New York-based designer Theo Richardson is obsessed with simple, functional designs. A RISD grad with an interest in “anonymous design”, Richardson takes a studied and meticulous approach to his work, and it shows in pieces like this beautiful, streamlined, yet completely age-appropriate maple and vinyl modular play set for P’Kolino. Richardson is the kind of designer who makes me think about having kids for almost a full two seconds, before I realize I could just buy the table and scrap the procreation - and then I realize I can’t afford either. ($1000 at PKolino.com)

Perhaps I’d just never thunk too deeply on the matter, but until now I’d never realized that the children’s rhyme “Little Bunny Foo” takes a powerful stand against cruelty to animals. It is wrong to scoop up the field mice and bop them on the head, and it’s wrong to practice unkindness other harmless creatures as well. Too bad we don’t have a Good Fairy to come on down and turn any such wrongdoers into big goons (or goofs, depending on where you’re from).

If you’ve only ever heard “Little Bunny Foo Foo” while sitting ‘round the campfire or on very long car trips, give a listen to the giddy, garagey rendition that appears on The Moldy Peaches solo debut. Showcasing about as much musical talent as most of the five-year-olds who usually take on vocal duties for the song, the super-lo-fi “anti-folk” duo from New York also grace us with unforgettable numbers like “Who’s Got the Crack,” “Downloading Porn With Dave,” and “The Ballad of Helen Keller and Rip Van Winkle.” It’s real bad, but it’s sooo good.

Hollywood may have just gotten around to going green, but lovers of The Lorax have long known the importance of protecting the planet from pollution and other environmental ills. One of Dr. Seuss’s most favorite creations, the 1971 classic tells the tale of a mossy, bossy character who “speaks for the trees” and strives to protect them from being obliterated by the greedy Once-ler.

Adopted as a cautionary fable by environmentalists the world over, The Lorax is also adored by ThisNexters such as ckilgore: “Long before saving the earth became a global concern,” she notes, “Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth’s natural beauty.”

To honor Dr. Seuss’s way-ahead-of-his-time eco-smarts, shop green when you’re next seeking out a treat for your child, niece, or nephew - or any other budding treehugger in your life. ThisNexter mdh2992 has added enough selections to create her own green-kid gift guide: From fair-trade, nontoxic Wooden Sorting Toys and Stacking Toys to a Wildlife Tree Puzzle handcrafted from an environmentally-friendly hardwood, this shopcaster’s got the goods on toys that tread oh-so-lightly on Mama Earth. One of her coolest - and most Lorax-league - finds: the Trees-To-Be Seed Kit from Greenfeet. Including “everything you need to start and grow your own magnificent tree,” the kit is available in gingko and yule seeds.

...continued: Toys To Make The Lorax Proud

ThisNexter gretaguru has a lot of bright and shiny recommendations on ThisNext which always make me smile.  However, her recent recommendation of Trunki’s Lightweight Wheeled Child Travel Luggage might be her most enthusiastic yet:

“How cool is this?? Your kid gets tired walking in the airport and you just have them sit down and pull them on their luggage!! It’s ingenious! It makes the airport fun! YAY for functional intelligent design!! Comes in different colors and is designed just for kids!”

!!!

In my experience, kids love to carry their own luggage when walking through an airport.  Of course, that love lasts only a small, blissful amount of time - which is why the Trunki is so great.  It’s lightweight, super bright and engaging and it functions aptly as a chair for the little tykes as well.  Created by innovative British design company Magmatic (and those Brists certainly know a thing or two about travel),  the Trunki can be ridden on, pulled along or carried by adults.

As with most kid stuff, I have to ask…when do we get one? 

I gotta think our mothers must all be slightly annoyed with the state of parenting today. I mean, there is just so much great stuff for kids and parents to make life infinitely easier.

Gone are the days of 1000 pound strollers, scratchy baby clothes and ill-fitting diapers. And toy chests? That’s so 1901. Today’s toy catch all must be a mix of form and function. Like these animal bags from Boon discovered by the modern-parenting-meets-modern-design blog coochicoos,

...continued: Fun New Finds For Kids and Parents

SuperMom is a stay-at-home, home-schooling mother of three who understands that the most important things in life really do have something to do with things.  Here’s a recent post called “Bye Bye Baby” from her blog, What Makes a Housewife Desperate? 

“There it is. My baby things.
 The swing.
The exersaucer.
The bottles.
The sleepers.
The teethers and wrist rattles.
Save the crib, that’s it.
I’ve sold them. For $103.

Seems so small compared to all the happiness I’ve had using them.

I must admit. This was not an easy step to take. It’s like I’m admitting I won’t be having any more babies. I can think it. I can agree when my husband says ‘no more’, but actually coming out and doing something as drastic as selling my baby items? That means I have to commit to it.

I love babies. But that’s it for me. And I’m sad.”

A great, smart, feeling blog for parents of all shapes and ages.

Some bloggers stories are automatically, immediately compelling — that is, you just have to stop and read t hem.  Baggage That Goes With Mine is one of those: the blog of a single engaged mom trying to figure out how to raise 10-year old Bug who was adopted from foster care.  And amidst all of her frank and fascinating talk (she’s an ex-Marine and an abuse survivor, as well), there’s also some down-to-earth ‘listing’ going on.  Like this shot of daughter Bug’s brand new Converse.  The shot had only this for a caption: “My daughter is a bad ass.”  Frankly, she ain’t the only one…

In a recent article, NY Time’s Style writes how “Fashion Aims Young” with designers making and marketing trendier and sassier frocks to be rocked by the wee ones.

Which ThisNext can testify to - check our little collection of kiddie chic with our “childrens clothing” tag.

Click the tag, and you’ll see some of what NY Times talks about as going in kids’ high fashion - designer Ya-Ya’s “Kennedy” dress for the little ladies, a businessy button down for little boys, and Antik’s designer denim for kids.

“Premium jeans, for instance, an item coveted by Maisy Gellert, a third grader living in Westchester County, N.Y. ‘I’m very particular,” Maisy said. “Sevens are the only jeans I actually wear.’ “

Maisy sounds like she should be shopcasting children’s clothing with us.

...continued: Fashion Aims Young

Andrea and Emily UG of Red, W(h)ine and Boo are two progressive moms blogging about life at large and the raising of their two babies, Boo and Red, who may be the cutest baby on the planet. And they’re blatantly honest, too: they are careful to recommend good baby-raising tools an educational toys, like the Leapfrog Learn-Around Playground…but they also freely admit that Boos’ current fave toy is a piece of direct mail and a left-over party favor. “So the moral of this story,: Mama Em says, “next birthday all gifts will be either purchased at the dollar tree, sent to us as junk mail, or dug out of some dusty back room and regifted. Yay for Mommies budget!”

Casserole of my Life is a “sweet, sour, bitter, spicy” blog about a young mom and her family…and the beautiful things she finds in life, including this gorgeous handmade jewelry by Suz. “My friend has a very fine eye for details and most of her pieces are rather interesting,” sesame says. “They’re not the usual faux baubles because these are all semi-precious stones set in sterling silver or 14K gold-filled chains. “

CrabbyKate of Tripping the Life Unbalanced is trying to raise a smart, strong daughter…and she’s just getting started. But Gwen here is helping (and if you can’t read her T-shirt, we’ll help: it says CHICKS ROCK.)

Christina’s A Mommy Story is just hilarious. And accurate. And true-to-life. And thought Christina doesn’t actually recommend the Blue’s Clues plush, it is already the center of her toddler’s life and that cause of much insanity…while she doesn’t really say you should give Glenlivet to your baby when she’s teething. But if you want to see what it’s really like to have a just-turned-two-year-old around the house… read on.

It all started for Danny of Dad Gone Mad at a theme park.  He was there with his son the Champ, waiting in line for a ride that everybody was excited to try, when a voice came over the loudspeaker and announced that the ride had broken…and the Champ through the “greatest tantrum of all time. The spontaneous collapse. The whining. The mortified father who seriously regretted leaving our tazer gun at home. “  As his son lay on the ground screaming, Danny turned to his fellow blogger Fruit Cup Dave, a psychologist who has worked extensively with children, and begged. “Help me. What should I do? Is it time to send him to Siberia?”  Dave suggested a book called 3-2-1 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 by Thomas W. Phelan…and after much “hemming and hawing” and some tough self-examination, Danny read it, applied it, and admits to this day: “It works.” 

Meredith Henning is “A Catholic home-educating mother of four living a sweet life with her dh of 12 years,” and Sweetness amd Light is a terrific resource for a continuing series of gentle, inspiring, and sweet books for kids. Her current favorite is Elsa Beskow’s newest, Peter in Blueberry Land. “Elsa Beskow has been one of our favorite picture book authors for some time,” she says. “Her stories are so intriguing and there’s always such a playfulness in how she presents her characters, even if they are trolls or mischievous little children. Her illustrations are so precious and there is just enough detail to make you want to linger on each page before going on to the next.”

Elizabeth is an Op-Ed columnist, a blogger at Parenting.com, and an online entrepreneur, and she keeps all those balls in their air on top of keeping DaMomma up to date. This is a woman who calls ‘em as she sees ‘em in a funny, fast way, and her product pics are part of the process – like these plain-spoken bibs and onesies for babies that tell the awful truth: High Maintenance … Too Freaking Cute … Warning: No Nap. How amazing: truth in parenting.

Honeybee Sweet Potato is a sweet, clever, and smart blog about Mom, her daughter (Honeybee) and her son (Sweet Potato). And among the many subjects on “thoughtful parenting” that she keeps circling back to are children’s books and books for grown-ups…like a recent opus to Larry McMurtry, the writer of Lonesome Dove, Brokeback Mountain and many other titles, who has almost single-handedly revived the notion of the “western” in modern lit. She’s loved everything he’s written…up to his current Telegraph Days. Don’t ask about Telegraph Days…

Veronica Mitchell of Toddled Dredge, mother of two and a constant reader, took the advice of fellow mommyblogger Life in Mamaland and tried out Bembo’s Zoo, a surprising and hilarious Shockwave application that uses animal sound effects to teach the alphabet. “JellyBean [her two-year-old] is learning her letters enthusiastically with this.”

Dori and Val over at More Hip than Hippy take an energetic, funny and ultra-cool look at the green lifestyle. Where else will you get recs in a single blogpost on ale, chocolate, and children’s toothpaste (as well as a reference to a serious articles about the future challenge of running your car on chocolate.) Their current “back to school” entry focuses on a number of great green products for kids, including Weleda’s Children’s Tooth Gel. A great green resource.