A Birthday Gift for a Homeless Child

Bear's Birthday

Join Bear as he celebrates his birthday in this latest addition to the bestselling Bear series. Help Bear count backwards from 10 to 0 and find out who is making his balloons disappear.

Ages 2 to 6 years

Written By: Stella Blackstone

Illustrated By: Debbie Harter

In the month of July for every Bear's Birthday book sold, Barefoot Books will donate a book to:
Birthday Wishes Bringing Birthday Parties to Homeless Children  

The Birthday Wishes Mission

"Our mission is simple: To bring birthday parties to homeless children. Birthday Wishes recognizes the importance of a birthday in a child's life and believes that the gift of a birthday celebration provides normalcy, joy and hope in these children's otherwise unsettled lives. 

Our grassroots philosophy fosters the spirit of volunteerism and community service in the adults, children and families who donate their time and resources to our mission." 


History

"Birthday Wishes was founded in November 2002 by Lisa Vasiloff, Karen Yahara, and Carol Zwanger – three friends and colleagues who wanted to help homeless children build self-esteem. Having volunteered in several homeless shelters, it occurred to the trio - as they attended one of their own children’s birthday parties - that at the shelters, children’s birthdays often came and went uncelebrated. Their subsequent research indicated that no organizations existed exclusively to provide birthday parties to children living in homeless shelters. After speaking with local shelters and state advocacy groups, they found that most homeless shelters do not have the personnel or resources necessary to hold birthday parties for the children who stay there. Furthermore, the parent (usually a mom) is often unable, both economically and emotionally, to organize a party for her child. Some parents, embarrassed that they don’t have money for cakes and presents, don’t even tell their children that they have a birthday. For homeless children, birthday parties are a luxury that neither the parent nor the shelter can afford.

Yet a birthday is an important event in the life of a child, and Birthday Wishes was founded on the belief that every child, regardless of their living situation, should have their birthday recognized and celebrated. Birthday Wishes has found that something as simple and ‘normal’ as a birthday party has the power to make these children feel both special, and, perhaps more important, like a “regular kid”. 

Send a Free Birthday E-card to Your Friends and Family!

Don't forget to visit Birthday Wishes to see how you can help bring a birthday party to a homeless child in your community! Thank you!

Up, Up, Up! Travel the World with Your Child!

Front Cover

Sing a long while reading this colorful book!

Travel around the world with your children!

I can fly!

 Up, Up, Up! By Susan Reed and Rachel Oldfield

This airborne adventure takes readers ballooning over lands near and far, all the way to the stars. The charming singalong song on the accompanying CD keeps spirits high, while the rhyming and playful text introduces all sorts of settings and vocabulary-building words.


Book with enhanced CD edition includes an animated video and audio singalong sung by Susan Reed.

Ages 3 to 7 years 

Turn up the volume and enjoy singing along with your children!

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Knick Knack Paddy Whack- A Review

Front Cover

For Ages 3 to 7 years
Illustrated By: Christiane Engel
Sung By: SteveSongs

Sing along with this rollicking take on a traditional tune that introduces instruments and counts from one to ten. There are educational notes about instrument families as well as a simple music score at the end.
 

I stumbled on this store when book shopping for my granddaughters.  The girls are 31/2 and 11/2 years old and they love singing along to these great books. A few of the books with sing-a-long CD's have videos posted on the Children's Crafts and Activities section on the website.  The girls especially love this one!

The wonderful colorful illustrations on these pages keep the girls interested.  Not only do they learn to count, they also learn the different instruments, which are singled out while reading and listening to the CD's!  Here are a few pages of the book!

Coming from a multicultural family, I enjoy seeing how many of these books include children and bilingual animals of different ethnic backgrounds.  Bilingual animals, you ask?  

Well, I knew someone who was vacationing in Mexico, and she passed by a man talking to his dog in Spanish.  She said, and I kid you not, "Oh my, the dog is bilingual, he speaks Spanish too"! When I lived in Puerto Rico all my chickens, dogs and cats spoke Spanish, of course!  But that is another story!

Enjoy watching the video along with your children here:

 
Disclosure: I joined this great company so that I can purchase these books for my family, while earning 20-50% commissions on my personal purchases!  I would only recommend products that I use for myself or my family.  The links are directed to my website, and there is no obligation to purchase anything while enjoying all of these wonderful Children's Activities.

Push Your Team to New Heights!

What a great movie on Teamwork! I have been a member of great teams during my professional and personal life. However, we can all learn a little about teamwork from the sweet goose!

When I was encouraged and gently nudged aka "honked", I really felt that I was contributing in positive way to the group. As I pushed beyond my comfort zone I was able to gain self esteem and increased worth and soar! When I in turn encouraged and nudged my team, they responded in kind.

Kind words of encouragement can go a long way for a growing team.  Keeping the group in formation, may not always be easy, there are always some who will wonder away from the flock.  Do we just forget about them or do we maintain communication and let them know that when and if they are ready they can always return to the formation and flock?

Let us all push our teams to new heights and Soar!!