Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, by Mingmei Yip, is a collection of traditional Chinese stories with beautiful & colorful illustrations, each teaching a moral lesson.  It's geared for grade-school kids who are interested in learning about Chinese culture.

The 13 stories include:

The Fish-Basket Goddess
The Mouse Bride
Dream of the Butterfly
The Cowherd and the Spinning Girl
The Ghost Catcher
The Frog Who Lived in a Well
Chang-E Flies to the Moon
The Wolf and the Scholar
Playing the Qin for the Water Buffalo
Carp Jumping over the Dragon Gate
How the Fox Tricked the Tiger
The Monkey King Turns the Heavenly Palace Upside Down
The Monkey Wu Kong Learns his Lesson

Our kids love listening to these well-known Chinese fables. to buy

KidSpeak Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese & Korean Language Tutor for Beginners is a CD-ROM for beginners, ages 5 to 13, who wish to learn another language.  We reviewed the Mandarin section.  This is a total immersion program in which Lin-Lin and Long the dragon introduce your kids to numbers by having them add & subtract and play connect-the-dots, dominos, & bingo. 

Kids learn simple Chinese characters by playing tic-tac-toe, matching games, and the memory game.  They also cover common greetings, telling time, as well as naming animals, parts of the body, fruits, and colors.  They learn about various school supplies and items for travel. 

There are many songs with animation that the kids are sure to enjoy.  This is a fun introduction to Chinese for kids who are new to the language. to buy

A friend and I recently went to see the movie Kung Fu Panda.  Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but actually...I really liked it! 

Basically, the story is about an overweight & out-of-shape panda who lives with his father and works in the family's noodle restaurant.  He fantasizes about becoming a master of kung fu, but realizes that it's an impossible dream...or is it?  When the vengeful Tai Lung comes back to destroy their small village, who can save them all? 

OK, the movie is kind of predictable, but I laughed out loud so many times!  It's just really cute & funny.  Lucy Liu plays Viper, Angelina Jolie plays Tigress, Jackie Chan plays Monkey, Dustin Hoffman plays Master Shifu, and Jack Black plays the panda, Po.

Warning:  Some of the scenes with the villain could be really scary for little ones.  My 3 & 6-year-old would've been totally freaked out!

VC was an IT auditor living in the Chicago suburbs when she became a mommy.  She loved eating (going out to eat, trying new restaurants, & having dinner with friends) and sleeping.  

Now, she is attempting to work full-time while being a mom to a 3 ½-month old baby.  She needs the adult interaction, but she would love to be at home to watch him and take care of him.  She thinks that it's nice to feel needed.  Plus, when he smiles and is happy, nothing is wrong in the world.  This week, however, she missed him rolling over for the first time because she was at work.  Next week, she will have to travel for work.  And the pain of pumping and FedEx'ing milk back or bringing it back through TSA security is not something she's looking forward to.  That is making this decision seem very wrong.

VC's day consists of feeding the baby, changing him, getting him to sleep, & playing with him again when he wakes up (if she's working from home, or he decides he is awake at 6am).  Then, working.  Then, coming home, feeding him, giving him a bath, and getting him to sleep.  Weekends are the best.  On Saturdays, they leave the house and go to a Farmers' Market or run errands and are a family all day long.

Have you heard of the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program with Andrew Clements?  If your child is in grades 1-6, she can read any 8 books and fill out the Summer Reading Journal to describe her favorite part of each book. 

The parent must sign the journal when it's complete.  Then, your child can bring it in to Barnes & Noble between May 29 and Sept 2 to get a coupon for a free selected book.  Cool!

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