On my nightstand, there's a gigantic pile of self-help books stacked underneath a coffee cup. Not exactly helping much, unless you count them as an overpriced coaster. What you might notice if you peeked at my self-help lit pile is that …
A few months back, I had the pleasure of meeting TV's increasingly notorious design mavens, the Novogratz family, and drooling over their unbelievable Manhattan apartment firsthand. While I keep inviting them to break into my home and ha…
Along with a housecleaner and a personal chef, what I really could've used when I was a new mom was a good laugh and a lot more funny parenting books. Because while I sat and rocked my newborn as she screamed, it was sometimes hard to no…
I admit, I'm a little over the "Yay, let's celebrate moms who suck!" thing that seems to have grown in popularity over the last few years. However, the hilarious new book Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us may be one of t…
Raise your hand if you've ever struggled with a baby and sleep. Okay, so 99% of you. (The rest of you...don't rub it in.) Then, just when we think we have mastered techniques to help our babies sleep longer and more peacefully, new issue…
Poems about children and parenting can be kind of, um, hit or miss. Whether it's too saccharin or just too earnest, I'm not sure--all I know is that it often leaves me vaguely uncomfortable. (And I was a creative writing major!) Not the …
I'm a big fan of Jane Roper , because I love any author who is willing to laugh at herself. Since 2007, Jane has been baring her soul for the world and now, she lets us into the nitty gritty details of raising twins with a fantastic new …
I've known Jennifer Gilbert a long time. Long before she was an author. Long before she was a high-powered party planner to the stars. Long before she was a mom. And long before she was a Real Housewife of NYC--the "nice" one who wasn't …
Okay so who isn't at least somewhat fascinated by celebrity baby names--especially those from the rock stars we know and love. Sometimes I wonder if they have any regrets. (True Story: a friend of mine named her baby a name she wasn't co…
We think that books make the most perfect gifts any time of year, and Mother's Day is no exception. So for those literary mamas in your life, here are are suggestions of a few terrific Mother's Day gifts. Bonus: There's less lead time on…
Anyone who's familiar with the uber popular blog The Bloggess , by Jenny Lawson, won't be surprised in the least that her new memoir Let's Pretend this Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir ) is spit-bourbon-out-your-nose funny. You won't…
We've been fans of Minted going way back to when we first discovered their gorgeous stationery and support of the indie designers who create them. We can't tell you the number of notes we get from readers (okay, a lot) thanking us for in…
I'd prefer one dozen versions of the " where do babies come from " talk with my kids before I'd sign up for even one "and this is how money works" discussions. I can cheerfully rattle off twenty-seven slang terms for body parts, but ask …
Trish Herr takes homeschooling to an entirely new level. Instead of white boards, we are talking white peaks. Her children carry backpacks with more than just pens and pencils--think emergency supplies, whistles, and trail mix. In this v…
How much allowance is too much? When can kids start playing video games? Will it kill them to eat dessert first? All important parenting questions, but the first few months (and really, for the first few years) you won't care about much …
We're so thankful to have such amazing, talented mom writers here at Cool Mom Picks, so it's no surprise to us that our own Associate Editor Delilah Dawson has her first book coming out today. Whoo! Wicked as They Come is the first in a …
I was fortunate to have an amazing photographer friend when my first baby was born--otherwise I'm pretty sure all I'd have of her was a bunch of blurry photos. Let's face it, little ones are tough to photograph. Too bad I didn't have thi…
Dan Consiglio is the amazingly talented and funny author of the blog What My Kids' Art Says . It's a great site because Dan isn't afraid to call it like it is. He looks at children's artwork with the lens of an erudite art critic, not a …
My first two children were so easy to feed, I assumed it was due to my superior parenting (and cooking) skills that they would gobble down whatever I put in front of them without too much nose wrinkling. And then I had my son who humbled…
I have no idea how missed the huge fact that a new book from Shel Silverstein was released a few weeks ago, especially considering he's my favorite modern children's author of all time. But my mother knew. And when I opened the mysteriou…
As a child of the 80's, Soliel Moon Frye and I go way back. I have a glorious memory of dressing up as Punky Brewster for Halloween one year, which involved mainly pig tails and lots of bandanas. Her character was so bold and confident a…
My interest in politics has ebbed and flowed over the years, but since I've become a mother, public policy has taken on a whole new personal relevance for me. I've got three kiddos whose futures will be affected by the decisions of polit…
I'll just say it: I'm not a self-help book kind of person. Spousonomics arrived in the mail and languished on my desk for months; because, really, a book about using economics to master love and marriage? Ooooookay. But then one day I st…
I've read enough expert-y books about how to deal with toddlers to know that the only way to really remain sane through those challenging years is to laugh it off. And that's exactly what this new hilarious book had me doing. The World A…