book is a roman a clef, life remembered but couched as fiction. That doesn’t make it any less true; in fact, it may serve to emphasize the truth of being, of existing, of our petty attempts to make a mark on time, an enduring impression which may outlast our lives and memories. At any rate such can I hope.

You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not sneeze. Why? Because Santa Claus comes to Joylandia every day! And here, Christmas decorations, trees, and wreaths are mandatory, as is having a clean bill of health. It's a celebration, after all! A party! And everyone has to be happy and healthy... whether they want to or not. Otherwise they'll have the merciless Jolly Fellow brigade to deal with. Prepare for a Christmas tale of nightmare proportions.

Poetry is valuable for stimulating the young childs brain growth. Combine poetry with fun movements and you have an effective way to actively involve children in exploring celebrations of all cultures around the world. What fun your children will have as they pretend to play musical instruments, steer a ship, look through a telescope, plant a tree, be a groundhog, fly on a broomstick, spin a dreidel, or march in a band. You can add any of the suggested small props (ribbons, small bells, maracas, miniature flags, and party hats) to the rhymes to help build large motor skills and increase the fun factor even more! A CD with the various rhymes being sung is included that provides either appropriate background music for use for singing the rhymes and/or performing the movements.

Thirty acclaimed writers share their personal birth stories—the extraordinary, the ordinary, the terrifying, the sublime, the profane It's an elemental, almost animalistic urge—the expectant mother's hunger for birth narratives. Bookstores are filled with month-by-month pregnancy manuals, but the shelves are virtually empty of artful, entertaining, unvarnished accounts of labor and delivery—the stories that new mothers need most. Here is a book that transcends the limits of how-to guides and honors the act of childbirth in the twenty-first century. Eleanor Henderson and Anna Solomon have gathered true birth stories by women who have made self-expression their business, including Cheryl Strayed, Julia Glass, Lauren Groff, Dani Shapiro, and many other luminaries. In Labor Day, you'll read about women determined to give birth naturally and others begging for epidurals; women who pushed for hours and women whose labors were over practically before they'd started; women giving birth to twins and to ten-pound babies. These women give birth in the hospital, at home, in bathtubs, and, yes, even in the car. Some revel in labor, some fear labor, some feel defeated by labor, some are fulfilled by it—and all are amazed by it. You will laugh, weep, squirm, perhaps groan in recognition, and undoubtedly gasp with surprise. And then you'll call every mother or mother-to-be that you know and say "You MUST read Labor Day." Contributors: Nuar Alsadir Amy Brill Susan Burton Sarah Shun-lien Bynum Lan Samantha Chang Phoebe Damrosch Claire Dederer Jennifer Gilmore Julia Glass Arielle Greenberg Lauren Groff Eleanor Henderson Cristina Henriquez Amy Herzog Ann Hood Sarah Jefferis Heidi Julavits Mary Beth Keane Marie Myung-Ok Lee Edan Lepucki Heidi Pitlor Joanna Rakoff Jane Roper Danzy Senna Dani Shapiro Anna Solomon Cheryl Strayed Sarah A. Strickley Rachel Jamison Webster Gina Zucker

In this book, learn how to count by tens.

Started by Dr. Seuss, finished by Jack Prelutsky, and illustrated by Lane Smith, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! is a joyous ode to individuality starring unsinkable teacher Miss Bonkers and the quirky Diffendoofer School (which must prove it has taught its students how to think--or have them sent to dreary Flobbertown). Included is an introduction by Dr. Seuss's longtime editor explaining how the book came to be and reproductions of Dr. Seuss's original pencil sketches and hand-printed notes for the book—a true find for all Seuss collectors! Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith pay homage to the Good Doctor in their own distinctive ways, the result of which is the union of three one-of-a-kind voices in a brand-new, completely original book that is greater than the sum of its parts. For all of us who will never forget our school days and that special teacher, here is a book to give and to get.

A children's picture book of celebration and faith. Heart-warming holiday stories for children with animal antics that will draw the little ones into the stories. Vivid illustrations and historical tidbits are sprinkled throughout and each story ends with a Bible principle.