Free Comic Book Day happens every year on the first Saturday in May when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books FREE* to anyone who comes into their stores.

*For more information visit freecomicbookday.com.

Local Participating Shops

Rah-Coco’s – 152 West Park Street, Providence, RI
(401) 861-3221

The Time Capsule – 537 Pontiac Avenue, Cranston, RI
(401) 781-5017

Wayne’s Cards & Comics – 2654 Hartford Ave., Johnston, RI
(401) 480-4602

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By Elyse Major

I like to shop. Or rather, I like to go shopping. I’m not the kind of person who returns home with armfuls of large glossy shopping bags from the mall (although that happens); I’m more likely to be excited by a charming shop and leave with packages filled with prized miscellany.

Recently, my sister was visiting from out of state and I wanted to show her a picturesque spot: Scituate Village came to mind. Even though I have yet to attend its famed art festival, I had visited its small shopping district. In a gray building festooned with flowers, wreaths, and signs, stands The Greenery, with its door wide open.

Inside I was smitten with the assortment of hand-crafted items, things for kids, organic beauty supplies, and more. The Greenery also offers full floral services (evidenced by the fresh smell of cut flowers). Owner Bridget Tierney is relaxed, friendly, and proud that her shop is Rhode Island’s only store to specialize in sustainable, local, green, and Fair Trade artisan gifts. Bridget also notes, “We are a small business that supports hundreds of local and global artists and are proud to showcase some of our best local artists.”

My little spree included a small basket carved from a walnut and filled with a chenille chick and millinery flowers, and a lined change purse made locally by Apiary.

The shop’s motto declares: “The Greenery is for people seeking a greater good and fewer toxins, greater detail and less plastic, greater meaning and less clutter.” It also fits my simple bill of a cool shop with fair prices in a pretty area.

Note: North Scituate is very close to Johnston and easy to get to. Added lure: coffee next door!

Details:

The Greenery
132 Danielson Pike, North Scituate, RI 02857
401-647-7800
For flower orders, please call 401-647-7800

Elyse Major lives in northern Rhode Island with her husband and 2 sons. A “mostly” stay-at-home mom, Elyse works as a communications consultant for Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. Elyse’s essay “De-Stressing by Distressing: A Mom Embraces Cottage Style” appears in the June issue of Romantic Homes magazine. You can read Elyse’s blog at http://tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com

Photo Credit: Elyse Major

By Katy Killilea

Pengoloo offers further proof that my memory has turned into pudding. But it does so in a completely nonthreatening way.  Penguins in this game have the most benign Wallace & Gromit-ty gazes, and all of the playing pieces are chunky and wooden, and very nice to handle.

In this twist on the Memory Game, players take turns rolling two wooden dice, each side printed with a colored dot. Lift up any wooden penguin to reveal the colored egg it’s been perched upon. If the egg matches a color you rolled, that penguin (with his egg once again tidily ensconced in his bottom) moves over to your iceberg.  If you are thinking about what time the post office opens or if you’ll be able to email your boss before dinner, you will lose very quickly. If you’re able focus all of your mental powers on the directionality of the beaks, you might be able to give a preschooler a run for their money.

The details:
Pengoloo from Blue Orange Games
Ages 4+
2-4 players
10-15 minutes to play
Retail: $30

Isn’t it wonderful when you find FREE activities and community resources that want to support you? The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program is just that — a parent education and family support program serving families throughout pregnancy until their child enters kindergarten. They offer home visits by trained parent educators, parent group meetings, developmental screenings, and a resource network. PAT provides support and information which can help you parent your child with a more loving and informed approach. Programs vary within each community, but you may be eligible for a free music, gym, or baby massage class; or you may choose to build a relationship with one of their experienced parent educators. To find a program near you and learn more, access the Find a Program section on the website or contact the National Center at 1-866-PAT4YOU (1-866-728-4968) or info@ParentsAsTeachers.org.

Kristen Kardos, MA Ed., and Kathy McGuigan, MSW, the co-founders of RI New Moms Connection, provide affordable, accessible pregnancy and new mom groups throughout Rhode Island. In “Tips for New Moms” they share their knowledge, resources, and helpful ideas for moms just beginning their journey into parenthood or moms who may need a little refresher.

Editor’s Note: Although “Tips for New Moms” is written with the new mom in mind—to support women in their journey through motherhood—it is certainly not the authors’ intention to exclude dads. Every new parent will find their tips, resources, and insights helpful. I invite all moms and dads to share ideas on how they manage their new role as a parent with Kidoinfo in the comments below.

The human connection with nature is innate and fleeting. To catch this connection—to catch this moment–philosophers tend to say, “Carpe Diem!” Seize the Day! This is the message Cynthia Rylant’s poetic story All in a Day embraces.  All in a Day traces a day in the life of a child steward, as he tends to a garden and feeds farm animals. As a poem, Rylant’s story evokes vivid nature imagery sparking the imagination to take on the complexity of nature in the spring. Nikki McClure’s crisp, clear cut-paper art serves to tame the imagination. Her images use only two colors, blue and yellow, and use negative space  to remind us of the constructed duality between humans and nature; but her compositions, which may include three moments in time, uphold a unity between humans and nature. Similarly, Rylant’s poetry emphasizes the connection between humans and nature, reminding us that in an hour, in a day, in a season, “You can make a wish/and start again.” Each page is a work of art. Rylant’s lyrics, paired with McClure’s stunning cut-paper images, specifically the image of two large hands amongst a rural landscape, speaks to the simple, yet sometimes overlooked notion of our age-old connection to nature.

Having been inside all winter, this story reminds us of why nature is not cruel, but rather inevitable; not destructive but dynamic; and most of all, not alien but incredible! This story makes me feel so happy, and like the arrival of spring, it revives my heart. I recommend this book to any and everyone. All in a Day is a cold glass of water on a hot afternoon; it is refreshing, it is vibrant, and most of all, it is a wonderful expression of carpe diem. Seize the day!

Details:
All in a Day
By Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated By Nikki McClure
$17.95 Abrams
www.abramsbooks.com

Mary Smith is a freelance writer living on the West Side of Providence. When she is not writing she works at Kafe Lila making peanut butter sandwiches with honey orange-blossom filling.

Four Rhode Island authors featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms

A writing coach, a naturopathic doctor, a talk-radio host, and a yoga teacher might not be the first people you think of when you hear the term “power mom,” but four Rhode Island women (including Kidoinfo writer, Erin Barrette Goodman), all contributors to a new book called Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms: 101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay at Home and Work from Home Moms, are helping to broaden and redefine what it means to be a power mom in the twenty-first century.

On Saturday, May 2, at 2:00 p.m., writing coach Lisa Tener of North Kingstown, naturopathic physician Kimberly Beauchamp of North Kingstown, radio talk-show host Robin Kall of East Greenwich, and yoga teacher and RI Birth Network founder Erin Barrette Goodman of Charlestown will share their stories at a public reading and discussion at the North Kingstown Library. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Families First, a grassroots nonprofit organization that partners new mothers with supportive mentors.

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Vegetables from A to Z

By Hannah Marcotti

I was having a “Calgon take me away“  moment in the kitchen while making pesto the other night. Lucas, my seven-month-old, was crying in his high chair, tired of the measuring cups that were supposed to get me through washing dishes and making the pesto. Chloe, my six-year-old, decided to sing his name in her opera voice as a distraction. As if none of this was happening, my three-year-old, Eli, was running back and forth across the living room chasing imaginary Transformers.

I knew three things for sure. First, I needed to get the pesto out of the food processor and into a jar before picking up the baby. Second, I really wanted to enjoy the cup of decaf green tea I had made before it got cold. Third, a restful, sudsy bath was not an option. I put the pesto in a jar, grabbed some rice crackers, and managed to find some Zen amidst the chaos. I drank half of my tea down fast and then dipped a rice cracker in the pesto, munched and repeated until the tea and the five rice crackers were gone.

What was for dinner that chaotic night? Green eggs and ham — the eggs made green thanks to an untraditional pesto made from bok choy. Baby bok choy is in abundant supplies during the spring and summer and will show up in your CSA bags and at local farmers’ markets. With vitamin C, beta-carotene, and calcium, we should all take advantage of this petite vegetable during the spring and summer. Some like to slice it lengthwise, brush with olive oil and salt, and grill it. I love it as pesto. Dinner could be baked sweet potatoes and chicken with pesto drizzled on top. Pasta becomes monster pasta when you mix in the bright green goo! It can be added to a red sauce to boost the flavor and give that extra green goodness to your meal. Cook up some scrambled eggs and ham, stir in the pesto, and you know what book you’ll be reading at bed time. For lunch the next day, try half an avocado filled with hummus and pesto.

Baby Bok Choy and Pistachio Pesto
Yields: 2 cups

3 bunches baby bok choy, leaves only, rinsed well
½ cup pistachios, raw
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Juice of ½ a lemon
¼ to ½ cup good quality olive oil

Roughly chop bok choy leaves (should yield about 3 cups) and place in food processor. You can save the bottoms of the bok choy for stir fries or soups or feed them to your dog (really). Add in the pistachios, garlic, salt and pepper, and pulse a few times (kids love this job), then set to low. Slowly add in lemon juice and ¼ cup of olive oil. Stop the processor and scrape down the sides. Check for seasonings and continue on low speed, adding as much of the remaining olive oil as needed. Remember: the longer the pesto sits, the better it tastes!

Hannah Marcotti is a holistic health counselor who loves creating exciting recipes and inspiring others to get into their kitchens and cook with whole foods. Through her counseling business (Hannah’s Harvest), she hopes to create a ripple effect of health and happiness in Providence and beyond. She shares her musings on life with three children and searching for that next perfect meal on her blog, (Hannah’s Harvest Thoughts).

Today is National Arbor Day. Share the The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, or One Tree (Green Start series) by Innovative Kids with your children. These stories remind us at any age to be mindful of our trees.

Get in a tree mood: Listen to C is for Conifers by They Might Be Giants on itunes.

Tree Musketeers a nonprofit charity where kids teach other kids to become active citizens and community leaders. Neighborhood by neighborhood, kids work together to rescue Earth!

Earth Day and Arbor day go hand in hand and there have been many local celebrations and park cleanups.  Here are a few more ways to celebrate and take care of the earth.

By Mary Smith

Special Event: Bring your kids to the Ice Cream Social on  Saturday, April 25 from 12 to 7pm. Performance by What Cheer? Brigade at 4pm, with music from the Boys and Girls Club of Pawtucket. Handcrafted ice cream sandwiches, homemade floats and sodas, vegan ice cream and more! Percentage of sales are being donated to the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen.

Looking for a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon with your family? Or are you looking for an escape where you can enjoy lunch and a tasty dessert? Lucky for you that Kafé Lila, a charming restaurant in downtown Pawtucket, is all that and more! Decorated with local artists’ paintings and crafts and furnished with cozy couches and retro dining sets, Kafé Lila is like snuggling into your favorite aunt’s house.

Part New England, part European, Kafé Lila is owned and operated by Karen Pace, who buys produce from local farms and makes and sells delicious homemade ice cream (flavors include bittersweet chocolate, lemon sage, green tea with lime, and vegan offerings such as coconut, and strawberry ginger). Grab a scoop for now and a pint (just $5.95) for later. In addition to ice cream, the café serves an array of exquisite coffee drinks–my favorite is the Nutella latté. Sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads, and specials range from $4.95 to $7.00, leaving you enough change to snack on one of Kafé Lila’s home-baked cookies, cakes, and vegan breads. And if you’re a morning person, take advantage of the best deal in the house: the breakfast sandwich (egg, ham, cheese, and tomato relish) served with a medium coffee for $3.50!

A peaceful, inviting space offering wholesome, fresh food served by a friendly staff, Kafé Lila is a great place to take a break with or without the kids!

Details:
Kafé Lila
The Grant Building – 250 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI
(401) 305-3050
Hours: Monday from 7 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sunday.
No credit cards. Free Wireless.

Stitch and Bitch on Saturdays: Learn to knit, bring your knitting, crocheting or crafts.
Every other Saturday from 1pm to 4pm.
More Info

Mary Smith is a freelance writer who lives on the West Side of Providence. She spends her time working at a café, writing short stories, and rollerskating for the Providence Roller Derby.

This morning my boys and I talked about Earth Day. Here are our goals for today (and everyday)

1. Buy less stuff. Buy only what is needed.

2. Use our refillable water bottles more.

3. Recycle paper more (e.g. mail, old artwork) and have less of it end up in the trash.

4. Clean up our park and neighborhood streets and sidewalk today if it does not rain.

5. Turn off unnecessary lights.

6. Turn off the water while brushing teeth.

What are you doing today?