Our blog moved

Hi everyone,
 The blog has moved to its natural place - it is now an integral part of Batalugu's web site.

Please keep on visiting us at: http://batalugu.com/blog/

Tell a tale,
Dorit Rosen
Co-Founder

The ice cream shop as an allegory

I took my kids yesterday afternoon to the ice cream shop. To be honest, it is not just an ice ream shop, an ice cream boutique would be a more accurate term.
For kids, it is more of an ice cream amusement park. So many different flavors are mounted and decorated in a very attractive way, the customers can taste as many flavors as they want before they order, and an endless choice of toppings is offered.

My children take it for granted. For them this is how an ice cream shop should look like. They can't even think about anything less extravagant.

This always makes me think about the ice cream shops that where available when I was a child, not to mention the fact that ice cream was a luxury item that was consumed only in rare occasions when my parents were kids.

If you think about it, this is true in almost every aspect of our daily lives. the last few generations face tremendous changes that occur very quickly.

I think that by telling  my kids how things were in the past, when I was a child, when their grandparents were children and even when my grandparents were children, I give them a great tool to expand their point of view.

This will give them a better perspective, some comparison points and will prepare the grounds for them to live in a fast pace changing environment.

Naturally, I use Batalugu to write stories for them in the form of books. This way I can upload pictures and visualize the stories in a better way.

I encourage you to tell your children about things that you remember or heard in your family's  private past in order to better prepare them for the future.

Tell a tale,
Dorit Rosen
Co-founder
http://batalugu.com

Increase affect and effect your children's literary experience

I am attending nowadays a 10 meeting workshop that teaches how to play meaningful and effective games with children. The workshop is moderated by Mrs. Sigal Huri, and I thank her for the great insights.

One subject that keeps on poping during the workshop is emotional affect and how it effects the way kids play.

"Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion.^[1] Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" (APA 2006). " (WIKIPEDIA - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affect_%28psychology%29 ).

The principal is very simple, increase your kids' emotional affect during the game, and the game will become more meaningful, effective and fun for them.

I suggest to use the same techniques of affect increasing when reading books with the kids, and turn the reading to a much meaningful, memorable and joyful experience.

So, how can one increase emotional affect?
Usually by stimulating the hearing and touching  senses.

Examples for stimulating the hearing sense:

• Whisper or increase your voice according to the content
• Use different musical scales producing the same sound
• Use your sound going  extremely from high to low tone or the other way round. It is known that sirens are great affect increasers

Examples for stimulating the touch sense:

• Tickle or hug the kids in the middle of reading
• Jump, clap your hands or do other physical actions with the kids that are related to the book content

As always, those are just simple examples, use your imagination and you will probably find much better ideas to stimulate your kids senses when you read books.

Another suggestion I can provide: if you write a book for your kids using http://batalugu.com , you can combine elements that increase affect in the text itself, and use them naturally  when reading the book.

Tell a (meaningful and effective) tale ,
Dorit Rosen
Founder
Batalugu

Specific stories to improve children's social skills

Lots of kids lack necessary social skills. Sometimes they are just too shy, sometimes they want to play with other kids but they don't know how to approach them, and sometimes they don't understand the behavior codes and social structures.

Parents often notice that their kids struggle in the social arena. This is one of the most upsetting thing for parents, who obviously want their children to have friends and be socially succesful. The good news is that a lot can be done to change this situation.

Social skills are like any other skill, they vary from one person to another. Some people have more of it, they are the "naturals", the ones that "were born with it" that will probably become excellent networkers as adults.
For those who weren't as blessed, there are teaching and practicing techniques that can improve social skills.

A lot of knowledge in that area was accumulated during research of children with all kinds of special needs.
One of the recommendations that professionals who work with children with special needs, is to write a social story that simulates a realistic situation that is relevant for each child. The story should be read  to/with the child every time before that situation occures.

A good example is a play date. The story should describe the child who hosts the play date, the child comes over, things that they are going to do together and potential solutions for problematic situations.

After reading the story, the event happens under the supervision of an adult (a parent or a professional) that teaches whatever needs to be taught, in real time.

A lot of repetitions and practice is needed, but in the end results are seen.

My message to you is:
If you think that your child is facing some social challenges,  don't give up! 
There is so much that can be done in order to improve the situation.
If you decide to use the story method I mentioned above, using Batalugu is a great way to write and illustrate a personal story that exactly fits your child's specific needs. You can either use it online or order a professional looking hard copy of the book.

So, tell a tale (and use it to improve your life),
Dorit Rosen
Founder
http://batalugu.com

Birthday parties, baby bouncers and (e)books

Just got back from a birthday party of a 4 years old girl, and, I am still overwhelmed.
The family hired a well known entertainer, who tried to provide as many attractions as she could within 90 minuets.

Birthday parties, as many other things in our lives, have become a well planned, overly budgeted production.
Every party must have a theme (preferably something to do with super heroes, TV  or movie characters). Each detail, from the invitations to the favor bags, must be related to this theme. Sound systems, sophisticated  costumes and effects are a very common sight in very young children's birthday parties.

The kids get used to an extreme level of excitement, sometimes much higher than their capacity, and once the level was set as a standard, it is very difficult to go back.

Parents that would rather have a qualitative, quieter, self made party, are afraid that their kids will be disappointed, and find themselves surrender to the social pressure.

Interesting enough, I find a lot of similarities to the process we witness regarding kids and reading.

The kids are getting used to extreme levels of  stimulation from the moment they are born.
Electric swings for babies with colorful lights, moving objects and music, vibrating baby bouncers with the same entertainment systems as the swings, fancy electric toys and so on and so on.

If you are a parent, a grandparent an uncle or an aunt - you know it very well. If you are not related to kids, you will not be able to miss it when time comes (and you are probably not reading my blog right now...).

Don't get me wrong, those things are great. I am embarrassed to admit how many times I used them when my children couldn't fall asleep, or when I wanted some quiet moments for myself.

It doesn't get better as they grow up and get older.The level of excitement grows up as well. At this point it is very difficult to convince them that a book is a great way of entertainment.

It is certainly not easy, but there are several ways to overcome this obstacle. For example:

• Education and habit - If you read a book to your kids every evening before bed time, since they are babies, hopefully, they will have good memories and grow up with passion for book.
• Combination - If you combine devices that are known as high excitement generators (such as a computer, an iPad etc.,) with the content you want, you can at least control what you get them to read.
  Using Batalugu's platform to create books is an excellent way to combine both worlds.

Tell an exciting tail,
Dorit Rosen
Founder
http://batalugu.com

Familly tales, stories and anecdotes

Each family has its own stories, tales and anecdotes that are being carried out from one generation to the other.
Some of them are pure history telling the story of the specific family within the general events. Some are so old that probably over the years facts were lost or changed while others were added.
Other stories have a strong moral and some are just funny.
Families' traditions are made using stories.
Parents have the urge to tell those stories to their children (and sometimes to anyone who is willing to listen).
I love to tell my kids family stories, especially the funny ones. I assume that as they grow older I will tell them the more serious ones as well. I tell them about my grandparents who past away long before they were born, about my memories as a child and about myself growing up in Africa. Sometimes I show them some old pictures.
Using Batalugu, I will start now turning  those stories into a book or books. I can upload scanned pictures and add relevant illustrations from Batalugu's rich image bank.
The above photo was taken in the very early 1900's, maybe even before 1910. The woman in it is the grandmother of my grandmother. The only thing that I know about this woman is the fact that she lived in Poland. I don't know her name or when she was born.
My father has the original photo which is very small in dimensions. It is a mystery to me how it was kept all those years. A friend of my father, who is a  photographer, managed to restore it in a special lab, so I got a copy of it which I scanned.
This unique piece of history is more likely to be well kept as a part of a book about our family's history.
I hope that this will inspire you to write down your family's stories for the sake of the next generations.

Just before I finish, I must mention Batalugu's Hallo-WIN book writing contest with a chance to win $500.
You can find all the details at:
http://batalugu.com/contests/2010_Halloween/

As always, Tell a Tale (now you can win a prize for it)
Dorit Rosen
Founder
http://batalugu.com

Healthy food and children's books

Before I start writing this post, I have to confess...
Children's literature is not my only passion in life. I am also passionate about food. Not only eating, but also cooking, baking, watching TV shows, reading magazines and exploring new flavors, techniques and products.
Saying that, I can now start writing my thoughts about both of my passions.
Many parents are concerned about their children's nutrition and eating behavior. Some are worried about their kid's over weight, some about under weight, some can not convince their kids to eat enough fruit and vegetables and so on and so on.
As in reading, you can influence your children choices by giving them self example, educating them and turning healthy nutrition into fun.
You can do some very basic things to improve your kids knowledge and willingness to eat healthier:

• Talk to them about different kinds of foods and their impact on health (for example, my 4.5 year old son knows that meat and fish contain protein that builds muscles, and that pasta contains carbohydrates that supplies the body the energy it needs to run, jump, climb and ride the bike).
• Have family meals and serve healthy food. Eventually, your kids will start eating what you eat (at least at home...).
• Prepare healthy dishes that are easy to make together  - such as: fruit salad, vegetable salad, whole wheat pasta with home made tomato sauce etc.,
• Write together your family's healthy food book, using Batalugu. There are so many ways I can think of to write such a book. You can gather in it all your favorite recipes and upload relevant photos, you can explain about the different food groups and their contribution to our body, you can tell a story about a family that completely transformed its attitude towards food and nutrition, and much more.
• Turn this book to your food "bible" and decide that from now on your family is going to act according to the healthy guidelines that are written in this book.
• There is so much free information and so many great advices about this topic on the Internet. Expand your own knowledge and practice it at home.

I love this subject! I will probably get back to it sometime soon.

Tell a (Healthy) Tale,
Dorit Rosen
Founder
http://batalugu.com
dorit@batalugu.com