Bill Johnson isn’t afraid of the dark. He makes the dark scary. As one of the top designers of frightening characters for Netherworld Haunted House, Johnson creates characters who are bloody, mangled, gory – just plain scary. And each year, because the characters and themes change annually, he gets to create something new. Werewolves and […]

How about some “Bluegrass for Breakfast”? This album — full of banjos, fiddles and acoustic guitar — is high energy, catchy and educational. What’s the longest word in the English language? “Antidisestablishmentarianism,” of course. The Okee Dokee Brothers helpfully point out that it has 28 letters, more than the alphabet! And then another fantastic feat: […]

Jessica Soler and her three kids love animals. And it shows. At their Tudor-style home in Decatur, there are dogs Bear and Bijou, a mouse named Jerry, two frogs and fish in the koi pond. The family loves Decatur because of its friendly neighbors, as well as being able to walk anywhere they want to […]

If my stepdaughter didn’t attend The Paideia School, I’m not sure I would believe everything Bernie Schein writes in If Holden Caulfield were in My Classroom. Paideia is different from any public school, and probably from most private schools. The teachers work in unorthodox ways, and the students thrive because of it. Schein has taught […]

To get to know more moms in her children’s school and her synagogue, Marci Miller first had to stop working so much. And she wanted to spend more time with her 8- and 6-year-old so in 2008, Miller decided to retire from her marketing and public relations job at an entertainment PR firm. In order […]

Christmas Magic By Lauren Thompson, Illustrated by Jon Muth (Scholastic Press, $16.99) The thing about Santa books around the holidays is that they can sometimes be a little too jolly (not to mention a little too focused on the whole materialistic, gimme-more-presents thing). Sometimes, with Santa, there’s plenty of plastic and packaging, but not much […]