WATCH | COMING TOGETHER: SESAME STREET
Today at 10am EST, CNN and Sesame Street are hosting a town hall with Van Jones, Erica Hill, Big Bird, Elmo, Rosita and more of our favorite characters. They'll be answering questions sent in by parents and talking to kids about protests, racism and how to find a path to empathy and understanding while embracing diversity. Streaming live on CNN, their homepage and through mobile devices via the app, you can also catch it on CNNgo. With so many ways to watch, we won't miss it.
SHOP | BROWN BOOK BOX
An Austin based company, The Brown Book Box set out to increase literacy in children, make reading exciting, and ensure that everyone had access to books where they saw themselves reflected on the pages. With the option to choose a bundle based on age, boxes include not only books, but DIY projects and activities. They also make it easy to gift a subscription so you can ensure that "all kids have access to books with characters that look like them."
EAT | ANYTHING'S AUSTIN
When you think of baked potatoes, we can guarantee you're not imagining anything close to this. Anything's Austin is a food truck located on Rosewood Ave., taking comfort food to a different level and offering vegan options as well. With menu options like the Cajun (shrimp, fried chicken, andouille sausage, corn and cajun cream sauce), they also offer build-your-own so you can pile your toppings as high as you want. Make sure to show up hungry.
LISTEN | CODE SWITCH
A weekly podcast from NPR, Code Switch explores another side of the stories we hear in the news. It acknowledges that although there is discomfort in talking about how race places a role in the headlines, there is more discomfort in ignoring the conversation altogether. Not sure where to start? They recently compiled 8 of their favorite episodes here for easy reference.
VIEW | JAMES PERKINS
With pieces that are actually larger than life, James Perkins creates art that isn't quite a painting, not quite a sculpture, but more like what he calls "nonsites" - a term used in reference to works by Robert Smithson that "involved bringing things indoors away from their site of origin." Simple, beautiful coloring with clean details, something about the flow of his work makes you want to reach out and touch it. We suggest checking it out on his site instead...
READ | OGE MORA
Writing and illustrating each of her books, Oge Mora was a Caldecott Honor, Ezra Jack Keats Book Award recipient, awarded with Amazon's Best Children's Book of 2019, and the list goes on. Her drawings are collages created using recycled pieces of book jackets, cloth, old paintings - "everything is game collage-wise," she explained in an interview with Art of the Picture Book. Her stories are uplifting and accompanied by beautiful art, a perfect combination to share with our kids and add to an ever-growing book collection.