Helen Zelon

With more than 60,000 titles in its window-lit, two-floor space—66 shelves of fiction, 42 of picture books, and a center table loaded with prizewinners and staff picks—the Bank Street Bookstore is the mother lode for kids’ lit, with the largest variety, the best selection, and the most unusual and provocative books for young readers and the adults around them. Staffers are “voracious, passionate readers” who are paid to read weekly, says manager, buyer, and onetime preschool teacher Beth Puffer. Their breadth of knowledge puts chain stores to sorry shame, as does a well-edited selection of educational toys and games. Regular events include an ongoing reading series headlined by Cynthia Nixon and superstar kids’ author Jon Scieszka. Books come in seventeen languages, including Urdu, Bengali, and Vietnamese. In the market for Winnie-the-Pooh? Find it here three ways: in English, Latin, and Yiddish. Or snap up the hotly awaited The Talented Clementine, hitting the shelves on April 1.

Help your kid become a happy, sound, and independent sleeper (eventually).

One of parenthood’s great joys is celebrating baby’s first holiday season. Candles sparkle a little brighter now, and the pine boughs smell even more pungent. But the season can mean extra demands, too, with lots of socializing, family visits, and travel away from home. Sound stressful? Read on.

Happiness is the Holy Grail of parenthood: Every parent wants their child to live a happy life. For help, parents often turn to experts, consultants, and parenting books, looking for ways to insure their child’s happiness. There’s so much advice out there that parents can feel overwhelmed — and like they’ll never get this ‘parenting’ thing right. If this sounds familiar, read on.

Say you’re driving on a four-lane highway en route to meet a friend. You spy a flock of baby quails trying to cross to the other side. Their parents swoop and dive all around them. What would you do?

For an existential rationale in favor of simple kindness, read more.

Some days fit the mold, others don’t. A few simply reinvent themselves, again and again.

The bond between grandparents and grandchildren is singular and precious. But as the older generation ages, youngsters can witness disturbing changes in their grandparents’ physical and cognitive abilities. Confusion, fear, and distaste for what they’re seeing can cause them to pull away. And ’sandwich generation’ parents can end up feeling torn.
This story, which was featured on CBS News and nominated for a Front Page Newswomens’ Award by Family Circle editors, explores how parents can keep kids and elders connected, when the double challenges of growing up and aging threaten to pull them apart.