Sylvan Learning Super Reading Success Workbook – 4th Grade, Sylvan Learning Inc., 2009; $18.99; www.sylvanlearningbookstore.com.

These three workbooks build a foundation for good reading, vocabulary and spelling skills.  All activities are teacher-reviewed and curriculum-based and keep your child’s attention by making learning fun and interesting.  Subjects include prefixes, suffixes, synonyms and antonyms and reading comprehension. One of our education judges felt this product was in line with Sylvan’s “wonderful reputation” and is useful with children who need to build their confidence and achieve reading success.

“Gives children extra practice on certain topics with little parent help needed.” 
– Education Judge

“The activities help students learn the strategies they may be lacking.”
– Parent Tester

“A lot of varied activities for each topic keep the children’s attention. The different activities are helpful for different learning styles.”
– Education Judge
 

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things, by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham; Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House Children’s Books; 2008; $15.99; www.randomhouse.com/kids. Alvin, an Asian-American second-grader, has numerous fears – plus, he never says a word in school. But at home he’s a noisy superhero and brother – and the adorable star of this chapter book.

Digital Blue, $49.99; www.digiblue.com; for ages 3 and up. This camera is a gem for kids! The rugged rubberized shell withstands rough handling and the simple design and buttons make it easy to use right out of the box (batteries sold separately). The 32MB of memory holds approximately 150 pictures and an automatic flash yields impressive picture quality. A special Magic Wand button allows children to choose a Disney character to appear on the screen along with the subject. The Windows software installs effortlessly.

For more award-winning photography fun, try:

Crayola Digital Camcorder
KidiArt Studio

I, Q: Independence Hall, by Roland Smith; Sleeping Bear Press, 2008; $8.95 (paper); www.sleepingbearpress.com. 

Quest (aka “Q”) and his stepsister Angela are thrust into the work of the Secret Service and the Israeli Mossad when Angela realizes that she is being followed. (Angela’s mother is a former Secret Service agent.) This adventure thriller grabs readers’ attention and take them on a fast-paced ride. Think Ian Fleming for younger readers. The first in the series, Independence Hall is sure to have a fast-growing following. Learn more about the series and keep up with what’s new at www.IQtheSeries.com.
 

Xip3™, CoreGear™; $75 kids, $95 adults; www.xip3.com.

Now your kids’ jackets are one less thing to keep track of during family outings. This smartly styled jacket transforms into a backpack or pillow with one quick zip. When kids get too warm at the mall or on a trip, they can remove this all-weather jacket, turn it inside out, and zip it into a cool-looking backpack that has additional storage capacity. For naps in the car on the way home, the Xip3 converts into a self-contained pillow with a soft, fleecy side and a water resistant side. No more lugging around cumbersome outerwear that your kids have taken off! The outer shell is water-repellent, breathable, and fast-drying; lining is soft ecoSmart™ fleece. Reflective piping, logos and zippers provide high visibility in low light.

“The jacket definitely has the ‘cool’ factor; my son loved the built in backpack. It’s extremely lightweight – a real plus!”
– Tester Mom

“This jacket is lightweight and comfortable to wear both as a jacket and as a backpack. It’s a very good concept!”
– Tester Mom

 

$21.99; www.leapfrog.com; for ages 3 and up. This electronic memory-matching game can be played alone or with a friend. Press the center button to hear a sound or a word, then search the surrounding buttons to match animal sounds, rhyming words and opposites. This game helps children develop listening, memory and matching skills.

For more matching fun, check out:

Goodie Games Cookie Shapes

All Roads Lead Home, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2009; 108 min.; $26.97; www.allroadsleadhomethemovie.com; ages 8 to 12.

 

When 12-year-old Belle (Vivien Cardone) loses her mother in a car accident, she rebels against her father and is sent to her grandfather’s (Peter Coyote) farm where she devotes her energies to saving endangered animals. Despite slow pacing at the onset, the story grabs your attention through to a surprise ending. The film raises difficult issues, such as death and euthanasia, which older children can handle. The superb cast and good storyline pull viewers in and evoke compassion for the young girl and her family. This film is definitely worth watching.

“Perhaps the most difficult thing about dealing with the death of a parent is figuring out how to go on with your life without your mom or dad. This film realistically shows a young girl struggling to do just that.”
- Adult Juror and mother
 

One Up, Family Games, $29.98; www.familygamesamerica.com; ages 8 and up.

 

In this strategy game, players slide nicely weighted ball bearing game pieces inside a ring until the balls settle into depressions on the wooden board. In some ways reminiscent of small, tile-sliding puzzes, each player in One Up can move any piece, and each round adds one additional move that can be made by each player, so the landscape changes constantly. Beautiful in its simplicity, this Canadian game is totally challenging and sometimes frustrating in how quickly one’s work can be undone! But oh, how gratifying it is for the winner.  

When I First Held You: A Lullaby from Israel, by Mirik Snir, illustrated by Eleyor Snir; Kar-Ben Publishing, 2009; $9.95; www.karben.com.  

This book is a lyrical lullaby in rhyme in which a parent describes the beauty of the happy day when the young child was born. There’s a place to affix the child’s baby photo and note the birth date. Translated from Hebrew by Mary Jane Shadow, the book features a quote in English and Hebrew from Rabbi Nachmna of Breslov, “The day you were born is the day God decided that the world could not exist without you.” Snir, the illustrator, is the fourth daughter of the author. This charming book captures the love and joyous emotion of a baby’s birth.
 

$19.99-$29.99; www.wildplanet.com; for ages 3 and up. Following the success of Wild Planet’s 2007 NAPPA winner Hyper Dash, this equally lively version for younger children uses different animals as targets to place around a room to be tagged. Kids listen to instructions from an electronic, hand-held, giraffe-shaped tagger that tells them which animals to run to and tag. The game has multiple levels of play, in which the giraffe calls out the name of the animal or asks “Who has stripes?” or “Who roars?” to expand on children’s learning and fun.