The Best for Last!

It's the last book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, fittingly and ominously titled The Last Olympian! I read this book in one go and still wanted more! Camp Half-blood's heroes are really put to the test when they're left to defend Olympus from the monster armies of Kronos. And since Olympus is on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, that means the battle is waged right in the middle of Manhattan! So much for a sweet sixteen party for Percy (although the Party Ponies do crash his birthday battle!)!

Brush up on your mythology (this is seriously a great series to read if you're studying Greek myths in school!), find a really comfy chair, and read The Last Olympian! Like I've said before, it's all Greek to me and it's all Good!

Green is IN!

Everyone's talking GREEN and I'm loving it! So here's a Tudy Was Framed photo frame to capture that environmental and ecological feel! You know the drill - download, resize and cut out (be careful!)! Get your photo albums and scrapbooks into the Green Groove!

What's YOUR Savvy?

Meet the Beaumonts in Ingrid Law's Newbery Honor book Savvy and learn about the extra-special abilities that make turning 13 in their amazing family extraordinary... and dangerous! It's Mibs's dreaded 13th birthday and instead of the usual birthday party, she's off on a bus-ride of an adventure with a strange bus-load of passengers, including her stormy brother Fish!

I can almost see the movie - Ingrid Law's prose is as clear as the air after an electrical storm! And Mibs is such a character - she really speaks to me!

Ok, ok, enough with the puns! Read the book and find out what a Savvy really is. You just might find your own... and start your own amazing adventure with or without a bus!

It's a Closet-FULL of FUN!

It's my best dress-up game EVER!

I'm launching an all-new TudyDoll Dress-up Game! I'm bringing back some of my fave Tudy outfits, adding lots of new ones, and spicing up the dress-up game a little! You've got to go thru 3 closets (that's right, TudyGirls - 3 closets!), find that perfect piece of clothing (some are hanging, some are folded, some are hidden in my closet!), or even go shopping in The Tudy Shop or The Tudy Boutique (that's 2 stores with more than 4 racks of clothes!), to make THE perfect Tudy Outfit. Perfection needs work, TudyGirls!

So what are you waiting for? Log on to TudyDoll.com! Dig in for a closet-full of fun!

A "Trembling Pleasure"

That's how the Times of London described the first appearance of this "great story" in 1972! Richard Adam's Watership Down is one of my fave books of all time and it's a perfect Easter read!

Follow Hazel's band of rabbits (you got that right!) as they flee the heart-breaking destruction of their home, venture into the beautiful-but-dangerous downs of England, and courageously search for a new sanctuary. Richard Adams makes you believe in his fantastic world of rabbits, makes you feel their sadness and cheer for their triumphs. That's because he takes you with them on an adventure you won't soon forget! It'll make you think about how important it is to live with all the creatures on this planet. And how believing in your goals, in your friends, and most importantly, in yourself, gets you where you need to go - your own Watership Down!

It's Time for a Bubblebration!

Welcome Spring with National Bubble Week ! In the year 2000, Oddzon, makers of Koosh Bubbles, started the first "bubblebration" on the first day of spring, and there's been a special bubble-blowing week ever since!

I think bubbles are fascinating! Not only are they magical to look at, easy to make, and fun to play around with, but the science behind a bubble is absolutely intriguing! Did you know a sphere - the shape of the classic bubble - has the smallest possible surface tension for any volume? It's so small, it's used to solve mathematical problems relating to time and space (talk about a science project!)!

For over 400 years, children all over the world have been blowing these irridescent globes of air and water and I don't think we'll be stopping anytime soon. So pull out your bubble blowers, or go get some new ones! Better yet, raid your kitchen or bathroom and make your own bubble solution, ask a grownup to make a bubble wand for you, and start blowing some magic!

She's 50!

She’s 50 and still fabulous! She’s every fashionista’s dream. She’s a one-name wonder who’s been there and done it all! And it may be hard to imagine, much less count, but Barbie Millicent Roberts turns half a century today, March 9, 2009!
First introduced at the 1959 New York Toy Fair and invented by Mattel’s co-founder, Ruth Handler, Barbie has since captured the hearts Y and imaginations of girls everywhere. And why not? At 11.5 inches, Barbie has represented at least 45 nationalities and spanned 80 careers. Just last month, 50 designers from Vera Wang to Calvin Klein and Betsy Johnson paid tribute to toy land’s top doll by designing one-of-a kind, signature looks for Runway Barbie. Talk about power dressing!!!

So celebrate Barbie’s 50th birthday in vintage style! Take a catwalk down memory lane with a Tudy Treasure: Vintage Barbie Dolls and Fashions. It’s a fashion-filled picture book of 1960's and 70's Barbie dolls, creations, and prized accessories. It's a testimony to Barbie's enduring legacy and appeal. Barbie has always been and will always be all about creativity, imagination, self-expression, and play!

Here's to the portable, plastic icon m that started it all: Happy Birthdey, Doll!

Heart-felt Heart-frame

Here's my Y-felt Tudy Frame for the month of Ys! You know the drill - download the image, resize to fit your pic, and cut out (be careful!). I just Y it!

A Merry Museum Mix-Up!

Okay, I'm not actually suggesting it (!!!) but if you ever imagined running off somewhere, where would you go? Forget the circus! I would run off to a museum and live there (!!!) and that's exactly what Claudia does in E. L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler! Written in 1967 and winner of the Newbery Medal, this book made my "museum dream" come true! Armed with a few dollars but lots of imagination, Claudia and her brother, Jamie, carefully plan to run off and live in the wondrous and wonderful Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. And along the way, they discover the secrets of the museum and a few things about themselves as well.

What a place for imagining! My favorite place in the Met? Where Claudia and Jamie hide from their classmates, ofcourse!! Where would you niche out? Get the book, visit the museum, and map it out yourself!

But just in case you can't wait, here's an on-line book you can read right now about another museum adventure, Aaron's Awesome Adventure!

And to get you going on your own adventure, here's a colorful lesson in imagination from one of the greatest museums in the world!

Buttons and Boo Redo!

This February, Coraline, the movie, is haunting theaters near you! Last year, I told you about Neil Gaiman's bootiful book and warned you'd never look at buttons the same way ever! Now, I'm afraid, I'm actually looking thru buttons! Help! Where'd my eyes go!?!

Well, you've got to read the book, watch the movie (in that order!) and explore the fantastic world of Henry Selick's Coraline and find out for yourself!

Here's lnnking at you...

So You Want To Be President?

Well, it certainly isn't for the faint of heart! But for those aspiring wannabes and presidential hopefuls, here's a hilarious LyyK book on the Presidency of the United States. Full of comical anecdotes and dead-on caricatures, So You Want To Be President?, just might make a presidential candidate out of you.

And why not? The job may be stressful but there are advantages to living in the White House. For one: you never ever have to make your own bed! Excuse me, but there's always room for a pet menagerie! And sleepovers? You'll be an instant hit with friends and family! (Imagine your very own movie theater and bowling alley, Tudygirls. And that's just for starters!!!) But what really makes Judith St. George's book sooo presidential is this: you'll view world history from a lofty pedestal. From George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton, there are enough political facts and foibles to keep the curious reading and the pundits gasping! So on this Inauguration Day, be the belle of the Washington ball! Brush up on your history with this nonpartisan, political round-up.

Quack!

Paris has Madeline, New York has Eloise and Boston has... Mrs. Mallard! Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey is a picture book that will warm your heart like a down comforter! In her search for a perfect home for her ducklings - Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack (Phew, are you with me?!). Mrs. Mallard will brave Beantown's traffic to get to the right place. But will she and her brood make it?!?

Filled with heart-warming illustrations by the author and based on an actually observed scene of travelling ducks, Make Way for Ducklings is truly an oldie but goodie!

And if you ever find yourself in Boston, check out the beautiful Public Garden! You just might run into Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings (in bronze, that is)!