Amber Ankowski's Blog

Big news, everybody…our brand-new parenting book is officially available TODAY! It’s called Bringing Up Bookmonsters: The Joyful Way to Turn Your Child into a Fearless, Ravenous Reader, and it’s full of research-based tips for how to promote children’s literacy in a way that is easy, inexpensive, effective and fun. 

We know that learning to read is a monstrously important milestone in your child’s life. But if you’re not sure how to help make it happen, it can feel very, very scary....

Attention Doctor and Dad fans!

We’re excited to share the news that we have a brand-new picture book for adults and kids, Goodnight Zoom, available for sale right now on Amazon!

It’s a super-fun parody of the beloved children’s classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, but instead of a bunny rabbit saying goodnight to all the odds and ends in its bedroom, ours features a quarantined family saying goodnight to all the crazy new coronavirus-related objects that have become part of their “new ...

Attention Doctor and Dad fans!

We’re excited to share the news that we have a brand-new picture book for adults and kids, Goodnight Zoom, available for sale right now on Amazon!

It’s a super-fun parody of the beloved children’s classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, but instead of a bunny rabbit saying goodnight to all the odds and ends in its bedroom, ours features a quarantined family saying goodnight to all the crazy new coronavirus-related objects that have become part of their “new...

Our kids may never believe it, but there was a time when we responsible old fogeys were preeeettty cool. We used to hang out with friends, play video games, and be able to identify currently popular dance moves. We sometimes even listened to rap music.

Thats right. Mom and Dad used to be all that and a bag of chips.

Like many parents however, we found that once we had cute little kiddos, with attentive little ears, and impressionable little minds running all around our house, we had to start...

NOTE: This article was originally posted on December 11, 2018. It’s been updated to include a NEW discount code for 2019. Enjoy!

Are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift, Hanukkah gift, birthday present or baby shower gift to buy a parent you know? Are you also looking to save yourself a little cash?

Well you’re in luck, because right now, our parenting book – Think Like a Baby: 33 Simple Research Experiments You Can Do at Home to Better Understand Your Child’s Developing Min...

Are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift, Hanukkah gift, birthday present or baby shower gift to buy a parent you know? Are you also looking to save yourself a little cash?

Well you’re in luck, because right now, our parenting book – Think Like a Baby: 33 Simple Research Experiments You Can Do at Home to Better Understand Your Child’s Developing Mind – is on sale for 50% off! Check out the deal link and promo code below.

Why is Think Like a Baby such a great gift?

This parenting book...

Your child is soooo…dramatic!

Whether those words come from a babysitter, a teacher or the judgy lady in line behind you at the grocery store, they’re usually the last ones you’d ever want to hear about your kid.

But even if we just described your teary-eyed tantrum-throwing tyke to a tee, don’t worry! There’s another kind of dramatic that can be really good for you – and for your kids too!

Read our newest article on the PBS Parents website to learn all sorts of stuff about how acting can...

Now the Fatherly website isn’t JUST a place to find reviews of giant squid stuffed animals and stories about fathers and sons who bond over competitive axe-throwing. (Pro tip: move your giant stuffed squid out of the way before you throw your axe.) It’s ALSO a place to get great tips from your favorite parenting experts. That’s right, the Doctor and The Dad were interviewed for this article on what happens to kids’ brains when they’re awestruck.

Read the article to find out:

What awe is al...

If your kids are anything like ours, they’d love for you to read books and stories to them pretty much all day long. And while we think that’s awesome (even if it is a little rough on our vocal chords), we sometimes need a break from all the once upon a times and happily ever afters.

Fortunately, there’s a really easy way to spice up your child’s ordinary reading and writing routine – poetry!

Read our newest article on the PBS Parents website to discover all sorts of fun stuff about poetry...

If you’ve ever read any of the Pinkalicious books, you know that Pinkalicious and her little brother Peter are all about art. They are constantly using their imaginations – creating inventive crafts, summoning imaginary unicorns and dragons, and painting absolutely everything pink!

(Don’t worry. Their parents are cool with it.)

These two characters show us that when kids explore their creativity, it leads to lots and lots of fun. But did you know that it can also lead to other important bene...