One of my favorite board books is The Rainbow Fish, a story about a fish with beautiful, shiny scales. I love the message in this tale: the other fish in the sea admire the Rainbow Fish?s scales and are envious of him. The Rainbow Fish gives many of his scales away, to the other fish. The pictures on the pages towards the end, are of a sea filled with fish, each with one beautiful, shiny scale. What a great lesson about sharing! Sure, the Rainbow Fish is beautiful but having friends and sharing are even more beautiful.

Another favorite of mine is The Runaway Bunny. The child bunny asks his mom what she would do if he runs away. There are a number of scenarios:

?If you run after me, I will become a trout in a stream and I will swim away from you?, the little bunny says. ? If you become a fish in a trout stream, I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you?, his mother says.

?I will be a bird and fly away from you?, says the little bunny. His mother?s reply: ?If you become a bird and fly away from me, I will be a tree that you come home to?.

The scenarios continue, and in all of them the mother finds or rescues her baby. I love the message about moms always being there, no matter what, for their children. It is about the strength and unconditional nature of a mother?s love. Not that a baby or toddler would quite get that from the book, but why not end by saying ?And I will always be here for you, too, my little bunny!? (Okay, corny?but mommies are allowed to be corny).

A third favorite baby/toddler book of mine is Eating the Alphabet. It?s just an “ABC” book but it is about fruits and vegetables. What a fun way to teach kids about their letters and healthy foods! The colors are brilliant; my six month old already responds to them with a smile! Maybe when he is older, we can attempt to ?eat the alphabet? (A is for avocado, B is for broccoli?., and so on).

What are some of your favorite board books?

When British Indie movie film director wed Madonna, whoever thought it would last? Well, they were married in 2000 for almost eight seemingly peaceful years, including the birth of their son Rocco in August 2000 and adoption of baby David from Malawi in 2006.

Rumors of Madonna’s infidelity with baseball player Alex Rodriguez have been swirling since July, including the repeated story that she wants to have another baby with A-Rod. Bear in mind that Madonna is 50, and while most celebrities tend to get exactly what they want either by the influence of their fame, or cash, time is not on her side for becoming a mom again.

And Guy Ritchie has been less than complimentary about his estranged wife: sleeping with Madonna was like “cuddling up with bag of gristle” and he’s been complaining about the alcohol, dairy, and sugar-free macrobiotic diet she insisted the whole family followed.

In common with other celebrity splits, Madonna and Guy seem to be on course for a custody battle for their children. Madonna is currently on tour in America, while her three children, including daughter Lourdes from a previous relationship, were looked after by nannies in Los Angeles.

Guy Ritchie hadn’t seen his sons Rocco and David for several weeks, and
father and sons were finally reunited at London’s Heathrow Airport today.

Allegedly, Madonna wants the children to live in New York with her, and Guy wants to them to attend school in the UK. Madonna is reputed to have offered Guy $12 million to drop his legal battle to share custody of the children. He’s supposed to have refused and hired a top lawyer to fight for his kids. Madonna is estimated to be worth almost half-a-billion dollars. So it’s like a normal person offering their ex $50 for custody of the children. Can you be any more offensive to the father of your kids? Custody battles are hard enough without one party wanting the children to live in a whole different country to the other. Good luck to them resolving this one with as little damage to the children as possible.

So normal people who share custody of their kids with their ex-partner often drop them off with a little list of things to do (For example…. Me: he has diaper rash, can you put this cream on it? Or, Ex: Can you take his library books back? I think we are relatively normal for a divorcing couple…) Madonna insists that the children wear only the clothes she sent with them from LA, eat only the macrobiotic food she approved, drink only Kaballah water, and only play with “spiritually” sound toys. And then the oddest thing? Guy has to read the boys bedtime stories, and the reading matter of choice? Madonna’s own childrens’ books, The English Roses, a series of tales about a group of girls’ friendships, trials and tribulations at school. I don’t suppose Rocco, being 8, is especially interested in girls anyway. And making Guy read her own books? Is she for real? Perhaps I just answered my own question….

This book offended the most library users in 2007 – and the year before too. Was it a political book? An explicit novel? An ultra-violent thriller?

Nope – it’s about penguins. And Tango Makes Three is a children’s picture book based on the true story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who lived as a couple at the New York zoo. The zoo-keepers noticed that the penguin couple were trying to hatch an egg-shaped rock. (aww.) So the zoo-keepers gave them an egg from another penguin couple who had too many to hatch by themselves. The penguin parents took great care of the egg, (double aww) which hatched into a baby girl penguin, Tango. (triple awww!)

But gay penguins really seem to offend some people. Hundreds of parents have complained to libraries and schools, and the book has been withdrawn in some cases.

I think this is a really sweet story, and critics agree, as the book has won several prizes for children’s literature. The pictures are adorable. (Who’s a sucker for fluffy chicks? Yeah, me) It’s a lovely, touching story that’s a marvellous way to show young children that families come in all shapes and sizes. It’s a beautiful testament to fatherhood, and reminds us of what’s most important in a family is love – not what gender the parents are.

So would you read this book to your child?