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Comment by Sydni Moser on January 28, 2010 at 1:43pm

“Come here now, baby, let Grandmama Moo teach you a wise old thing or two.”

So says Maya the cow in “Wisdom,” the poem that opens “Our Farm: By the Animals of Farm Sanctuary” (Knopf, February 2010). As readers explore this book of poems for children (and adults, too!), they will meet not only the venerable and maternal Maya but also the chivalrous rooster Mayfly, the exuberant piglet J.D., the grateful sheep Hilda, and many other animals who live or have lived at Farm Sanctuary’s New York and California Shelters.

“I wanted to communicate the soulfulness of the [animals] so that children and their caretakers could relate to them as fellow sentient beings, with individual personalities, thoughts and feelings like their own,” says Maya Gottfried, who was inspired to write “Our Farm” after volunteering for Farm Sanctuary. Accompanied by the richly colored and detailed paintings of Robert Rahway Zakanitch, Gottfried’s poems vividly evoke the voices of pigs, goats, ducklings, chickens, and other farm animals, whom readers will want to revisit again and again.

Children and adults alike will be delighted by the humor, playfulness and empathy employed by Gottfried and Zakanitch to bring the world of Farm Sanctuary to life on the pages of this book, and to gently convey the importance of having love and respect for our fellow creatures. “We’re all different, but we’re still related,” says the bantam chicken Gabriella of her flockmates,

“and in some ways just like you.”

Everyone will fall in love with both the affectionate writing and irresistible animal illustrations found on the pages of “Our Farm.” As a classroom tool to inspire compassion, a gift for a special child in your life, or a keepsake of your own, this is one book you’ll definitely want to get your hands on.

“Our Farm” is coming soon! The official release date is February 9, but you can pre-order this beautiful book now. Farm Sanctuary Shop purchases support our lifesaving efforts, so help suffering farm animals by getting your copy of “Our Farm” through us today!

Comment by Sydni Moser on January 24, 2010 at 11:03am

A family in China made babies their business
The lucrative trade in newborns was fueled by an adoption frenzy that saw government-run orphanages paying for (female) children who they then made available to Westerners.

Reporting from Changning, China - The telephones kept ringing with more orders and although Duan Yuelin kept raising his prices, the demand was inexhaustible. Customers were so eager to buy more that they would ply him with expensive gifts and dinners in fancy restaurants.

His family-run business was racking up sales of as much as $3,000 a month, unimaginable riches for uneducated Chinese rice farmers from southern Hunan province.

Read More HERE:

Comment by Sydni Moser on January 24, 2010 at 10:45am

An Edible Schoolyard in Durham, NC: How Kids Grow
by Sami Grover

We're big fans of edible schoolyards. From Alice Waters' original edible schoolyard efforts in California to one school's garden in the arid deserts of Arizona the concept is reconnecting kids with their food and each other. Kids in my neck of the woods are getting their hands dirty too, and they've even created a great video to show the world the fruits of their labors.

The video of the George Watts Montessori edible schoolyard, created by Durham Public Schools Channel 4, shows how students have been learning how to plant seeds and grow their own food. The students have also teamed up with local chef Mark Day to transform their work into meals and teach them how to cook in their first "Seed to Table" event.

As Mark Day says, "if one kid out of the 400 here plants a tomato next summer, it will have been worth it."

Comment by Sydni Moser on January 17, 2010 at 8:43am

Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon
By Lev Grossman

Michael Chabon decided to be honest with his children, even if it meant admitting to his 10-year-old son that he had smoked pot. "How many times?" his son asked, stunned. "I had a moment's pause before replying," Chabon writes, "unwilling to pronounce those two simple worlds: one million." Best known for his novels (The Yiddish Policemen's Union, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), Chabon brings his prodigiously entertaining verbal intelligence to a very personal investigation of what it means to be a father, a son and a husband at a moment when those job descriptions are so plagued by contradictions that a simple act like buying a bag to put your stuff in — a man purse, or "murse," if you will — is all but impossible.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1945379_...

Comment by Laura on January 13, 2010 at 8:25pm

Hi everybody. Someone on here once posted a link to a website of a woman who made really great sciencey artsy posters for kids. I can't find it now. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Thanks!

Comment by Bleacheddecay on December 31, 2009 at 6:23pm

I think removing the playful magic of childhood is just plain mean. Both believers and non believers do this "for the good of the kids" sometimes. If kids weren't meant to have magic in their childhoods then developmentally, they wouldn't go through that magical belief state. Let the kids have fun. Thats what I say. They'll grow out of it.

Comment by Reggie on December 31, 2009 at 1:11pm

Yeah, the magic was one thing that I was hung up on, because I remember enjoying it so much as a child.

Comment by Bleacheddecay on December 31, 2009 at 12:00pm

Taking "Santa" out of Xmas just takes magic out of a childhood IMO.

Comment by Reggie on December 31, 2009 at 11:23am

Interesting, Johnny. Thanks for the post. With my first child in the brewing chamber and Christmas just past, I had been wondering if I would subject my child to the Santa myth or not (was leaning towards "not"). This gives me another angle to consider.

Comment by Johnny on December 30, 2009 at 10:28am

Here's a cool blog post on why Santa is the "ultimate dry run" to help kids becoming skeptical and critical thinkers.

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