Twitter for Parents and Caregivers of Young Children!

Twitter, the microblogging site that allows anyone and everyone to share their opinion on issues large and small, has been in the news quite a bit the past few years. From Kanye West’s clothing choices to news of revolution in the Middle East, Twitter can be many things to different people. As a librarian, I tend to use Twitter differently than my friends who are doctors or engineers. For example, I really enjoy following one of my favorite children’s book authors, Mo Willems (@The_Pigeon), who tweets hilariously as a character from his award-winning book Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! So too parents and caregivers of young children have formed something of a category of their own on Twitter. From craft ideas to tips for learning to read to general parenting advice, there is something for every kind of parent. Here are just a few of the organizations that I think are really helpful (and sometimes super funny) on Twitter:

@preschoolers
www.education.com's Twitter account focuses preschool. They tweet a “preschool activity of the day” involving a cheap or no - cost craft just for preschoolers.

@ParentHacks
From the editors of www.parenthacks.com - smart parents share forehead-smackingly clever tips, shortcuts, and product recommendations.

@ReadingRockets
Teaching kids to read, especially those who struggle. Research, classroom strategies, parent tips, books and authors, and much more, for educators and families. http://www.readingrockets.org

@ParentsMagazine
Tips and links to articles by the editors of Parents Magazine and www.parents.com

@DailyParentTip
From the editors of www.dailyparenttip.com - daily updates with helpful advice on a variety of topics


@pbsparents and @pbskids
Parenting tips, articles, games and ideas. http://www.pbsparents.org and http://www.pbskids.org

Don’t worry if you don’t want to sign up for Twitter. All of these Twitter feeds are attached to websites where you can go for the information. However, sometimes it’s nice when the information comes to you instead of you having to seek it out! This is just a short list—there are many more parent and pre-kindergarten focused Twitter feeds out there. Do you have a favorite that we missed? Share it in the comments!

Bound for the North Star - amazing and uplifting!

Each chapter in this amazing book is its own true story of a life. Some stories like Harriet Tubman's we've heard before - but in this book her journeys get fleshed out with full, rich details. (And I felt like I was on the journey by mail with Henry "Box" Brown.) Some stories - like the Oberlin riots, were totally new to me! Taking up two chapters towards the end of the book this is the story of how a whole town riots to save a former slave. Our runaway slave makes it to Oberlin, Ohio where he lives and works peacefully for several years until slave catchers track him down and find him. He and a friend are kidnapped and held in a hotel in a neighboring town. Well, when the townspeople of Oberlin find out their reaction is totally amazing. Professors cancel classes, storekeepers close up shop - the ENTIRE town of Oberlin marches to the hotel where the former slaves are being held and surround it! The slave catchers, fearing for their lives, escape and our heroes are freed again!

There are so many inspiring stories like the Oberlin Riot - most end happily, a few do not but they are all tributes to the capacity of the human spirit.

To sum up: Fascinating true stories told in an engaging and riveting manner with a bonus that many of the stories end right here in Philadelphia due to the hard work of a former slave and abolitionist William Still!

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Did you ever wish you could go to a friend for advice and they would always be right? Well in this case the main character goes to his friend's finger to get advice from an origami puppet! What? Sounds totally strange, right? But wait - this book is written like it's a notebook keeping track of all of the strange ways in which the puppet was right. Ask a girl to dance or don't ask? Origami Yoda knows! Put up with the bully or start a food fight? Origami Yoda knows! This is a totally fun book that deals with all kinds of stuff like popularity, friendship, angst and of course the "weird" kid with the great origami skills. Its a little bit like a cross between The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and Encyclopedia Brown - so if you liked either of those you should totally check this book out!