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Eco Friendly Families is a new book written by Helen Coronato. It is a guide book designed to highlight green living with activities that engage and inspire…from toddlers to teens. I am so happy to see more books about this subject being published and becoming more mainstream and this book is a good one. Just look at the cover…it shows a family pulling a sapling tree in a wagon getting ready to plant it..mom, dad, and kids all working together for green causes….very cool.

This is an all important topic because we are raising the next generation of kids and we want them to do right by our planet …to be responsible consumers and advocates for our planet. The book has many ideas for small changes that bring big results. Small changes are especially important if you are making this a family effort and it helps ensure that your habits will actually become life-long habits. It goes into all the basics of energy conservation, creating less waste, reusing things, and embracing simplicity.

Then it goes into a month by month plan for changing the way your family functions so that it will be easier to digest…breaking up the actions into bite size pieces. I think this book would be really fun to tackle as a family, having family meetings once a week to discuss the green changes. I think it would really empower our kids AND it would help reinforce to everyone that this is serious business.

The BEST part about this book is that it has so many fun activity ideas. Going green as a family has got to be fun…I firmly believe that and this book delivers some great ideas. It has many 5 minute makeover ideas, nature crafting ideas, earth friendly recipes, gift suggestions and in general lots of great ideas for getting older kids and teens excited about going green. This is a great book for building upon your existing green family values initivatives.

Hot on the heals of my review of Choosing Simplicity I decided to finally review Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver… a book that has been on my shelf for months.

The book immediately resonates with me because it starts out in Tucson, Arizona as Kingsolver and her family leave their home of 25 years to live permanently in Virginia on their summer farm. I remember well the postcard perfect saguaro cacti and gorgeous desert sunsets. One person’s dream is another person’s normal. I remember well everything she describes. I lived for over 25 years in Phoenix and visited Tucson often. The desert is amazingly beautiful but it lacks something very important though….local food. Although remember my post about eating cactus… you can you know.

Not only is it hard to grow food in an arid desert, Arizona is using borrowed water piped in from the Colorado River and Mexico. The whole set up is not sustainable at all. So Kingsolver decided to re-enter the food chain and move somewhere green where the land could sustain her family.

It was important that her family know the basic things that our ancestors knew that in today’s age we have lost touch with. When do various fruits and veggies come into season? When can the last frost be expected? Which grains are autumn planted? How many people don’t have the foggiest idea what the answers are to these questions. Do we even consider it important? We have lost our connection to our food and this book is about the Kingsolver family’s attempt to find the answers and reconnect with their food. They would do this by growing as much of their food as they could and sourcing the rest locally.

The Kingsolver family settles into a farm and they begin their adventure of eating only what they and their neighbors have grown or raised. Each family member had one luxury item that they could keep buying, like coffee and smaller things will small eco impact like spices were allowed. They planted a large vegetable garden, the youngest daughter raised chickens for eggs and meat, and they raised turkeys. Close relationships with farmers nearby formed so that they could purchase from them what they could not grow or raise themselves. Immediately they began to see just how spoiled people have become when they do not have to consider where their food came from and at what cost. Honestly how many of us actually think about where our meals came from and how? Green people are becoming acutelyy aware of this but by and large not many people are.

Most people might never know what wild asparagus looks like, how to make cheese, or how to find a moral mushroom. They don’t know this because it isn’t necessary for survival anymore. And here I am saying ”they” when in fact I do not know what wild asparagus looks like, how to make cheese, or how to find a moral mushroom. ;) But the Kingsolver family was determined to reconnect with their food in an intimate way and never again be so detached from the process. Their adventures are delightful to read from the first picking of asparagus in spring, to making cheese, to organizing a birthday party for over a hundred people using only produce from local farms.

Barbara Kingsolver writes much of the book but her partner Steve also contributes essays and her daughter Camille details some delicious recipes the family ate while on their journey. It is a wonderful book for those who want to see what it looks like to live on local food.

Available via Amazon.com

Over the weekend I read the book Choosing Simplicity  - Real People Finding Peace and Fulfillment in a Complex World by Linda Breen Pierce. We live in a world where the predominant attitude is that money and the general accumulation of things brings us happiness. We are told over and over again that we should get an education, get a high paying job, marry well, invest wisely, do this, do that….and you have the recipe for happiness. All you need is more, more more! And then at some point you will be able to turn around and look at all you have accomplished and see all you have and be instantly happy. Check out this article on NPR that talks about how obsession with bigger and better housing is rampant today. But what about the people who never buy into that way of living or thinking? What about the people who look at the fast paced world around them and all the rats scurrying to better their situations, and say no thanks?

According to Pierce, the inspiration to write this book originated with her experiences living in a remote African village while in her twenties. The village had 400 people, no electricity, no running water, no convenience foods, no plumbing, and no cars save one the whole village shared. They lived in mud huts and they were often malnourished and suffering from skin ailments and ulcers. Pierce held dying babies in her arms. While most Americans might think this sounds like hell on earth, these villagers were the happiest, most joyous, most fulfilled people Pierce ever met.

According to Pierce it was difficult to distinguish work from play. They were always laughing, dancing, and singing. Huge belly laughs abounded all day long as they worked. They danced late into the night. They were happy.

Yet, even having seen this first hand Pierce made her way back to America and became a part of the fast paced, rat race. Many years later she read an article in Worth Magazine called Downshifters and it was all about simple living. She loved the article and quickly devoured other articles and books about the same subject but there was something missing. She didn’t want tips and advice for how-to live simply she wanted stories and experiences from people who were actually putting these concepts into practice. Could they sustain this lifestyle for a long time? Did they feel like they were missing out on things? Did they have regrets?

It was because Pierce was interested in finding these answers that she was inspired to start a study on simplicity and interview people who had accomplished a little of bit what those African villagers had. Was it possible? What did simple living actually look like within the lives of modern people? Frankly I find it kinda crazy that we have to wonder what simplicity looks like….that is how often we DON’T see it I guess.

This book has some amazing stories. It has the experiences of people from all over the world who have chosen simplicity. More than that actually, in my mind this is a collection of people of who have really evolved past and matured beyond the consumerism that most of us have grown up with. They have found a way to step past the smoke and mirrors and really see that the pipe dream being sold isn’t a recipe for happiness. These people are role models.

The first chapters explore some of the reasons why people evolve into a life of simplicity. Perhaps they became ill, they lost their job unexpectedly, they started a family, they were extraordinarily stressed, they lost someone they loved, etc. The in delves into personal stories of people living this life. The most surprising thing to me was that voluntary simplicity wasn’t all about being frugal or doing with less. Sometimes it might mean just getting a job closer to home so you have more free time. Perhaps it means selling a large house that sucks up your time with house cleaning and maintenance to buy a smaller one. Maybe it means that you stop spending your money on things and you are start spending it on experiences. It is really more about finding out what you want in life, drawing a straight line to your goal, and then finding out how you can resolve the zig-zaggy, going in circles path you inadvertently chose to get to the same place. It could mean living more frugally and learning to overcome materialism but it could also mean letting go of a fast paced, multi-tasking, way of life too.

It had stories of high powered corporate attorneys doing a 180. One dad decided to quit his job and simplify after his daughter drew a family picture with the back of daddy’s head showing because that is all she ever saw as he worked every night on his computer. A socialite and divorcee sold her McMansion to buy a tiny condo on the beach. Another couple moved into a commune to learn homesteading skills and then they bought their own 40 acre ranch where they could grow their own food and unschool their kids. There are many inspirational stories in this book. I really enjoyed it because this is an area that I struggle with.

Available at Amazon.com

My weekend read was very inspiring, Young at Art by Susan Striker. Susan is the creator of the widely popular anticoloring books for kids I like so much. As an art teacher of many years and a mom herself she has some great ideas about how art should evolve in a child’s life and how much of what we might be doing may actually stifle their creativity and love of art.

With the exception of baby’s first steps, there is no more significant milestone in your child’s development than the first mark he or she makes on paper. These squiggles herald the start of a lifetime of writing and drawing. - Susan Striker

I love the information this book has about activities and practices to instill a love of art and how it isn’t just “frill” but really a very important foundation for educational skills. This foundation also effects their emotional and intellectual development. I know many parents that don’t let their children pursue art because a clean and tidy home is more important to them but this book clearly shows why that is a BIG mistake.

Interestingly this book also outlines some surprising things we should NOT give to children…coloring books, dot-to-dots, magic paints and markers, or similar projects where the artwork has been done and they just have to use a limited amount of brain power to just fill in the missing parts. These things limit their self expression. Striker’s arguments against these items was very convincing. Really I think parents end up being a creative blocker for their kids as far as art is concerned many times. Throughout the book there is also a strong message to parents that art is serious business for kids and seeing things like scribbling as just “scribbling” or “a mess” can be seen by children as a form of rejection. It is very important not to devalue their work. It is also important not to deny small children things like crayons because we are afraid they will write on things they aren’t supposed to. Its hard to do but very important and yes there may be messes unplanned expression. Take a look at my office wall:

All four walls within his reach look like this. My own mother has a heart attack whenever she sees it.

Striker also has words of caution for parents who “coach” their kids and try to tell them how to draw, what colors to use, or show the “proper” way to do something. It is like expecting a six month old to walk…kids have stages of development where artwork is concerned and coaching rushes them. It also limits self expression. Some of the greatest artists (Picasso) broke all the rules….just keep that in mind.

I really appreciated all the charts, lists, and pictures this book has that explain the creative process of a child. So much research has been done on this and yet this is the first book I have seen to address this. It is fabulous.

The first chapter is the most informational one. It provides the basis for why we should try to encourage art. Subsequent chapters discuss different art activities and how to incorporate them, drawing, painting, paper, sculpture, exploring colors and shapes, etc. The end of the book has lists of art books and wholesale art suppliers.

I found the book to be immensely useful and inspiring. I also found myself using some of the practices that limit self expression but found just as many areas where I am already doing what I need to be doing. Off to plan some activities outlined in this book…

Buy Young at Art!

My 4 year old daughter Paige is thrilled with a new addition to her library…the Nana Star books. Even better, these books come with dolls. What more could a little girl ask for?

I think these books are bound to be classics. They are so much fun and so enjoyable to read, especially when you have the accompanying dolls that make am appearance quite often throughout the books. They get a BIG thumbs up from mom too. The books are beautifully illustrated, very high quality, the story is wonderful, and the dolls are made of cloth.

The first story follows the adventures of a little girl who loves to frolic outdoors, listening to nature, and sleep in a meadow of flowers. It is after one such nap when she awakes to hear a soft call for help. After searching the little girl finds a lost baby star who has fallen from the heavens. The baby star calls the little girl Nana Star and she vows to help take him home where he belongs.

In the second book Nana Star and the baby star are journeying to figure out how to return baby star to his home. Nana Star starts to feel scared and alone when, with help from a new friend, she learns that she is never alone. The Moonman is always watching over and guiding her, even when she can’t see him.

The stories are really about building character and helping others and valuable for all children I think. Each book also comes with a storytime and sing-along CD. My daughter is absolutely enthralled with the story and though he won’t admit it…my 7 year old son rather likes it to.

Along with the book you can get a posable Nana Star doll and she comes with a baby star to take care of. The Moonman lovey glows when kids cuddle him and plays a sleepy “luvaby” when they hug his tummy! He’s a comforting presence as they drift off to dreamland.

The whole set has one several awards and we can’t wait for more books to be released. If you have a little girl this set would make a great gift!

It has always been really important to me that my kids develop the same love of nature and the outdoors that I did. It makes me really sad when I see kids so disconnected with nature that they couldn’t entertain themselves outdoors if they wanted to. I saw this just recently as a friend of my son’s came over to visit and he was LOST without video games. My son would be outside playing all day and most of that time his friend wanted to be inside, on the couch playing with his Nintendo DS. Oh and the friend was completely grossed out when he found out that lettuce grew in the dirt.

When I think back to my own childhood….horseback riding, camping, building forts in the woods, fishing, swinging on a bridge rope, tree climbing and all that other FUN stuff, I know I want my children to have the same type of childhood. I want them to love nature the way I do and for heaven’s sake not be afraid of getting good and dirty.

I really enjoyed reading a book that aims to help parents do this. It is called I Love Dirt and it has 52 activities to help you and your kids discover the wonders of nature. It is written by Jennifer Ward and the Foreward is written by Richard Louv, who wrote another awesome book called Last Child in the Woods. Everything about the book is fabulous from the rounded corners, the cream colored pages, the classic illustrations, to all the great information in it. It has 52 activities for 52 weeks of the year and they are organized by season.

Each activity is explained along with ideas of what you hope to teach your children by doing them. Digging in the dirt, looking for ladybugs, skipping rocks…all of these activities can encourage a love of nature and learning. My favorite activity hands down is called Time Out. It involves relaxing outside for a meal and story time. Selecting a nice wildlife story from the library and then reading it outside would make it all the more meaningful. Another activity my kids and I used to do all the time when we lived near a creek bed was water hole watching. We would go down to the creek and watch from a distance to see the animal community come out and drink. We were always hoping to see the mountain lion who lived in the area but usually we just got to see his/her tracks.

Todd Christopher of The National Wildlife Foundation endorsed this book by saying, “There may be no better way to ensure the well being of the natural world than to introduce children to its many small wonders today.” I wholeheartedly agree. If we expect future generations to protect our one home than we have to introduce them to it and help them come to love it.

One of the MOST important things I want to do for my kids is to create opportunities for them to to use their imagination and ingenuity to “create”. Albert Einstein once said that “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

I fully agree with his statement. I have accomplished so much in life because I actively nurtured creativity in life and in business. When I worked in marketing there was nothing that served me better….my job was to imagine a company brand, marketing materials, a PR campaign, collaterals, and then create what I saw in my mind. I still have my portfolio with all of my concepts and designs. I knew I wanted my children to feel the same empowerment that I did from being able to visualize something and then make it a reality.

Our home by design is a haven for creativity and artistry. We have paints, soy and beeswax crayons, sketching pencils and instruction books, stencils, beads, clay, play dough, beeswax, sewing supplies, costumes and face paints, henna, decoupage materials, cross stitch and knitting supplies…we are always adding to our “creation station”.

Yesterday I read a book that really resonated with me. I couldn’t put it down! It is The Creative Family - How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule. It is full of advice on how to easily encourage a creative atmosphere and it has many simple projects for the whole family to do. It also gives many ideas for inspiration. I loved her ideas to use kids artwork to make thank you cards and Christmas cards, I loved her idea to use beat up vintage children’s books for art projects, and I loved her ideas for organizing everything. I will be making our own inspiration wire like she shows in the book, which is filled with beautiful color photos of her home and her family’s projects. My favorite tip was hands down the one where she suggested taking shirts with paint/marker/food stains and dying them. I hadn’t thought of that! There is also a chapter devoted to being resourceful and not wasteful. It has many planet friendly ideas.

One tip that I fully endorse it to buy quality art supplies for your kids…not the cheap stuff you get at big box stores. Yes, it does cost more but their creations are worth it. After all, we don’t like using low quality tools when we have a job to do. That is one reason I like soy crayons so much…they color smoothly and evenly unlike chunky, splotchy petroleum crayons. Quality watercolors are steadfast and won’t fade like the little Crayola sets you can buy. A good wooden handle, animal hair paint brush will last for a long time as opposed to a cheap plastic one. A good place to look for cheap but high quality materials is at yard sales and estate sales. I know I am looking for children’s desks this summer. Even if they are in bad condition I can paint them and give them a makeover.

Among the projects outlined in the book…a pencil roll, felt blocks, a pair of pants from an old T-shirt, freezer paper stenciling, embroidering your children’s art on clothes and pillows, making memory books, and making bedtime bags….plus much more.

I think it would be hard for anyone to read this book and NOT be inspired by it. I know I will be referring to my copy for a long time to come.

Seeking a good series of books for young girls that feature strong, compassionate, and eco savvy role models? In this day of Bratz, Barbie, Teen Beat, and text messages this might seem like a tall order but the Gaia Girls series delivers. These award winning books are aimed at tween girls and I love the strong and ethical characters. I was so impressed by the series I will keep up with reading them myself and save them for my daughter.

What I loved the most was that these characters are not products of our consumerist society. These girls aren’t obsessed with boys and the latest boy band, text messaging each other, or wearing make-up to school. The four girls featured in these books have a greater calling in life…to use the powers given to them by Gaia (the whole of the earth) to save and protect their local communities and the world at large from ecological devastation.

In book one, Enter the Earth, we meet the first Gaia Girl, 10 year old Elizabeth. She lives on a small organic farm, raising seedling trees, growing organic veggies, and shearing sheep for wool. Her family has leveraged the growing demand for organic products and heirloom food items to make a succsessful farm and farmer’s market business for themselves. Elizabeth is involved in the daily management of her farm home even contributing her own service, fresh cut wildflowers, to the Farmer’s Market every week. She spends her days working, adventuring with her dog, climbing trees, and listening to the sounds of nature.

All of this is threatened when Harmony Farms, a factory farm operation starts buying up all the land in their valley. Not only will a factory farm be devastating ecologically to their community it will surely ruin her family’s business as their river gets polluted and the air unbearable with the stench of thousands of pounds of pig excrement. Elizabeth feels she must do something but what????!?

Enter Gaia or Mother Earth. She bestows upon Elizabeth power over rock, soil, and mountaintop allowing her to control the soil and move through trees. She can communicate with the trees even. Gaia tells her that humans have become like a cancer to her and she must seek the help of four special girls before she herself starts to die or is forced to make conditions very bad for humans so they won’t be able to survive. Elizabeth has the power of Earth but soon we will meet the other 3 Gaia girls who control water, fire, and air. Together these tweens will do what so many others can’t be bothered to do…save our planet and preserve it for future generations.

All I can say is WOW. I LOVED these books….what I have read so far anyway. I am a big sci-fi fan and there aren’t a lot of superhuman heroines out there…let alone young ones. I think it is high time that young girls have a series of books that uses the power of imagination to spin a beautiful story about strong, intelligent girls who really care about their communities, nature, and the world around them.

Oh and another fun thing about the books. There are hidden codes inside the pictures that lead each chapter. Even the cover has some secrets if you look close enough at the tree and roots on it. Young girls are going to love this series…maybe some older ones too.

Next up Gaia Girls  - Way of Water to meet Miho.