In My Heart by Molly Bang is close to my heart.  I have a four-year-old son who is always worried about us being apart.  I have told him for years that he is always in my heart.  Then along came this picture book, and it really created a magical moment at first reading.  Bang has created a colorful, joyous book that celebrates the fact that even when parents and children are apart they are still in each other’s hearts. 

Recommend this to working parents or families with children heading off to preschool or daycare.  It is a symbol that has worked well for us, and I know that it will ease other little folks’ fears. 

British researchers have found that there is a side effect of the release of a new Harry Potter book: empty emergency rooms.  Children visiting emergency rooms in Britain dropped by HALF on summer weekends when the books were released.  The article has a nice sense of humor combined with the results, though I would quibble with their assumption that if kids read more they will be less active.  I think that if kids read more they will watch less TV, and that is always a positive tradeoff.