Green Options

Practically Green: Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making by Micaela Preston is exactly what it says, a practical guide to going green.

This is one of the best green books I have read, probably because it isn’t all preachy and because I am a big DIY girl I just love the 30+ DIY projects included in this book.

When you have your first child, you don’t usually have someone always hanging out that you have to explain this natural process to. Sure, there are the gawkers at public breastfeeding. And the occasional MIL or distant relative who doesn’t think you should because they didn’t.

But by the time that second (or third or fourth) comes into the picture, you have an older sibling who just might not understand, “Why in the world is mama feeding baby under her shirt?”

If you’re not looking to pick up a breastfeeding doll, halter top and all, you’re probably looking for an engaging way to discuss breastfeeding with your tot.

That is where the book “Mommy Breastfeeds My Baby Brother” was born. Want a chance to win it?

Sneaky Green Uses for Everyday Things: How to Craft Eco-Garments and Sneaky Snack Kits, Create Green Cleaners, Remake Paper into Flying Toys, Assemble … a Robot Recycle Bin with Everyday Things is a fun and fabulous book for people that love to create their own gadgets.

This book is almost like a science project book. Both my older kids are checking it deciding which fun gadgets and experiments they want to try.

If you do homeschooling this might be a great book for you to get since it is full of green projects, experiments and even some crafty fun.

For a while, I didn’t read a lot of fairy tales to my small girls. I avoid presenting them with content that represents violence, and there’s not much more violent than the Brothers Grimm–remember how the stepsisters REALLY try to trick the prince when he comes searching for Cinderella? Shudder.

We’ve been implementing some elements of the Waldorf style of schooling into our home, however, and one thing that’s emphasized in Waldorf study is the experience of myths, legends, and fairy tales–they speak to us as a people, tell who we are as a culture, and are especially relevant to the emotional language of children, both light and dark. They’re also, like the Earth is Our Mother series of books, seen as connective, showing children their place in their community as a whole. And it’s true that my girls love hearing these cross-cultural fairy tales.

One of the gifts my son received for his 2nd birthday was a subscription to Wild Animal Baby published by the National Wildlife Federation. The magazine is printed on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. Wild Animal Baby is a children’s magazine for the age range 12 months to 4 yrs.

Wild Animal Baby is a wonderful way to get your toddler involved in reading at an early age. The magazine encourages children to get outdoors and appreciate nature. My son loves to get the mail and often asks to check the mailbox for his monthly copy of Wild Animal Baby.

Wild Animal Baby is just the right size for toddler hands. The pictures are bright and engaging and it is filled with several interactive activities for your child. Including I spy, letter/color/shape recognition, songs with illustration motions, captivating stories, child participation and much more.

My son loves to look for Sammy Skunk! I enjoy reading Wild Animal Baby to him because it is  educational and entertaining. We burn up some good time going through the pages and doing the activities.

This post was originally published on Eco-Libris blog on August 7.

“Where the Buttercups Grow” is a great children’s book, and we’re not saying it just because we’re collaborating with the publisher, Aaspirations Publishing, to plant a tree for every copy sold, but because we really think so, and that’s also the feedback we got from couple of kids in the Eco-Libris family we asked to check it out.

This book is beautifully written by Shelley Meyer and vividly illustrated by her daughter Tessa Meyer (in the photo above at the first book launch in Surrey).

Here’s the short version of what this book is about (the longer version can be found here):

One Small Step was founded by a mom who needed alternatives for her daughter’s lunches. Renata Bodon’s daughter’s school requires waste free lunches.

That led to One Small Step, an online resource for reusable, eco-friendly, stylish, and environmentally safe lunch products and food wraps with no BPA, no phthalates, and no PVC.

In addition to eco-lunch containers, reusable sandwich wraps, and environmentally friendly lunch bags One Small Step also carries eco backpacks, EcoStaplers, and Greenciles (pencils) for your back to school needs.

It’s quite possible that I have found my favorite book, EVER!  (I know that’s hard to believe since I devour books like some do coffee.)

Make It! by Jane Bull is A Cleaner Greener Book, this wonderful book contains basic information (turning trash to treasure & The 3 R’s), teaches kids how to sort recyclable materials (and focuses on donating to charities).  Then it launches into numerous step by step instructions for making new things from our trash.

If your house is anything like mine, you likely have a multitude of little plastic toy parts.  I’m constantly collecting tiny doll shoes, plastic spiders, bouncy balls, etc… and TOSSING THEM IN THE TRASH.  Not anymore! 

Kidzsack is an eco-friendly backsack made from 100% recycled cotton and soda bottles. A cute bag for back to school, the end of summer, or just to have for fun these bags allow a child’s creativity to come through.

The Kidzsack comes with a set of 8 washable markers that kids can use to decorate the bags. Then they can be washed and colored again. It’s usable coloring sheet for kids to enjoy.

When I was pregnant with my younger son, I discovered this book–just in the nick of time!

On The Day You Were Born is the perfect baby shower or 1st birthday gift. Or even a great thing to tuck away and give to a babe the first time you meet!

On the day you were born the round planet Earth turned toward your morning sky, whirling past darkness, spinning the night into light.

It is truly a modern-day classic, celebrating both birth and the wonders of the Earth simultaneously.

Have you ever heard the urban legend about alligators living in the sewers of New York City?  Well if you want to know the truth, look no farther than The Underground Gators written by our very own Tina Casey!  Tina actually worked in the sewers of New York City for the Department of Environmental Protection, so she knows the real scoop on alligators living under the Big Apple.

The Underground Gators is a delightful, imaginative story about NYC alligators that also explains such mysteries as to why school buses are yellow and socks go missing from the washing machine. Booklist writes:

This slapstick picture book begins by dispelling the urban myth about alligators living in the sewers of New York City: “To be honest, nobody has ever really seen them.” Then Casey hedges a bit. Just because there hasn’t been an eyewitness, she reasons, doesn’t mean that the alligators aren’t there. Together, Casey and Munsinger try to make a case for the ’gators’ existence, and the result is this over-the-top, comedic offering. All kinds of mysteries can be explained, it seems, by adding the alligator angle. Why are manholes round? So that the pizzas that alligators love to order can be easily passed through. What do babysitters do after kids go to bed? They play cards with alligators. There is a lot more silliness than sense here, but Munsinger makes it work in hilarious scenes of the endearingly goofy reptiles marching through the human world, from summer school to a child’s bedroom, where they stand in for the tooth fairy.