Bound To Go is a landmark collection of 35 songs from the African American folk tradition that includes spirituals, shout songs from the Sea Islands, prison ballads and secular songs.  Lovingly compiled, created and produced by Andrew Calhoun, a working folk singer, the collection shines new light onto some of the most moving and important songs in the American folk music tradition.

35 songs performed by 18 musicians offer a fresh look at the African American folk tradition. The artists on Bound To Go, have literally came from across the globe and and have occupations as far reaching. They are dancers, stay at home mothers, surveyors, teachers, liberians, and songwriters, all brought together by the majesty of Andrew Calhoun and Bound To Go.  Bound to Go puts some important songs back in circulation, presented in a form that reflects their original purpose; not the appreciation of one voice, but the inclusion of every voice.

We would love for you to listen to this amazing compilation that was sent to us by our friends at Waterbug Records . We thank them for sending this CD our way and highly recommend it as a wonderful tribute to African American folk music and the univeral language of song.

WELCOME TO THE REGIONZ KIDZ BLOGZ!!

In honor of the bloggy carnival this week we are giving away one of our Extra Large 100% Certified Organic Tote Bags!

You can choose your design and character from our sketchbook and we will print it on your tote To enter our giveaway, just visit our site and leave us a comment on our blog with your favorite design and product!!

We hope you enjoy all of the great information and partner products that we feature! We want to spread the word and promote diversity and unity!!

Ok, So I know that most people aren’t too excited about ANCHOVIES but you can use other meat for this yummy recipe! For this and other great recipes from around the world, visit our friends at Usborne Books:

http://www.ubah.com/R2633

This is a traditional Swedish dish of potatoes and anchovies. There are many stories about how it got its name. Some people think it was named after an opera singer, called Pelle Janzon, while others think it got its name from a film. “The temptation of Jansson”.

(Serves 4)

450g/1lb. potatoes
2 large onions
85g/3oz. butter
2 cans anchovies
a pinch of salt and of black pepper
300ml/half a pint of double cream or milk

Oven temperature: 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin strips about 4cm (2in.) long. Put them in a bowl of cold water.

2. Peel the onions and chop them finely. Fry them gently in 30g (1oz.) of the butter until they are soft.

3. Drain the potatoes in a colander. Put a layer of potatoes into a small, heatproof dish. Then, drain the anchovies.

4. Cover the potatoes with a layer of anchovies. Then, cover the anchovies with a layer of the softened onions.

5. Repeat the layers of potato, anchovies and onion to the top of the dish, finishing with a layer of potato.

6. Add the salt and pepper. Then, carefully pour the cream all over the top. It will sink to the bottom of the dish.

7. Cut the rest of the butter into small pieces and dot them around the dish. Bake it for about 45 minutes.

This wonderful resource article was written for us by our friend Michele at Truly Organic Beauty.  She will be a monthly contributor to our blog and newsletter and we are happy to have her articles and posts each month!

“Treat the Earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.” This is an ancient Kenyan proverb that really hits home these days as we are becoming more aware of how our past and current actions are affecting our world. As parents, we all want the very best for our children now and in the future. And we certainly want to ensure that our beautiful planet is still flourishing well beyond our children’s lifetime.

Most of us now realize that the future of our planet as well as the health of our children depends greatly on changes we need to make in our everyday lives. However, it can be quite overwhelming and even scary when you begin learning about all of the environmental toxins in the world today. From food, to bath products, to toys, etc. Where do you begin?

There is an exceptional non-profit organization called Healthy Child Healthy World that is one of the best resources out there for parents. It was founded by James & Nancy Chuda in 1991 when they decided to turn their sad story into something positive. The effects of harmful environmental exposures, unfortunately, became very real to them when their 5 year old daughter, Collette, died of a rare form of cancer. Years later they learned that her tumor may have been caused by maternal exposure to pesticides before pregnancy. In honor of their daughter’s bravery, they began the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund, now Healthy Child Healthy World (HCHW), to educate families about the relationship between children’s health and the environment.

HCHW purpose and goals as outlined on their website are to:
• Expand awareness and understanding of environmental hazards to children’s health
• Help the public learn about healthier practices, solutions, and products in the marketplace
• Encourage daily action and informed lifestyle choices
• Create standards and policies for safer products, foods, materials, and chemicals used in the home – promoting safer options and new alternatives
• Advocate for and support corporate policies and governmental legislation that protect children from environmental risks
• Engage communities to make wise choices and responsible decisions so families can flourish

The HCHW website contains a wealth of information to help you in creating an environmentally friendly home for your family. There are numerous programs outlined for you to follow such as 5 Easy Steps and Healthy Home Parties . They actually provide you with all the tools necessary to host a Healthy Home Party for your family and friends to educate them about protecting children’s health and development from common contaminants we are exposed to every day. You can also sign up for a monthly email newsletter that provides age-specific environmental health lessons throughout pregnancy and the first 2 years of your child’s life.

In addition to the programs the site also includes a vast array of environmental resources for you to use. For example, there are numerous 1-page checklists for almost anything you can imagine, such as, cloth diapering, keeping your child lead-free and feeding children safe food. There is also a very informative ingredients profile that describes chemicals encountered in our daily lives. Instead of simply describing the health effects of these chemicals, they also empower you with solutions to exposure.

Another really great area of the site is the marketplace. It is filled with information on companies that offer products and services for your home and children that are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. There is a wide variety of green products included such as baby bottles, crib mattresses, organic foods, children’s furniture and paints and stains. No need for you to spend time researching all the eco-friendly product options out there because HCHW only recommends products from companies that have passed their screening. You can also check out their quality standards.

HCHW is definitely an organization that is leading the environmental movement and has children as their top priority. The amount of information that they have compiled in an easy to navigate website is really impressive. Visit them today and instead of feeling overwhelmed by the green trend, you may just feel inspired to get involved and begin making changes in your life for the future of your children.

Michele Dupper is Mom to her 1 ½ year old son and the owner of Truly Organic Beauty. She lives in sunny FL and has been transitioning to a green lifestyle since starting a family. Michele enjoys educating others about living a more natural lifestyle that is beneficial for the health of our bodies as well as our planet. She can be reached via email at mdupper@trulyorganicbeauty.com.

I recently purchased the Dora’s World Adventure CD for my 2 year old daughter who is ADDICTED to anything Dora or Diego. I wanted a different CD to play in my truck and picked this one up randomly. After listening to it several times I really started to LOVE this compilation of songs. The songs promote unity between cultures worldwide and within the US and teach words in several different languages. The songs have the feel of the culture they come from and Dora and Boots start off each song with a brief intro about the country that each is from. My daughter has picked up on many of the different words and can use them properly when saying “goodbye” and “hello” in swahili, hebrew and chinese. I think that Dora and Diego are absolutely WONDERFUL TV programs and I am impressed with their messages and the educational content of their shows. This CD is just the latest in the Dora Empire & I was not disappointed after purchasing this CD and listening to its message and fun, upbeat songs. It definitely gets 5 starts from me and my daughter. You won’t be disappointed either!!

In this great article from scholastic book publishers, they list the top 50 best multi-cultural children’s books.  They also feature advice from educators, writers and illustrators on how to spot literature that transcends cultural sterotypes.

Within each section of this article, you’ll find:

• Reviews of ten great children’s books suitable for grades K-8
• Essential advice from a children’s author or illustrator
  Joseph Bruchac
  Gary Soto
  Floyd Cooper
  Patricia Polacco
  Yumi Heo
• Key criteria to use when selecting books
• A list of notable authors

How do you know if a children’s book you’re about to share with your child accurately portrays the culture of its characters? Are there warning signs to look for? Are there telltale things that mark an outstanding multicultural book? To answer these questions, Scholastic Instructor invited five children’s literature specialists to give us their candid advice on selecting books about or related to Native Americans, Latinos, African-Americans, Jews, and Asian-Americans.

Please see our friends at Scholastic for the complete article.

To purchase multi-cultural children’s books for your family, visit our friends at:

Kane Miller

UsBorne Books

Barefoot Books

This post is from our guest blogger, Christopher Hillery, a certified youth fitness trainer and the owner of Transformer Fitness. He will be posting monthly articles about healthy kids and activities for parents and children to do together. For more information on Christopher’s personal training programs, check out his website at: http://www.transformerfitness.com

Is Using Food as a Reward for Good Behavior a Good Idea?

The other day at a department store I accidentally overheard a conversation between a mother and her son who looked about two years old. Ok fine, I was eavesdropping when I heard the mother say, “That’s not how a nice boy acts when he wants candy bar.” I admit that the child’s actions required some form of discipline since he was throwing books off the nearby bookshelf with little regard for the other store patrons, but holding a food-based reward over his head can potentially start a chain reaction that can effect the rest of her son’s life.

Using food as a part of a reward or disciplinary system can have damaging effects on your child’s psyche. By rewarding or disciplining your child with food, they form an emotional attachment it. Think about all the times you have said, “I accomplished (insert goal here) this week so I’m going to consume a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s as a reward for a job well done.” I won’t lie I do the same thing on occasion. Once I became aware of my actions, I thought about how I could help my clients (most of whom are mothers and fathers) change the emotional relationship they had with food so they could educate their children on how to reward themselves without the use of food.

Start a reward system that promotes more active benefits like taking them to the park to play, miniature golfing or to a water park. All of these activities will form emotional bonds between your child, an active lifestyle and most of all you. If activities or “movement experiences” become the basis for rewarding good behavior, your child will form emotional bonds with exercise and activity rather than with food. Both food and activity rewards create motivation for good behavior but the food based reward only lasts as long as it takes the child to eat it. Once the food is gone, so is the motivation to be well behaved. Whatever activity you or your child chooses as reward will be more of a positive impact, meaning the positive feelings the child gets from the prolonged activity will make a much more effective and lasting impression. That positive impression will lead to more positive behaviors in your child since they are now motivated by an experience that lasts longer than a few bites of a Butterfinger.

Here are some additional tips that will help you create a healthier reward system:

1) Remember that the purpose of food is to give our bodies the necessary fuel to get through each day. I am NOT discounting the importance of food tasting good and being enjoyable. I am saying that food should be looked at as a physical necessity rather than an emotional one. Your child doesn’t deserve food because they behaved at the grocery store. They need food to grow up healthy and that fact should be instilled in them at all times.

2) Schedule meals and snack times at the same time everyday. By doing this, you are getting your child on a guess-free eating schedule. They know each day that lunch is at noon regardless of how they behave. This helps your child view food as a daily requirement rather than benefit that accompanies good or bad behavior/feelings.

3) Talk to you child about the importance of eating healthy and being active. This may seem like a no-brainer but most parents avoid talking to their children about living healthy lifestyles. Make the discussion fun and easy to understand so your child retains the information more effectively. For more information on how to talk to your child about health and nutrition, check out http://www.fitnessforyouth.umich.edu/.

4) Recognize and address your own emotional ties to food and make changes to your behavior. Children often adhere to the “monkey see, monkey do” philosophy and may adopt behaviors of yours. If they see or hear that you are rewarding yourself with chocolate cake for a job well done, then they may start expecting similar rewards for their accomplishments.

I hope this article has provided you with some helpful tips on how to create your own activity based reward system for your child. My gut told me I should have shared this pearl of wisdom with the mother of the book hurling child, but I kept my mouth shut as I tried to avoid a hardback copy of the latest Elmo book