As featured on NBC’s TODAY Show! The experts from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, the independent consumer organization rate the best (and worst) in children’s toys, books, videos, music and software. Don’t waste any more money on products that are a waste of your money and your child’s time. Here’s the guide that every parent (and grandparent) should have before they go shopping. Guide includes important child development information, basic gear checklists, product comparisons, best shower and birthday presents for every budget, multicultural products, science toys, educational toys and a full chapter on adapting ordinary products for kids with special needs.

About the Author

Joanne Oppenheim is one of the country’s most trusted and respected child development experts and the author of more than fifty books for and about children. Joanne is a Contributor to NBC’s TODAY Show. Stephanie Oppenheim, a former corporate attorney, is the publisher an (more…)

From Booklist

This year’s package of bite-size think pieces about pop music continues the fine tradition of previous editions. Subjects and contributors include Robert Christgau on “postmodern minstrelsy” and why studying it matters, Robert Hilburn on Bob Dylan as “rock’s enigmatic poet,” and Chris Norris on the continuing cult-icon status of Saint [sic] Kurt Cobain. Greil Marcus kicks in on Buddy Holly, and two other contributors take on punk’s legacy: Is it dead, or does it just smell funny? Nicole White and Evelyn McDonnell bring news that cautious fans and musicians can use in their timely “Police Secretly Watching Hip-hop Artists,” and again this year, an Onion article, “Heartbreaking Country Ballad Paralyzes Trucking Industry” (a story that, factual or not, had to be told), peacefully coexists with the verifiable stuff. Ben Yagoda explores a subject that will grab catalogers and other metadata enthusiasts, “reflexivity” (fancy for self-referential lyrics and criti (more…)

As featured on NBC’s TODAY Show! The experts from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, the independent consumer organization rate the best (and worst) in children’s toys, books, dvds and music. Don’t waste any more money on products that are a waste of your money and your child’s time. Here’s the guide that every parent (and grandparent) should have before they go shopping. Guide includes important child development information, basic gear checklists, product comparisons, best shower and birthday presents for every budget, multicultural products, science toys, educational toys and a full chapter on adapting ordinary products for kids with special needs.

About the Author

Joanne Oppenheim is one of the country’s most trusted and respected child development experts and the author of more than fifty books for and about children including: Read It! Play It!, Choosing Books for Kids, Buy Me! Buy Me! and Kids and Play. Stephanie Oppenheim, a former corporate (more…)

swarovski crystals

From Booklist

This year’s package of bite-size think pieces about pop music continues the fine tradition of previous editions. Subjects and contributors include Robert Christgau on “postmodern minstrelsy” and why studying it matters, Robert Hilburn on Bob Dylan as “rock’s enigmatic poet,” and Chris Norris on the continuing cult-icon status of Saint [sic] Kurt Cobain. Greil Marcus kicks in on Buddy Holly, and two other contributors take on punk’s legacy: Is it dead, or does it just smell funny? Nicole White and Evelyn McDonnell bring news that cautious fans and musicians can use in their timely “Police Secretly Watching Hip-hop Artists,” and again this year, an Onion article, “Heartbreaking Country Ballad Paralyzes Trucking Industry” (a story that, factual or not, had to be told), peacefully coexists with the verifiable stuff. Ben Yagoda explores a subject that will grab catalogers and other metadata enthusiasts, “reflexivity” (fancy for self-referential lyrics and criti (more…)

From Booklist

Guest editor Mary Gaitskill says she put together this edition of Da Capo’s annual to be “like a mix tape of sounds a person might hear in life,” some of which “enter your imagination and take strange dream-shapes.” Manifesting strangeness are Kevin Whitehead’s disquisition on the “hidden affinity” between the music of Art Tatum and that of Thelonious Monk, Raquel Cepeda’s thoughts on the rise of “reggaeton,” and David Thorpe’s biting commentary on R. Kelly’s notorious sexcapades. Moustafa Bayoumi reports on American use of music in the war on terror: “usually heavy metal or hip-hop but sometimes . . . Barney the Dinosaur” is “pumped at detainees with such brutality [as] to unravel them” without leaving the telltale marks of bodily violence. Of particular interest to classic-rock fans and aging boomers is Tom Ewing’s remembrance of August 1966, when the Beatles’ two-hit single, Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine, topped the charts. Terrorism, sexual misconduct (more…)

From Booklist

Guest editor Mary Gaitskill says she put together this edition of Da Capo’s annual to be “like a mix tape of sounds a person might hear in life,” some of which “enter your imagination and take strange dream-shapes.” Manifesting strangeness are Kevin Whitehead’s disquisition on the “hidden affinity” between the music of Art Tatum and that of Thelonious Monk, Raquel Cepeda’s thoughts on the rise of “reggaeton,” and David Thorpe’s biting commentary on R. Kelly’s notorious sexcapades. Moustafa Bayoumi reports on American use of music in the war on terror: “usually heavy metal or hip-hop but sometimes . . . Barney the Dinosaur” is “pumped at detainees with such brutality [as] to unravel them” without leaving the telltale marks of bodily violence. Of particular interest to classic-rock fans and aging boomers is Tom Ewing’s remembrance of August 1966, when the Beatles’ two-hit single, Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine, topped the charts. Terrorism, sexual misconduct (more…)

The “Dean of Rock Critics” takes the helm for the eighth edition of Da Capo’s acclaimed annual compendium of thrilling words on music. Rappers, rockers, emo-boys, jazz snobs, and poptimists alike eagerly anticipate each edition of Best Music Writing. Returning Series Editor Daphne Carr is joined by a true pioneer of the form, esteemed critic Robert Christgau. Past editions of Best Music Writing have included: Anne Midgette * David Ritz * Dave Eggers Sasha Frere-Jones * Michaelangelo Matos Elizabeth Méndez Berry * Alex Ross Elizabeth Gilbert * Jay McInerney Lynn Hirschberg * Chuck Klosterman Sarah Vowell * Nick Tosches * Rosanne Cash Greil Marcus * Richard Meltzer * Touré Susan Orlean * Jonathan Lethem Kate Sullivan * David Hadju * Gary Giddins Luc Sante * Monica Kendrick * Kelefa Sanneh and more…

About the Author

Robert Christgau is the author of Grown Up All Wrong and Any Old Way You Choose It, among other books. He (more…)

COUNTRY MUSIC CHANNEL returns with another fantastic round-up of the year’s biggest local and US country hits on 2 CD’s! – Featuring the latest from Aussies Keith Urban, Catherine Britt, Adam Brand, The McClymonts, Adam Harvey, Sara Storer, Kasey Chambers

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