2010 Book of the Year Award by Creative Child Magazine ~ Winner, Runners-Ups and Procedure

Picky, Picky Pete written by Michele Griffin and published by Future Horizons is the 2010 Book of the Year Award by Creative Child Magazine. Before posting the runners- up, let me tell you about the Creative Child Magazine and the procedure to find the winners.

About Creative Child Magazine

Their web site says: “Creative Child Magazine is a national bi-monthly publication that provides parents with the latest information on how to nurture their child's creativity. With departments such as Kids at Play, Health and Safety, Discovering Creativity, Nurturing Talent and Tomorrow's Child - Investing for Your Child's Future, Creative Child Magazine is essential and the most complete parenting publication for raising well-balanced children.” You can subscribe here https://www.creativechild.com/subscribe and get 6 issues for only $24.

About Creative Child Magazine’s Awards Program
There is nothing better than being recognized and recommended by the very people who will buy and benefit from your product. This is how Creative Child Magazine chooses their yearly winners. The products submitted for the awards are reviewed by moms, music educators and early education professionals.

Over a hundred guests reviewers meet for an organized 2-day review event held in Henderson,

Nevada. The guest reviewers move from one review station to the next, each with a different category of submitted products. The conclusions of the reviewers are all noted on the required review forms for each category of products.

Their site states: “The review forms are to include written comments and a score value based on criteria that corresponds to the product's category. Upon completion of the event all review forms are collected by Creative Child Magazine staff assistants. All scores are tabulated and comments are reviewed.”


How Are the Creative Child Magazine Award Winners Chosen
Please note that these awards do not examine the products on how it adheres to safety for children. Parents concerned with the safety of the products featured in Creative Child Magazine could contact the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

To determine the finalists products for DVD, CD, Book, Game and Toy of the Year, the comments, scores and data from the reviewer forms are tabulated.

Their site states: “Only one product per category can win a Toy of the Year award, as well as, CD, DVD, Book and Game of the Year. The remaining finalists receive a prestigious Preferred Choice Award.
The Seal of Excellence is another prestigious award that is given to those products that are not finalists but do exceed expectations based on the criteria for nurturing creativity and education in children.”

And the 2010 Winner and Runners-up  on Special Needs Books Are:

2010 Book of the Year Award by Creative Child Magazine

Picky, Picky Pete  ~ A Boy and His Sensory Challenges Written by Michele Griffin and published by Future Horizons. Review here

2010 Preferred Choice:

Bookworm ~ Discovering Idioms, Sayings, and Expressions Written by Karen Emigh and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Preferred Choice

Let's Make Faces! ~ Have Fun Drawing Different Faces for Different Feelings Written by Gerard Emerson and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Preferred Choice

Sensitive Sam ~ Sam’s Sensory Adventure Has a Happy Ending! Written by Marla Roth-Fisch and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Book of the Year Award. Book review here

Special People, Special Ways ~ Each page portrays positive images of children with various disabilities Written by Arlene Maguire and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Preferred Choice

The Goodenoughs Get in Sync ~ Five Family Members Overcome Their Special Sensory Issues Written by Carol Kranowitz and published by Future Horizons. Book review here

2010 Seal of Excellence

There Are No Word ~ Story of Jaxon MacKenzie, non-verbal, autistic 12-year-old girl written by Mary Calhoun Brown and published by Lucky Press, LLC. 

Related Posts: 
*The Goodenoughs Get in Sync ~New Edition~ 5 Family Members  Overcome their Special Sensory Issues by Carole Kranowitz

*Meet Carol Kranowitz and Joye Newman Authors of Growing an In-Sync Child
*Sensitive Sam by Marla Roth-Fisch ~ A Review
*Picky, Picky Pete by Michele Griffen ~A Reviw

Passed Toddlerhood and Still Mouthing ~ Guest Post ~ by Emma Apple

If you’re like me and you have a child that needs a lot of oral stimulation, you’ll appreciate the Kid Companions Chewelry. I’ve been looking for something for my daughter to chew on for months! The other kind of chewelry I’ve found is either uncomfortable or unattractive or not safe for kids with teeth.

In hind sight, it started when Madam was a baby. She was what Dr. Sears calls a "High Needs Baby". For the first two years, she would scream if her father or anyone else held her. From the start, she would wake up crying 5 minutes after being put down to sleep and she wanted to breastfeed constantly.

The first indicator that something might be going on with Madam, aside from the awful screaming she'd use to communicate despite her language being advanced, was that she didn't grow out of the mouthing stage.

By the time she was 3, there were several early signs of Autism, with the chewing/sucking/biting on everything being the most alarming. When she chewed through an electrical wire and put a shard of glass in her mouth, we knew it was time to get help.

She was eventually diagnosed with Aspergers and Sensory Regulatory Disorder. We tried several appropriate alternatives for her to chew: straws, teething toys, washcloths... the straws helped the most but none of them made a significant difference and she craved a variety of textures.

Our furniture is a mess from being chewed for so long with pieces of wood, faux leather and foam missing. All her plastic animals have legs, tails, mouths, fins etc. chewed off and the ends of the beds have teeth marks all over them.

One day I stumbled on a giveaway for a kind of Chewelry I'd never seen before. The ones I'd seen prior had been either not appropriate for kids with teeth (which seemed to defeat the purpose) or unattractive and uncomfortable looking to wear.

I entered the giveaway (with as many entries as was allowed) and Madam won her beautiful Pink Heart shaped Kid Companions Chewelry. She was absolutely over the moon when she got it. Madam doesn't like to wear it as a necklace for long but often goes to it and always when reminded. She sometimes has it in her pocket or next to her on the table and if she is feeling very chewy she'll put it on around her neck and use it. I just can't tell you how wonderful and genius I think this is! Exactly what I was looking for!

It is a couple of months later and I cannot recommend this product enough! Madam’s chewing has been significantly reduced and her nails have grown. We've tried so many things to try and stop her biting her nails and nothing ever worked. A few days ago, we were able to cut her nails for the first time since she was a baby and she is proudly wearing her yellow nail polish for only the second time!

She still chews inappropriate things but is often able to redirect herself and often gets her chewelry before an activity where she tends to chew (i.e. coloring) without being prompted.

We love having this tool for her that involves several textures: hard plastic, softer rubber and the cotton lanyard. It is a tool that is readily available and easy to take with us. Her chewy, pink heart is pretty (perhaps most important to a little girl who loves Pink) and has had a positive impact on the entire family. I'm sure they aren't this wonderful for every child since needs vary so greatly but, like I said, I simply cannot recommend them enough!

Links to Emma Apple:

Editor at http://www.muslimasoasis.com/  

Advocate at http://www.bluehijabday.com/

Designer at http://www.yellowpixeldesigns.com/

Pierrette and I wish to thank Emma Apple for this guest post. We appreciate her comments and photos that will help other parents realize that some children must be provided with a safe, efficient alternative to inappropriate mouthing to satisfy their need for oral stimulation.

Related Posts:
*Why Do Kids Bite Their Nails and What To Do About It
*What Goes In a Personalized Sensory Box

*Product Innovators Launch Unique Sensory Tool for Special Needs Youth
*Fidgets Toys or Tools
*Chewing and Biting Tip ~ Chewing Is a Form of Moving
*There Is a New Kid Companion On Our Block