Last week I asked folks if they wanted to win some Mr. Men/Little Miss and Noddy promotional items, and the answer was a resounding, “Yes!”

Sixty-five yeses, in fact. (Although the first comment was apparently an old friend of Ty’s trying to find him. Are you hiding, Ty? Maybe she just didn’t want to admit that she’s always wanted a Mr. Men luggage tag.)

Let’s face it: Free stuff rocks. Especially cute free stuff featuring characters your kids love. And with 65 entries for 5 prize packs, that means that your odds of winning were 1 in 13 (not bad). It’s not the Publisher’s Clearing House, but at least your odds of winning were a lot better.

Anyway! The random number generator has spoken, er, generated. Our contest winners are commenters number 4, 11, 58, 29, and 38! Hooray!

Oh, did you want to know who those were? Picky, picky. Okay, that’s ~moe~, virginia, RAN, desi, and DW! If one of those people is you, please check your email—I’ve sent you a confirmation and need you to respond with a mailing address so that Ty’s can get your prize out to you. You’ll each receive the Mr. Men and Little miss luggage tags, a Noddy keychain puzzle, and a Noddy pen.

Thanks to everyone who played! Don’t forget that there’s new merchandise being added to the Noddy and Mr. Men/Little Miss stores at Ty’s, so check back often.

And who knows… maybe we’ll have another contest here. I could get used to giving out cool stuff—I sort of feel like Santa Claus. Ho, ho, ho!

Stop looking at me like that.

In the age of Netflix and OnDemand and YouTube and Hulu and gigantic home theater systems, movie theaters sometimes have to get creative to keep you coming in and spending your dollars. At least, that’s what I hear.

As someone who last saw a movie in the theater that didn’t involve animation or endless commercials on the Cartoon Network about… ummm… a year ago…? More than a year ago? Look, it’s been a very long time since I spent money at a movie theater unless I was taking my kids to see something, is my point. As someone who nearly always goes to the theater for a kid-friendly outing—and who really enjoys saving the date-night films for take-out Chinese and my comfy sweats—I am somewhat confused by this news about so-called deluxe cinemas:

Get ready for the $35 movie ticket.

That’s the estimated price of tickets for a new deluxe cinema to open this year in suburban Chicago, one of 50 U.S. multiplexes set for construction during the next five years through a new $200 million joint venture headed by Australian entertainment conglomerate Village Roadshow.

The theaters will boast boosted amenities, including plush reserved seating, special parking privileges and upscale food and beverage offerings with seat-side waiter service.

Wait. What?

$35/ticket for a movie? Isn’t the whole point of people skipping the theater that they’re trying to save money? Sometimes you want the Real Theater Experience, sure, but is special parking and seat-side waiter service really going to enrich your outing that much? Personally, if I pay even $7.50 for a movie ticket, you had best not be talking during the movie where I can hear you. I paid my money, I want to watch the movie. A waiter showing up beside my recliner (do you love that picture of folks reclining in their eveningwear? I do) while I’m trying to watch a movie is just going to annoy me.

On the other hand, folks who want to see a movie without any kids in the audience might love this; I can’t see families shelling out the dough for the deluxe treatment.

Would you go to a $35/ticket movie?

Pssssst! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway contest we’re running this week—you still have a few more days!

There’s no real reason for me to bring up this story, except that it made me laugh, and also I suppose there’s a lesson in here about genres and writers’ abilities (or lack thereof) to switch gears.

So here’s the deal: Danielle Steel is writing about a hippo:

HarperCollins Publishers announced today that it has acquired world rights to The Happiest Hippo in the World, a children’s picture book by international bestselling author Danielle Steel. The new book, by the author of 88 adult novels, including Honor Thyself, Sisters, and the “Max and Martha” series for children, tells the story of a baby hippo who happens to be born green instead of gray and learns with the help of a little boy to love himself despite being different. Both delightful and heartwarming, the book was written by Ms. Steel for her son Nicholas Traina when he was little and is expected to be published in Fall 2009. Illustrations will be by celebrated artist Margaret Spengler.

It all sounds very charming, and in fact Ms. Steel has already penned books for children (did you know that? I didn’t), so why does this news make me giggle madly?

All I can think is that maybe the happy hippo discovers that the gruff handyman has a heart of gold after all.

Or that maybe the happy hippo had sworn off love, only to be swept off his feet by a handsome stranger.

Or perhaps the happy hippo, in finding himself, discovers that everything he needed had been right under his nose all along!

(Why yes, I did read a fair amount of Danielle Steel when I was younger… why do you ask?)

I hope it’s a wonderful book. But I have to say, the very idea of handing a Danielle Steel book to kids just makes me twitch, ever so slightly. It feels wrong, you know? I can’t help it. (Oh! Do you think the cover will show the hippo with long, flowing hair, clutching at his bosom? I sure hope so.) (See? I can’t stop.)

[Hat tip to yesterday’s Cynopsis for the scoop.]

Pssssst! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway contest we’re running this week!

My husband and I are both very fond of the “cranky old geezer” approach to ranting about “kids today.” You know what I’m talking about—if the kids complain about how everyone has a toy or a game that they’ll simply die if they can’t have as well, one or the other of us will launch into a story that begins, “You know, back in my day, we just played with a couple of twigs and some mud, and we liked it!”

This is largely done for comedic value, of course, and by “comedic value” I mean “the entertainment we derive from watching the children roll their eyes at us.”

Nevertheless, although I pride our family on certain basic and perhaps old-fashioned ideals—we eat dinner at the table together every night, we don’t let the kids participate in a million activities, I’m not above declaring a “pajama day” on the weekend if everyone needs a break—I had an interesting moment of clarity, yesterday. You see, yesterday I went on a field trip with my daughter’s class.

We went to a local nature center and learned about watersheds and stream ecosystems, and then the kids splashed around in the stream, fishing out various life forms for the specimen bucket so that we could examine the variety. Most of the children were about as focused as puppies on crack, if you must know, and we chaperones worked with the teachers and guides to ride herd on the excited students.

“It’s like they’ve never been outside before,” I whispered to one of the teachers in amazement, at one point.

“Some of them pretty much haven’t,” she replied—implying that some of the students never just go outside to play, but spend their lives in a classroom or on a couch.

And here they were, splashing through a stream, thrilled to be digging for snails.

You know, when I was a kid, we didn’t have big TVs and hand-held video games and fancy sites on that there computer. We had rocks and twigs and leaves and we liked it.

Funny, but it turns out that—given the chance—most kids today like it, too.

Pssssst! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway contest we’re running this week!

It was just a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned that both Noddy and Mr. Men merchandise has come to Ty’s Toy Box. If you have a preschooler, chances are you’re already quite familiar with these little guys. What I didn’t mention, before, is that both of these properties are owned by Chorion, and—as it sometimes happens—Chorion has issued some promotional items in association with these lines which they’ve passed along to Ty’s.

Promotional items are great fun, because it’s somewhat up to the discretion of the licensee (that would be Ty’s, in this case) as to how they’ll be distributed. For example: Starting today (March 24th, 2008), spend $50 at Ty’s Toy Box (either in the Noddy Store or elsewhere at Ty’s) and you’ll receive a Noddy keychain free with your order.

Nice, right?

I love getting a bonus-with-purchase item, myself. I do. But what I like even more is winning something absolutely free, because I’m cheap like that. And I figured that if that’s what I like best, it was a good bet that some of you Ty’s shoppers and faithful readers would like that, too.

So here’s the deal: Five lucky readers of the blog are going to win a promotional prize pack. Each pack contains a Mr. Men luggage tag, a Little Miss luggage tag, a Noddy keychain, and a Noddy pen. Have a look:

All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment on this post by noon on Sunday, March 30th, 2008. Your comment should tell me which Noddy or Mr. Men/Little Miss item you think your child would like the most, and please be sure to leave a valid email address so that I can contact you if you win.

Winners will be announced on Monday, March 31st, 2008—one week from today. Leave a comment and you could be one of the lucky ones!

Anyone who’s been a regular reader over the last couple of years knows that I have no problem letting my children use the internet. They both have far too many Webkinz and know all the best places online to go play free games and like to consult Wikipedia when they feel the need to look something up.

I’m not anti-kid-computer-use, at all. I think it’s great that this generation of kids is growing up with a mouse in one hand. But I also think it’s very easy, as a parent, to forget that our kids need to be closely monitored while online, too. Please be smart about where your kids surf; check sites like Safe Internet Safe Kids and use parental controls on your computer. (Hey, most of this stuff is common sense. I’m just reiterating what you already know.)

That said, I’ll also say this: I think there’s lots of great sites out there for kids to enjoy which are absolutely free, so I’m generally skeptical about sites which require payment. But here are some pay-for-play sites that crossed my radar recently, so I’m going to give you the Toy Box Mommy Two Cents on ‘em. (My opinion is worth exactly what you pay for it, by the way.) (more…)

Really, I think that’s something of an oxymoron; have you been inside the bedroom of a small boy, recently? Aren’t they, by definition, alien hangouts? Oh, maybe that’s just my small boy’s room, what with the socks of dubious origin (and fragrance) and clutter of Lego creations….

Regardless, I suppose the Ben 10 aliens would yield a different sort of alien hangout, and from now until April 10th, Ben 10 fans can enter Bandai’s new sweepstakes:

Boys across the nation are on the lookout for an alien invasion as Bandai America Inc. launches its “Ultimate Alien Hangout” sweepstakes. Inspired by Cartoon Network’s hit television series for boys 6-11, Ben 10™, boys will now have a chance to make anytime hero time by entering the Ultimate Alien Hangout sweepstakes. One lucky winner will score an awesome Ben 10 room transformation to live out alien adventures just like everyone’s favorite kid hero, Ben Tennyson, while additional prizes will be given to one hundred runners-up.

(What, no prize where the winner takes home one of everything in the Ben 10 Store? My son will be outraged!)

Your little Ben 10 fan can enter the sweepstakes on Bandai’s site, and according to the official rules, there’s no limit to the number of times you can enter.

And there’s more, too:

Ben 10 fans can get a glimpse of the Ultimate Alien Hangout room transformation by tuning into Designing Spaces. The home makeover show will broadcast a fan’s room transformation, while also offering viewers some easy do-it-yourself tips to create the ultimate alien hangout with their existing Ben 10 collection. Episodes will begin to air March 22 on TLC, with additional runs expected throughout the spring on Women’s Entertainment and local network affiliates across the country (check your local listings for days and times).

We’ll be setting the DVR for that one. Because who doesn’t want to some do-it-yourself tips on creating the ultimate alien hangout? No one who leaves their laundry on the floor ’round here, that’s for sure.

The year was 1993. Um, I think. It was a long time ago, you know. Anyway. I was a young, idealistic graduate student. I played my They Might Be Giants cassette tapes (yes, cassette tapes—my dinosaur often fetched them for me) over and over while studying or cooking myself some delicious Ramen noodles for dinner.

And then one beautiful Spring day, They Might Be Giants came to my University and put on a concert. It was outdoors, and because I was young and stupid I didn’t wear any sunblock. I ended up badly sunburned, but I didn’t care, because the concert was the most fun I’d had in years. (Probably since I’d been to that Phil Collins concert.) (What?)

If you had told me back then that TMBG would one day become a sensation amongst the toddler set, I probably would’ve laughed. First of all, back then I believed that little kids listened to nothing but Raffi and Barney. Second, I would’ve been hard-pressed to imagine myself with little kids shrieking for “Particle Man, Mama! One more time! PARTICLE MAN!” But there you have it; my children are almost as enamored of TMBG as I’ve always been, and a generation of kids are growing up on their music thanks to Playhouse Disney.

Yesterday I read over at Cartoon Brew that Disney is releasing new animated They Might Be Giants videos every week, in the form of a weekly video podcast. You can find them on iTunes, or hunt them down on YouTube. It’s good stuff and the whole family will be bopping along in no time.

This one is my favorite:

(Just a little something to make you smile on a Tuesday.)

Every now and then I come across a press release that gets me all jazzed, sort of happy and optimistic and “that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” (Believe me, I read a lot of press releases. It doesn’t happen all that often. The more common reaction is “Wait… what? Why? Oh, for crying out loud….”)

Anyway, the point is that it’s sort of rare but exciting, when I read about something that sounds like a new and different and wonderful idea. So when I came across this piece about the impending launch of Nickelodeon’s “The Big Green Help” I was thrilled. Check it out:

With more than half of U.S. kids saying that they are concerned about the environment*, Nickelodeon targets April for the launch of The Big Green Help, its new multi-platform, global pro-social campaign. Designed to empower kids to take action on the environment through gaming and grassroots activity, the multi-platform Big Green Help will provide information and tools to help explain climate change to kids, and connect them to energy saving and earth-friendly activities in their everyday lives. The centerpiece of The Big Green Help will be the first-ever global multiplayer online green game for kids, which will provide actionable, measurable steps and information to directly link them to ways that they can positively contribute to helping the environment, on an individual and a community level.

Sounds awesome, right? And it says it’s launching in April, and right now it’s the middle of March, so I’m thinking that’s perfectly appropriate. A few weeks’ notice is a good idea, and now I have something to look forward to showing the kids, next month. But then I got to this part:

Rolling out new information and activities from April to December and beyond, the campaign’s cornerstone will be the November launch of the first global multiplayer online green game for kids.

Um, their cornerstone won’t be rolling out until November? For a program that’s supposedly going into motion in a few weeks…?

This must be that “new math” everyone’s always talking about, because it’s not adding up for me. Oh, wait:

Nick.com will launch a new website in April to help educate kids on all things green: www.thebiggreenhelp.com. This site will include features such as: a personalized questionnaire to track kids’ individual and family progress during the campaign; a glossary of environmentally focused terms; daily green tips for kids; a video upload tool that kids can use to share what they are doing to protect the planet; and green games to teach kids earth-friendly activities.

Okay, then—at least the website will be live, shortly. (As of this writing, it isn’t.)

Still, it’s only because they’ve got this huge project aimed at getting kids involved in protecting the environment that I’m not going to be more miffed about them announcing it now when the game won’t be ready ’til November. Hmph.

It started up months ago—amidst doubts and some industry criticism— but yesterday the oddly-named Hulu had its official public launch. According to their About page, Hulu’s “ambitious and never-ending mission is to help you find and enjoy the world’s premium content when, where and how you want it.”

USA Today noted:

Hulu’s launch is a big bet by big media companies that consumers are as eager to spend long periods of time watching TV shows and movies in front of their computers as they are in front of their televisions.

Ahead of its test launch four months ago, the service was greeted skeptically as a rival to Google’s (GOOG) YouTube video-sharing site. Hulu has won over some of its harshest critics, including technology blog TechCrunch, which has since praised the venture for focus on professional content, easy-to-use design and video quality.

With no marketing and a private test pool of users, the service has attracted more than 5 million viewers in the past month, said Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar.

About 80% of its entire video library is viewed every seven days, a sign likely to be viewed favorably by programming partners seeking ways to boost profits from vintage shows, Kilar said.

Hulu is going to be the one to watch because this represents a real shift in marketing paradigm when it comes to mass entertainment. There’s no cost to the end user, and the interface is simple and easy-to-use. Selections can even be played full-screen, and the streaming is smooth (I expected a lot of bumps and pauses, but found it much higher-quality than I’d expected).

Some would say that such a site is long overdue, but nevertheless, networks and studios making their content available for free, and in full through a third-party this way is opening up a whole new ball game.

And I’m not just saying that because I found my husband sitting here in our office watching Remington Steele on his laptop this morning….