Dining Together as a Family:  What’s in season, how to shop, & what to cook

• Artichokes (main harvest is in spring, second harvest in fall)
• Asparagus (primetime)
• Beets (finishing their season)
• Cherries (now through summer)
• Grapefruit and navel oranges (in season into early summer)
• Mint (begins to grow in the spring)
• Peas (garden, snap, snow, etc.)
• Radishes (at their best)
• Rhubarb (one of the first fruits of spring)

What if I told you that I have some wonderful, positive news to kick off your week? And what if I told you that it involves hero dogs? and helping families dealing with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD)?

In this morning’s mail, we received a note from Donnie Winokur, award-winning author of The Chancer Chronicles, and passionate advocate for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) Assistance Dogs. You may have seen an article about Donnie and her family in the Sunday New York Times back in February.

Now, Chancer has his day in the sun and is being recognized for his work, as well. He is a finalist in the American Humane Association’s Hero Dogs Awards. Chancer is entered in the “Service Dogs” category. When you go to the voting page – and you can vote once each day – you’ll need to scroll down a couple of rows to see Chancer, the world’s first certified Assistance Dog to help children suffering from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD).

We’ve pasted in a snapshot of Chancer’s story to brighten your day. We hope you’ll be inspired to share the news and encourage others to vote as well!

Congratulations to Donnie Winokur and Jodee Kulp for their tireless efforts to raise awareness of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) and help children in need. You can help Donnie and Jodee – and all children – just by voting! Remember: You can vote once each day!

Kids naturally love to be active, and there are people like Leah Kalish who know that yoga is a great outlet for their energy. Leah has developed several yoga products for multiple companies that aimed to encourage play and exercise in children, but together with her producer/writer husband, she launched her own business, Move With Me Action Adventures.

Move With Me seeks to inspire kids, parents, and teachers to play through workshops, curriculum, and DVDs like the Scooter & Me series.

Please welcome Leah to the Alumni Spotlight!

MCA: Welcome to the spotlight Leah! Can you please tell us about what motivated you to create your yoga product for kids?
Leah: Thanks for having me! Well, to answer your question, there were 2 motivations.

The first was that, as a national trainer of teachers and parents, I personally experienced their need for affordable, accessible, high quality movement resources for their children.

The second was tha, as the creator of several successful products for other companies (Gaiam, Barefoot Books, School Specialty, Yoga Ed, Imaginazium), it was time for me to create and produce for myself!

MCA: Now that you have an award-winning product, what are your goals for the next year?
Leah:  I guess things come in twos today. We have two goals!

1. To get our DVDs out to the kids and families who need them most by connecting with the foundations, organizations and schools that serve them.
2. To generate a stronger, more interactive online community by translating our combined expertise and experience into free videos tips and activities as well as blog posts with valuable info and ideas for playing more and stressing less.

Well, I guess we’re going to get a little bigger! We’re climbing up to three! Can you tell us three ways your Mom’s Choice Award® will help you attain your goals?
Leah: The Mom’s Choice Award® gives us:

1. an influential calling card;
2. product quality credibility; and
3. product value validation.

MCA: Can you share with us what you learned about yourself as an entrepreneur in creating your award-winning product?
Leah: I learned that even we artistic / educator types can launch a successful business. We just need to  think we can and bring our creativity and determination to it.

I had always let someone else handle the “money” because I thought that the “business” part was not my strength. I realize now that like any skill, entrepreneurship can be learned. In fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about business and marketing. I feel proud of how I’ve integrated the creative and CEO sides of myself.

MCA: Since launching your book, what has been your most rewarding experience in promoting or sharing it with the public? Do you have a favorite memory?
Leah: What is most rewarding is the feedback we get from thrilled customers.

• The woman that shared that her daughter, who would refuse to exercise more than 5 minutes, played along with the whole 25 minute sample story on the computer and when it was over, wanted to do it again!
• The director of the childcare center at Davis Monson Air Force Base telling me people should know that the Move with Me DVDs are much more than just fun exercise; they are engaging, educational early childhood curriculum that supports all the major developmental standards!

MCA: As a new honoree, do you have any questions you’d like some of the “old hands” to answer for you?
Leah: With an internet based business, where my customers buy online and then receive the product, do you think it is worth investing in awards stickers or awards placement in packaging?

MCA: That is a great question, Leah! There are several honorees who have a business model like yours that can definitely help you with that decision.

Mom’s Choice Awards® Honors

Scooter & Me
Move With Me Action Adventures
Gold 2011 –  Family-Friendly Media, Products and Services

Contact, Connect and Network with Leah

The Alumni Spotlight is a periodic feature on the official Mom’s Choice Awards® blog. It is part of our ongoing effort to “shine the spotlight” on you and your award-winning, family-friendly products, services, and media.

That’s how we know her! Josie was our 2008 Celebrity Mom of the Year … before we knew about Tickle Monster and Boogie Monster, her award-winning books.

Josie recently sat down with Danielle Knox of The Balancing Act . In their interview, Josie talks about being a being a mom, actress, award-winning author, and celebrity. Together, Danielle and Josie explore how Josie balances it all, especially with her priority of always being a Mom first.

Together, Danielle Knox and Josie Bissett pack a TON of information about motherhood, parenting, having a career and maintaining a career into this 12 minute interview. Did you know that

… Josie wrote Tickle Monster in one night, but then it was seven years before she got back to it?
… Josie lives in the same place she grew up?

Danielle – we so totally agree with how wonderful and humble Josie is! It was such a wonderful surprise to hear you both talk about her Mom’s Choice Awards-winning books and the recognition of being the Celebrity Mom of the Year. As Josie said,

“What’s better than being honored for being a Mom?”

You can also read more in the Balancing Act Magazine online!

The Balancing Act airs nationally on Lifetime Television
Monday – Friday at 7am ET/PT

Squawk! Some parrots have a mind of their own – especially if their name is Cisco! Cisco is a witty and lively parrot ready to take on the world to get what he wants, and what he wants is to be famous in his fantastical town of Topopootl. Written in the form of a trilogy, each book within Viva Cisco features an adventure, where inevitably Cisco will stumble and create some silly mayhem. Written for kids aged 10 -13, both parents and children enjoy the hilarity of this crazy parrot and his all-animal community in Topopootl!

Written by Patrick Shannon, a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Viva Cisco is certain to entertain.

Please welcome Patrick to the Spotlight!

MCA: Welcome to the spotlight Patrick! Can you please tell us about what motivated you to create your book?
Patrick: I share that mental quirk possessed by other humorists:  constantly strolling the panorama of life for material. To us, the world is full of straight lines.  In the case of my book, Viva Cisco, it was the street sign in front of my home in New Mexico which read “Parrot Run.”  I thought that was a really dumb name for a street. What do parrots have to do with running?

So I decided to concoct an outrageous lie as to the origin of the name.  I would tell people that on that very spot, long before there were humans, the parrots used to migrate every four years to hold their Parrot Olympics.  Well, that conjured a mental picture of dozens of parrots, in little track suits, racing up and down my street. One of them – a little green parrot with a lot of attitude – started causing mayhem with his competitiveness.  That little guy became Cisco, and before I knew it, I had a book.

MCA: Now that you have an award-winning book, what are your goals for the next year?
Patrick: My promotional activities for Viva Cisco will have to involve fewer personal appearances. I have just observed my 80th birthday, and the mileage of an active and peripatetic life has left me somewhat lame.  Interviews, like a recent one on Montana television, will be gladly accepted though.

My main goal for next year is to continue my efforts at getting Viva Cisco made into animated films. I have sent copies of your award announcement to several animation firms, and I hope they will help penetrate that industry’s widespread refusal to consider any outside submittals.

MCA: Please name three ways your Mom’s Choice Award® will help you attain your goals.
Patrick: Merely distributing your announcement of my award has brought me:

1) An interview on the Great Falls, Montana CBS television channel, which was shared with their affiliate in Helena.
2) Newspaper announcements.
3) As mentioned above, I hope it will bring Viva Cisco to the attention of animators.

MCA: Can you share with us what you learned about yourself as a writer in creating your award-winning product?
Patrick: In all the years of trying to become an author, I kept hearing that I must find my “voice.”  In writing Viva Cisco, I finally found mine, and I discovered the joy of writing prose that was more authentic;  that would really connect with readers.

But I found that “voice” only by coming to terms with a paradox. To instill life into my narratives as well as my dialogues, I had to break many of the rules of grammar that had been so intensely drilled into me. But at the same time, I had to keep a firm grip on those rules so I would break them judiciously.

MCA: Since launching your book, what has been your most rewarding experience in promoting or sharing it with the public? Do you have a favorite memory?
Patrick: Well, your award, many favorable reviews, and television interviews are certainly sources of great pride, but I think my sweetest rewards came from two other sources. Feedback from kids who were within the book’s reading level who couldn’t put the book down.

Secondly, the feedback from mothers who had read the stories to their much younger children and who told me how delighted the little ones had been. One five-year-old was so taken with my little hero he changed the name of his stuffed parrot to “Cisco.” That one really got me.

MCA: As a new honoree, do you have any questions you’d like some of the “old hands” to answer for you?
Patrick: Yes.  If anyone can give me a tip on how to get an animation company to read Viva Cisco, I would be very grateful.  The major firms I contacted will accept neither queries nor books.  Pixar even rejected my query letter that simply asked if I might send a query letter!

Mom’s Choice Awards® Honors

  by Patrick Shannon
Outskirt Press, 2011
Juvenile Level 2 – Humor – Silver 2011

Contact, Connect and Network with Patrick

The Alumni Spotlight is a periodic feature on the official Mom’s Choice Awards® blog. It is part of our ongoing effort to “shine the spotlight” on you and your award-winning, family-friendly products, services, and media.