Global Cooling

Ok, so its officially hot. Its you-can-fry-an-egg-on-the-pavement, can't-take-my-ring-off-my-finger, heatstroke hot. And you know what I like to do when the going gets hot?

EAT ICE CREAM.

Yeah, I'm a real sucker for a popsicle and the like. And since I live in the greatest city in the world, I don't need to settle for Mr. Softie. I do, 90 percent of the time, make no mistake, because who has the money or stamina to do otherwise, but still, for that 10 percent of the time when you want something special, you can avail yourself of an ice cream from some far-off part of the world, right here in New York. I just wrote a piece about international ice cream for the current issue of Time Out NY Kids which you can read here, and believe you me, this was my kids' favorite article I've ever written.

They are still talking about the shave ice with marshmallow fluff. Ahhhhhh . . . . .

I'm your useful party planner-helper!

Need to know what NYC bakery will make a cake in the shape of a castle? Or where to buy clown noses and wigs downtown? Or what to serve kids at an out-of-this-world space-themed birthday party in the park? Look no further! I put together 20 soup-to-nuts season-specific NYC birthday parties, for all budgets and it is in the current issue of Time Out NY Kids. You can read it here:

Birthdays for All Seasons

Party hearty, y'all.

Kids deserve great literature, too

If the thought of reading another Dora the Explorer book makes you want to yak, you need a literary antidote. Thank the Lord I wrote about just that, in the current issue of TONY Kids.

Big Lit for Little Kids

Its a review of some fantastic picture books for children, written by literary heavy-weights, like Woolf, Wilde, Thurber. Honestly, I adore these books. I brake for Barthelme. Kushner keeps me keeping on. Let me know what you think, or if you've stumbled upon other kids' books penned by writers who write mostly for adults.

Let's get physical, physical . . .

Interested in the state of physical education classes in New York elementary schools? Oh, come one, you know you are. You know you want to know where your kid can take sword-fighting for PE credit.

So read this article I wrote about it in Time Out NY Kids.