“A book is a science laboratory, an art museum, a guided tour through history, a great friend. Books put the magic in the carpet ride.”

~quoted from the Parents’ Choice Foundation website.

Established in 1978 by author and educator Diana Huss Green with the goal of providing parents with information to participate wisely in their children’s learning outside the classroom, the Parents’ Choice Foundation is the oldest non-profit guide in the US to quality children’s media. Its panels of parents, educators, scientists, librarians, artists, as well as kids themselves, identify the very best products available to help kids and parents connect: “books with honesty and integrity of characters; illustration of elegance and imagination; toys with staying power; music that families can sing together; storytelling that teaches us lessons from lands and cultures close and far away; magazines that do not mask editorial content in advertising; television that teaches with civility and not chaos.”

In addition to lists of award winners and recommended books (and other products), the website, whose unofficial motto is “Read More. Play More. Learn More.”, also offers internet safety and media management guides and a variety of themed articles, including What-Kids-Who-Don’t-Like-To-Read-Like-To-Read and Have you Hugged an Ugly Book Today?. “Until the time when parenting road maps are issued with birth certificates, these guides should make [navigating the terrain of children's media] a little easier.” And with summer upon us, in the Northern Hemisphere, what could be better than some “guided” fun?… Jammed full of information and flavor, this website should be bookmarked and consulted time and again by parents and caregivers alike.

The following books have been awarded the Spring 2009 Parents’ Choice Seal in the picture book, fiction and non-fiction categories, respectively: A Party in Ramadan; Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life. And a shout-out is also in order for the multi-award winning Kahani Magazine, for its selection as a “2009 Parents’ Choice Recommended” children’s magazine.