'My Storytime' allows parents to read bedtime stories no matter where they are

Sitting down with your kids to read a book not only helps you bond with them, but also gives your little ones a sense of well-being. Even babies benefit from the experience of hearing stories. Reading to young children, starting in infancy, can help with language acquisition and literacy skills.

Unfortunately, kids with deployed parents spend days and nights without their mom or dad home for a story. To tackle this issue, Google has partnered with Instrument to offer My Storytime—an incredibly convenient way for parents to keep story time alive, no matter where they are.

With the app, parents can record themselves reading different chapters of stories, or upload the existing audio files and then play back these recordings on Nest Mini, Nest Hub, and Nest Hub Max devices. This is obviously handy for moms and dads who work night shifts, or travel often for work.

My mother used to read bible stories to me. Then I would repeat them to my friends. The story of Lot bothered the hell out of them.

Comments

James DeRosso's ceramic monsters

I really like these whimsical ceramic creatures by James DeRosso. Yes, they have bulging eyes and toothy grins, but they're not scary at all. The Portland-based artist started making cute monsters while he was a student to jokingly create gargoyle-like guardians for the kiln. After other students kept taking his quirky little figures, he realized there was a market for them. "I'm enjoying the whole monster making niche," James says. "It's amazingly gratifying to be doing ceramics full time and especially to be a teacher introducing kids to the joy of clay." Be sure to visit his website and like his Facebook page for the latest monster news.

Julia Lohmann's Highly Imaginative Approach to Product Design

Chess pieces made from animal bones, cowhides reconstructed into benches, lamps created from preserved sheep stomachs, large-scale installations made of edible seaweed: the work of Julia Lohmann is truly unconventional. Born in Germany, Julia uses her materials in a way that transcends their original purpose, creating true art. I made a list of furniture I would buy if I had an unlimited budget, and the Cow Bench is one of them. People say these headless bovine seats look really nice, but wait until they find out they're draped in rawhide. Sitting on one, you feel artificial ribs. Julia studied graphic design at the Surrey Institute and then design products at the Royal College of Art in London. Her work is part of major public and private collections worldwide and has received awards, bursaries and support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the British Council, Jerwood Contemporary Makers, D&AD, Stanley Picker Gallery, the Arts Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. ...

Hand-Painted Movie Posters by Tony Stella

In the 70s and 80s movie theaters in Manila were usually standalone buildings with nice seats and red curtains. To sell tickets, cinemas needed to advertise their offerings. But they did not have the original posters, or the means to print alternatives. So they made their own, commissioning local artists to hand-paint them. I really miss those hand-painted posters and billboards, which conveyed an artistry that was a form of visual hyperbole. But hand-made objects always have a way of returning. In this digital age, people will always look for things made by hand. I recently stumbled across the work of Tony Stella, whose genuinely cool movie posters have caught the eye of film enthusiasts and art lovers worldwide. He likes to work in watercolor and ink wash but sometimes he will make an oil painting, depending on the film. Tony's very active on social media, and his Tumblr blog contains a massive collection of illustrated movie posters that are often better than the original. ...

finding cain

Search This Blog