I thought I’d point out a few nifty gadgets I found recently:

The PocketMod is a neat little pocket organizer that you quickly design and print (using a free online interface) on a single 8 1/2″x11″ piece of paper. After your creation is printed, you follow the instructions in this equally nifty video to fold your piece of paper into a little pocket notebook. This work of origami is ideal for keeping track of appointments, shopping and grocery lists, notes, and more. Very simple, yet attractive and useful, too. Here’s the video that shows how to fold:

Also, I’ve been meaning to mention a couple of great resources for online books for kids:

BookPALS Storyline Online is a website brought to you by the Screen Actors Guild. The website provides a complete (free) storytime experience, with streaming video of celebrity readers introducing and then reading stories, accompanied by actual images from the books. Think Reading Rainbow with lots of modern day books and celebrity guests. The kid-friendly interface is nice and intuitive, and they have various options to accommodate internet speeds from dial-up to super-fast.

Storynory provides audiobook versions of many children’s tales. You can listen online, or download to your computer or an mp3 player. They provide a wide variety of books at Storynory, from modern day tales to children’s classics and fairy tales.

Nothing can (or should!) take the place of a parent snuggling up with a child to read a good book, but these websites provide some interesting options for getting in even more stories! These would be especially good for when you are cooking dinner, riding in the car, or helping older siblings with their studies.

Enjoy!

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