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I didn’t grow up on Mr Rogers.  He wasn’t shown in the UK and I was too old by the time we arrived in the US.  But am very familiar with his program after years of baby-sitting and then catching re-runs when my own daughter was of the Mr. Rogers age.  Emily loved the him - but I always thought Mr. Rogers was a little strange.

I just got all teary when I found this post, 15 Reasons Why Mr. Rogers was the Best Neighbor ever.  I love that he got his car returned after it was stolen, he was hugged by a Gorilla, he was the most tolerant American ever, and he could make a subway car full of strangers sing.  Now I don’t know anything else about Mr. Rogers other than what I have just read - maybe he had some bad qualities.  But it seems to me that anyone who (throughout his entire life) wears the cardigans that his Mother knits for him is pretty close to angelic

For our August Contest we have decided to give away one of our most popular outfits. This Carpatina Japanese Kimono was one of the first outfits we offered on Emily Rose and has been a consistent favorite.

Entering the contest is easy. If you are an existing customer just visit an item in the store that you have purchased and write a product review- if you aren’t a customer yet you can still enter. Just link to your favorite product from your own blog or a tagging service (delicious, kaboodle, thisnext, etc…).  Then leave us a comment on this post telling us where you put it so that we can confirm the link.

This contest ends on August 25th and the winner will be announced on the blog on the 26th. You must visit the blog to claim your prize so put a post-it note somewhere to remind you

There is a lot of debate surrounding a child’s allowance and one of the biggest points of contention is whether or not your child’s allowance should be tied to chores.  I personally think an allowance is absolutely essential to teaching your children about managing money.  The chore question to me is purely a matter of choice, as long as your child gets an allowance of some kind.  Even a dollar a week is money in hand that they have to make choices with - and every choice they make is a money learning experience.  Of course an allowance without a financial education is useless and we will be posting about ways to help your children learn about money in future posts - but today we are talking about allowances.

Emily’s school has an annual “sleep-over” trip.  Since she is only 10 years old we wouldn’t let her go on this trip last year for a variety of reasons, but one of the main reasons was the cost.  This trip would have been a huge gift for Emily.  SInce we didn’t know about it ahead of time we didn’t have the chance to teach her about the value of earning something.  Well - her school will have a trip again this year and we have told her that she can go… if she earns it.  To that end we made the decision that this year Emily’s chores will be tied to her allowance and her saving goal of paying half of her school trip. 

I was browsing for help and advice on the web when I came across this promising looking website.  Pay Jr allows you to set up a chore calendar for your child, link those chores to her allowance and give your child a way to watch their savings grow.  The only thing I was disappointed in was that you couldn’t enter short and long term goals which would be a very useful added feature.  I haven’t used it yet so I don’t know how friendly it is - but I will try using this and see how Emily likes it.  If anyone else has ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them.

Our apologies for the lateness in selecting a winner for the Book Review Contest.  We had so many great entries that it was very hard to read all of them and choose only one.  But we have a winner!  This revew comes from Rachel F in Ohio - congratulations Rachel you have won a fabulous package filled with cool doll shoes!  Please email us to collect your prize.

Rachel’s review was selected because it was the review that made you want to read the book the most.  Her descriptions of the action and excitement were contagious. 

Thanks to everyone who entered - and look out for the top book reviews on the blog in the weeks to come. 

Look out for the August contest to be announced this week.

Here’s Rachel’s Review…

Title: Prehistoric Park with Nigel Marven. Created by Jasper James.
Adapted by Susan Evento AND Prehistoric Park: Creatures and Beasts
Written by Brandon Snider.

Storyline: Going back in time to bring dinosaurs to the park so that
they are not extinct.

Favorite Character: Bob because when Nigel brought back 2 t-rexes, a
triceratops and a whole herd of ornithonimus when he said he was only
going to bring back 1 triceratops and 1 t-rex, Bob almost screamed!

What you most liked: When the t-rex woke up in the veterinary clinic and
it terrorized the whole thing - breaking and shattering stuff. And Nigel
got back and asked what happened and Suzanne said the t-rex woke up and
is terrorizing my office and they got the t-rex out and Suzanne had to
clean up her office.

What you least liked: None of it. I liked it all.

Why would you recommend it to a friend: Because it teaches you about
dinosaurs.

This Book Review is by Rachel F, 8 years old in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
(It’’s a suburb of Columbus).

It is almost every child’s dream to have a dog.  Households around the country have to deal with this dilemma and have continual discussions on this.  I know we have a healthy discussion on this subject every few weeks.  There is no right answer.  Dogs are wonderful animals but any ownership of them comes with a very serious responsibility and one that must not be taken on lightly.  I think it must come down to individual family wants and circumstances. 

I recently read a terrific article from Sharon Kennedy Wynne specifically about questioning whether owning a dog is a good thing or not for your family.  It asks you to answer 5 quick questions to define a family’s desires, requirements and circumstances.  If you’re thinking about getting a pet - please make the right decision.

Look what we found on the Sewing Chick’s blog!  How to make Fairy Wings for your doll.  I can just imagine all of the possibilities for Sophie and Marisol.  Pink ones, rainbow ones, bejeweled ones, etc… Emily is just starting to get interested in sewing and absolutely loves to use the sewing machine.  Thsi is a great project for us to try together.  Usually she is the one guiding me as, I am ashamed to admit, I am absolutely hopeless at sewing (machine or otherwise).  In fact, don’t tell anyone, but I usually have to wait for my Mother-in-Law to visit to get even a button sewed back on.  Anyway - I do know that there are so many of you out there that are fabulous at sewing so this one is for you.  If you finish the prject we would love to see photos that we can share on the blog.

We do have a very cute doll fairy outfit that you can pair with the wings.  I thought it would be really cute to make matching wings for your daughter and her doll so I went on a hunt and found these fairy wings for your daughter for only $10.99!

This is me as my Wild Self.  I am a pea-fro-fly-monkey.  Cool huh?  I know that this website would give Emily hours of amusement.  I could hardly get away from it myself as I created all different versions of what wild self I could be before I finally decided on this one.  A peacock crest - because I always wanted to be as beautiful as a peacock.  Frog arms - because I would love to be able to leap like a frog.  Butterfly wings - it’s that beauty thing again, plus I could fly of course.  Last, but not least, monkey wings.  I always wanted to be able to swing through the trees by the tail.  You even get to pick your location.  I am in the deep, dark jungle which would normally be quite scary but not for my Wild Self.  Let your kid’s imagination soar with a visit to this cool website from the New York Parks and Aquariam.

If a summer rainy day is keeping you all inside this safe, educational, imaginative website may just give you a free hour to cook dinner

One of the most popular items available in our store is the wonderful “Dorothy Outfit” for your American Girl doll or other 18 inch doll.  We know that it is a favorite gift outfit because we always have to wrap them

Yesterday evening I was relaxing and surfing eBay.  I’m not an eBay buyer - just a window shopper - I get too irritated when I don’t win!  Anyway, I came across these wonderful “Wizard of Oz Bears”.  They not only have Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz but the entire cast of characters.  The Wicked Witch of the West, the Good Witch, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion.

I thought these were adorable and considering how popular our outfit was would make a great gift for your American Girl.  Especially since I found the same set of bears on Amazon for only $7.28 each!!  Whoo - hoo!

More from Emily’s book reviews.

Title: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Storyline: When the orphan Mary Lennox, lonely and sad, comes to live with her uncle on a moor in Yorkshire, she finds it full of secret.  She meets Dickon, a magical boy, who can charm and talk to animals.  Then Mary discovers the biggest wonder of all - a secret garden.  With the help of a friendly robin, she finds the key and the ivy covered wall, and discovers the garden which has been completely forgotten for years and years.  Is everything in the garden dead or can Mary and Dickon bring it back to life. 

Favorite Character: Mary of course - this poor girl is defiant and stuck-up until, with the help of Dickon and Martha, she turns out to be the nicest girl.

What you most liked: When Mary finds the key and the door and discovers the secret garden.  She’s so happy until the truth is out….or so she thinks…

What you least liked: When Mary first comes, sad and lonely.  She is very stuck-up until she realizes how lucky she really actually is.  Not the poor, lonely girl she thought that she was.

Why you would recommend it to a friend: This sad, breath-taking, exciting book will leave readers just craving like crazy for more.  great for all ages - Mary will thank you.