Long Island Parent Talk

Can visiting a place really change your child’s life? Keith Bellows, a writer and editor for National Geographic Traveler magazine, argues “Yes” in his new book, “100 Places That Can Change Your Child’s Life, From Your Backyard to the Ends of the Earth” ($18.95).

“I am the person – and journalist – I am today because of what I experienced at a very young age,” he writes. “Seeing the world...

Are the French better at the whole parenting thing than we are? American author Pamela Druckerman writes about her experiences with her young family in Paris, learning 100 keys to French parenting that she shares in her new book, “Bebe Day by Day” (Penguin, $19.95).

Here are five of the ways she recommends we consider doing it like the French:

No. 4: “The Fetus Doesn’t Need Cheesecake”...

Looking for local parenting classes or support groups? Parents "R" Talking offers a variety of workshops each month at 77 Jericho Tpke. in Mineola, 917-862-7644. Advance registration is required.

“We try to prepare parents for parenthood. A lot of parents don’t have close relatives around anymore. They’re looking for this information, how to get their children on a schedule, how...

Get the kids off the bus and into the car after school Tuesday for a treat that's literally "cool" -- it's Free Cone Day at Haagen-Dazs stores nationwide. Cones are available from 4-8 p.m. at participating Long Island stores.

Each person can choose one scoop of a favorite flavor of ice cream or gelato, and this year, new gelato flavors include stracciatella, black cherry amaretto,...

Share "Show and Tell” with Junie B. Jones on Saturday as she pulls items from the book series out of her “Trunk of Junk,” including her stuffed elephant Philip Johnny Bob, her purple feather boa and her favorite plumbing supply — the floaty ball from a toilet.

The 10th annual Junie B. Jones Stupid Smelly Bus Tour — named for the first of the 28-book series — kicks off its six-week, 15-city...

What better gift is there for mom than a good, heartfelt laugh? Here are 10 recently published or about-to-be-published parenting books that should tickle the funny bone on Mother’s Day and beyond: The famed, funny and fake toddler who tweets with the Twitter handle “The Honest Toddler” has written a book, supervised by his mother, Bunmi Laditan. “The Honest Toddler: A Child’s Guide to Parenting”...

Comedienne Sherry Davey says she couldn’t understand her two daughters’ obsession with vampires until she became a single mom and started dating again.

Then the attraction became crystal-clear: “That’s how pathetic men have gotten,” she says. “Women are now looking to the dead.”

Davey and her current beau -- fellow comic and single dad Buddy Fitzpatrick -- bring their comedic forces...

Ah, Screen-Free Week. It kicks off today. Am I dating myself to say I remember when it was just simply “TV Turn Off Week”? I remember my son coming home from elementay school with photocopied packets of suggested alternates to occupy us while we missed “The Wild Thornberries” or our other favorite shows. Life was so easy then.

Now it’s called Screen Free week and includes everything with a...

The creative minds at Toy Island believe they've invented the World's Softest Teddy Bear -- and to try to prove it to Long Island kids, the toymaker is bringing a "Pepsi Challenge" style competition to Roosevelt Field mall on Saturday and Sunday.

The "World's Softest Teddy Bear Challenge" is set to take place from noon to 6 p.m. each day. Mall visitors will be blindfolded...

Two Long Island moms with children on the autism spectrum are storytellers in the new book "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Raising Kids on the Spectrum" (Chicken Soup Publishing, $14.95).

Amy Giles of Huntington Station wrote "The Seven- Year Twitch," about the initial heartache of her daughter Julia's diagnosis and the joy of Julia's ultimate triumphs; Terri Manzione of Glen...