How many self-improvement articles or books for women have your read that admonish you to change your life. Your sex life. Your business life. Your social or personal life. First, they say,

Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr has been Barack Obama’s personal and family spiritual advisor for 20 years. You and I both know this means the man has had an influence on Obama. And still, Obama claims never to have heard the kinds of remarks being argued about this week. At least, says the candidate, he hasn’t heard them from the pulpit.

According to the fiery reverend, american white men have injected the black man with Aids. And “God damn” America for something or another. Well, read about the uproar, if you want to. Keep very aware of this developing situation, will you? Obama makes me feel very nervous. I really like the idea of diversity in our government. We have anintleligent, qualified woman to consider for the presidential job. We have a black, or half-black candidate, and we have the traditional aging politician - no offense meant here, just that’s the norm.

But Mr. Obama seemsnot to have existed, say, 10 years ago. When Illinois needed to quickly fill a senatorial spot and no one wanted the job, someone

If you have a preschooler or primary grader, check out these cool, low-cost
activity books for young children and moms. Patience can wear thin on rainy spring days but these can give you
ideas - the positive kind. Don’t just hand out the assignments, jump in and play
with your kids. I tested these books on real kids, as did my 24-year old
daughter, who has access to more kids than I do.

Reading for Beginners, First Word Search - a Sterling Book series illustrated by
Gary LaCoste. Simple directions begin a book full of everyone’s favorite
pencil-puzzles. Great classroom tool! The words in the puzzles are familiar and
comfortable like “boot” and “puddles.” The price is a bargain - $3.95.

Playing with Stuff, Kane/Miller Books by Ferry Piekart and Lars Deltrap. Fantastic little soft cover salvation. If you’re in the car or the grocery store or waiting in line, these little games are stupendous. The subtitle is Outrageous Games with Ordinary Objects. Here’s one:
Bumple Rumple. To paraphrase, it’s a two- or more player game. Use objects near you in any situation, hide one under your shirt, blouse, or sweater so that the object’s outline is clearly visible. If the other person guesses the item, they get to hide one next. Great for the grocery store - but stay out of frozen foods. $9.95.

Baby Animals, Sterling Books by Steve Harpster. Love this one - an opportunity to fuel and bolster childhood creativity. Just right for the ages where kids still haven’t learned to think, “But, I can’t draw that.” This beginning cartooning how-to provides step-bys on how to draw whimsical animals. The artist walks you through each step with clear illustrations. I’m not saying it’s a piece of cake - users will need to concentrate and practice to get exactly what they want. Budding artists can trace the lines in the book, put paper over the drawings to trace them, or wing it freehand. This occupied a couple 7 year-olds for an hour and a half. I’d say
ages 6 (if very patient) to about 12. I love the process of making something from nothing. $5.95.

The Wiggle and Giggle Busy Book, from Meadowbrook Press by Trish Kuffner. The books in this series are almost must-haves. With large type and simple sketches, they provide dozens upon dozens of play activities to do with your toddler or preschoolers (or your grandkids!). The activities range from moderately to very active and are guaranteed to bring a giggle from everyone involved, including by-standers. We set out to do one a day and ended up one Saturday doing about eight pages with my two year-old grandson. Buy these, and then, in my humble opinion, you should buy more of them and give them to every mom. They might be the cure for America’s epidemic of out-of-shape parents and kids.

Footnote - this one isn’t an activity book:
I love La Cama Grande de Sofia, a Kane/Miller title. A small publishing house, the coolest thing about them is hand-selecting extraordinary children’s books for their list. Many titles come from writers across the globe. Some from Korea, China, Japan, England, France, etc.

Kane Miller often publishes Spanish language versions along with English versions, for example:
Sophie’s Big Bed (LaCama Grande…) .It’s a pretty story of a little girl graduating from crib to big bed - something every child must do; simple text, engaging illustrations soothe the way in this life passage. If you’re of Hispanic heritage, these books are terrific for reading to your little ones. If you aren’t - try buying a title in both languages (they’re very reasonable) and reading them side-by-side to give your kids a taste of another language. $4.99.