Thank you to who?Comics for sponsoring this post and encouraging my child to read biographies in comic book form! Please click here to learn more about the app. And follow who?Comics on Twitter for updates
I know there are a good deal of iPad apps out there that will better stimulate my children’s minds, I just have not yet explored. (I’ve added that activity to #549 on my to-do list.)
However, I do read to and with all three of children daily. Bring on the frozen Trader Joe’s nuggets, the bakery-ordered birthday cupcakes, even online games with burping candy, but I hope that the reading every single blessed day will somehow get me a passing grade when mothering report cards come out.
So when the Clever Girls asked if I would check out the Who?Comics biography iPad app for children, it seemed a worthwhile activity to share with Charlie (eight, in second grade) and Eve (nearly six, kindergarten). My husband Chris and I use the iPad primarily to read newspapers, magazines and books, as well as research the new headway made daily by app developers. Why not involve the kids in also using the iPad similarly?
Official Who?Comics description:
Read about the lives and achievements of some of the greatest people in history, both past and present, in a 150 page long comic book form.
These comics are educational and fun to read. Instead of boring plain text, give your children a new, enjoyable reading experience that is light and easy to read in comic book form. But even before the children can start, parents won’t be able to stop turning the pages, too.
Who?Comics series contains the life stories of 10 of our greatest leaders of today and 19 historical figures of the past. Read and learn about the amazing lives of Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Joanne Rowling, Barack Obama, Warren Buffett, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, Jane Goodall, Bill Gates and much, much more.
You can even collect badges easily as you read the comic books and even try to find and collect hidden badges for each great figure.
Who?Comics provides a fun badge collecting experience that both children and parents will enjoy. Everyone can get caught up in the fun of badge collecting and eventually discover and develop their new found reading habit.
The who?Comics app costs $9.99 on iTunes. There are two free biographies included in this price, Bill Gates and Oprah. Additional biographies to store on your who?Comics bookshelf are $4.99 each. or you can buy the entire set of biographies – 30 titles – for $29.99.
Charlie was intrigued by the notion of learning history comic-book style. This was his first experience with a graphic book that was not a superhero or Super Diaper Baby. He chose J.K. Rowling’s biography as our first Who?Comic to read together. He’s a huge Harry Potter fan, and he has been intrigued by the idea that one person thought of all those stories and spells and fantastical names and plot twists. Although the comics are geared toward children age 8 and up, Eve heard us reading the comic in the other room and she jumped in the bed with us too. The J.K. Rowling was a great story to “hook” Eve since the beginning involves young Joanne “Jo” Rowling’s imaginative childhood and her little sister.
My kids loved reading this 150 page biography together. I read aloud, they read along with me and looked at the graphic manga-style drawings (podotree, the developer, is based in Seoul). I thought the fictionalized dialogue was a bit cheeser at times, but my kids responded to the dramatizations. I think they will better remember the stories because of the funny jokes and awkward lines. I have no idea how much of some of the lesser plot items in the biographies are based upon research, and which items were filled in by the authors in the spirit of items gleaned from interviews and other biographical sources.
But then, most of what I know about Mark Zuckerberg I learned from The Social Network, so who am I to judge.
Since I let Charlie choose the first Who?Comic, I chose our second and selected the biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. I thought this biography was appropriately meatier. Charlie and I read this one without Eve, although I believe it was not too much for her. But reading about Dr. King one-on-one allowed Charlie and me to have some solid older kid discussions about civil rights, segregation and race. I read this one solo before involving Charlie, because I wanted to ensure that those topics were handled with age-appropriateness while not glossing over the severity and horrors of segregation and discrimination. I also wanted to see how Dr. King’s assassination was handled in pictures, and I believe it was portrayed accurately but not sensationalizing the violence. (The accompanying picture shows Dr. King wincing and falling as a bullet non-gorily enters his cartoon body.)
In summation, I think this is an entertaining and educational app. The proof for me? The kids enjoyed this app even more than me.
Thank you again to who? Comics for sponsoring my post. Please click here to learn more about the app. Visit Who? Comics for updates. I was selected for this opportunity by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own. #CleverWhoComics #spon
I know that our fellow parent in Silver Spring, Susan Niebur, is in so many of our hearts right now.
She is all I can think about, making fluffy fun posts suggesting children’s activities almost impossible at the moment. The suggestions I have for you are to
Take your kids to a planetarium or other space/sky-themed field trip in honor of Susan’s life work as a planetary scientist. (That post I am linking to there is woefully old, written in April 2010, but I hope it provides some good links to spark an updated online search.)
If you would like to send a card of love or encouragement to Susan, the family has opened a post office box expressly to receive those kind expressions. That P.O. box is
Susan and Curt Niebur
11006 Veirs Mill Rd, Ste. L-15 #112
Wheaton, MD 20902
It’s the first “real snow” of the year in the DC area, and thankfully, it’s not enough to disrupt our lives and weekend plans. (Hallelujah.) How are YOU spending your snowy day?
Sara Damelio is one of the country’s first eco-facialists and has been practicing and studying natural skincare for over 12 years. She is also the owner/creator of Skincando — a luxury natural skincare line based and manufactured in Silver Spring, MD.
Naturally Beautiful Skin
Living in the DC area we all struggle with dry, dull winter skin. It is a challenge to stay hydrated, but made possible through the use of natural and organic exfoliants and moisturizers. Natural skin care products are made with high quality pure ingredients including apricot kernel oil and beeswax that help heal your skin, rather than cover it with chemicals like in traditional beauty products that include petro-chemicals and artificial fragrances. With a few simple changes and the correct information, you can have naturally beautiful skin all winter long.
Step 1: Exfoliate
Exfoliating is fun, easy, and yet a total mystery to many of us. When do I do it? How often? With what? Do I even need to exfoliate? Your skin is an amazing, living organ that does an efficient job of sloughing, protecting, purifying and regenerating on it’s own! Contrary to popular belief, exfoliating once or twice a week should simply improve, not substitute, your skin’s own ability to slough and renew — a practice that is essential during the winter months.
So why exfoliate? Taking exfoliation into your own hands means your skin is clear to evenly absorb healthy products like your organic face oil and moisturizer, while relieving it of environmental pollution and built up waxes from cosmetics that trap dirt. Here are two different methods and types of exfoliants to help you choose which one is best for you:
1. Mechanical – where abrasives are mechanically ground against the skin to remove debris and have a detoxifying effect over the skin. Mechanical exfoliants include face brushes, scrubs, drying clay masks, microdermabrasion and exfoliating pads.
2. Chemical – where enzymes or acids dissolve debris from the skin. Chemical exfoliants include alpha hydroxy acid, glycolic and malic acid, papaya enzyme and pineapple enzyme peels, masques and cleansers.
Both mechanical and chemical exfoliation work to achieve the same result. It is a matter of personal opinion which one you choose.
Step 2: Hydration
One of the most frequently asked questions I get this time of year is “How do I find a winter moisturizer that will keep me hydrated but won’t make me break out?” If you’re breakout-prone, like so many of us are now and then, the last thing you want to do is use a “heavier” moisturizer – but you also don’t want to be stuck all winter with parched, undernourished skin! The solution is layering.
By layering a nourishing face oil with a protective moisturizer, you don’t have to worry about using something that’s too heavy for your skin. Face oils are the best way to hydrate the skin on a deeper level but alone can be leeched out of the skin in dry, cold environments. Moisturizers with larger molecules tend to treat on the skin with natural waxes that stay put longer to prevent moisture evaporation. Together, you get the best of both – a light breathable barrier and deep hydration - without compromising on either, which could lead to breakouts or buildup.
For best results, I recommend layering during the AM and using a rich nourishing night cream in the PM.
For more information on natural winter skincare, Sara Damelio of Skincando is happy to give free email or phone consultations. She can be reached at sara@skincando.com or 202-215-8991
