Do you have older child that is 6 or older? The Monkey Balloon is ideal for ages 2-6 but can also be used for an older child who is learning how to read. If you have an older child, here are 10 ways you can use The Monkey Balloon with your older child. 1. Have your […]

I recently wrote a post about repeated readings of picture books and the benefits for your child. Research states that repeating readings in a specific way can help improve your child’s language and learning. To see the full post and tips, click here. How can you encourage language and learning with repeated readings of The […]

Does your child have strong narrative skills? Does he or she have trouble recalling the sequence of events in a story?  Here are some helpful tips for parents that can encourage your child to retell any story, but these are specifically for The Monkey Balloon. Retelling stories is an important part of language development and can […]

Why did we use silhouettes in our book? It was really our brilliant illustrator who thought of creating Mimi and Papi as a silhouette. When Yuki showed us the original illustration, Mindy and I loved it! We loved it because we thought Mimi could be a character that all children can identify with regardless of […]

How do you think color affects your mood or your child’s mood? I was always interested in learning how different colors within your environment can affect your mood and perspective. Once I started researching this particular topic, I began to think about how colors in picture books affect a child’s mood or perspective of the […]