Coast 2 Coast Mom

Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess Airs November 18th

Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess, the animated movie about an ordinary little girl whose life changes when her mother marries the king and she becomes a princess, premieres Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 7 p.m. EDT on the Disney Channel, and on Thursday, November 22nd at 9 a.m. EDT on Disney Junior. A "Sofia the First" animated series will debut on TV in early 2013. Set in a storybook world of Enchancia, Sofia the First learns to navigate her new life growing up as royalty while being herself. The movie begins as Sofia and her mother move into... Read more →

Mr. Potato Head Celebrates 60th Birthday in 2012 GIVEAWAY

During Toy Fair 2012, I attended the 60th birthday celebration for the Mr. Potato Head character at the Hasbro showroom. (Mrs. Potato Head joined the celebration, too. :-)) Thinking back on 1952, means that Mr. Potato Head was born before my parents!! It's crazy to think that the plastic spud toy has entertained three generations of my family! The celebration included opportunities to nab photos with Mr and Mrs Potato Head, and of course a rousing verse of "Happy Birthday" and cake! What made me really smile, though was watching the Potato Heads dance. :-D That's a cute cake topper... Read more →

Sofia the First - Disney Introduces a New Little Girl Princess

"Sofia the First," Disney's first little girl princess, will debut in an animated TV movie this fall. The youngest Disney princess character to date will also appear in an animated series on Disney Junior in 2013. While Disney's princess fairytales have been around for more than 70 years, this is the first time a series will feature a princess as a little girl. The episodes will focus on positive messages and life lessons for the preschool crowd. "Sofia the First" begins with Sofia as a regular girl until her mom marries a king, and she is whisked off to a... Read more →

A PBS KIDS Cat in the Hat-A-Thon To Celebrate Dr. Seuss's Birthday

PBS KIDS is hosting a two-hour Cat in the Hat-A-Thon in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday on Friday, March 2nd. This year would have been Dr. Seuss's 108th birthday! PBS KIDS will air two new episodes of "The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!" during the Cat in the Hat-A-Thon: “Seasons – Spring and Summer/Fall and Winter,” which takes the Cat, Nick and Sally on a journey through the four seasons, and “When I Grow Up/Doing It Differently,” in which Nick and Sally explore what it means to grow up and learn that trying a different approach... Read more →

I'm a PBS Kids VIP Blogger!

I just noticed The Mama Maven's post about joining as a PBS Kids VIP, and realized that I haven't yet shared the good news! :-) I'm excited to share that I've been invited to join a group of parent bloggers getting an inside look at PBS Kids content, creators, leaders and stations as a PBS Kids VIP!! I've been fortunate to have enjoyed some TERRIFIC experiences with PBS in the past, from moderating a "Cyberchase" talk-back panel, to being a PBS 13 Kids Club ambassador, to meeting Angela Santomero and getting an inside look at the development of "Super WHY,"... Read more →

Doc McStuffins Series to Premiere on Disney Junior

An anticipated new series for kids, Doc McStuffins, will make its debut on Disney Junior on March 23rd. The delightful series features a six-year-old girl, Dottie "Doc" McStuffins, who talks to stuffed animals and cares for them in her playhouse clinic. She can even communicate with the toys of her friends and neighbors to help fix what ails them. Doc McStuffins has several toy friends on the show: Stuffy, a proud dragon; Lambie, her best friend; Hallie, a hippo nurse; Squeakers, a squeaky fish toy; and Chilly, a snowman who makes frequent visits to the clinic. Healing the toys may... Read more →

Disney Junior Channel Launches March 23rd

We're excited about the launch of the Disney Junior channel - its own 24/7 basic cable and satellite channel on March 23, 2012! Focused on programming for kids 2-7 years old, Disney Junior came onto the scene as "Playhouse Disney," a daily programming block on the Disney Channel. Rebranded as Disney Junior in 2011, they introduced millions of kids to Jake and the Never Land Pirates, which quickly became the #1 series on TV with both kids 2-5 years old and boys 2-5 years old last year. Two new and exciting series will be coming to Disney Junior: Doc McStuffins... Read more →

Don't Let The Pigeon Run This App by Mo Willems Launches from Disney

On Friday we had the opportunity to lunch with Mo Willems and learn more about his darling new Pigeon app, "Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App!" from Disney Publishing Worldwide. You may know Mo Willems as the Caldecott Honor-winning author of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, the Elephant and Piggie book series, and the famed Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! He led the design, writing, voicing, and illustrating of the app and you can feel his touch as you interact and play through it: the animation, a Pigeon drawing tutorial, or shaking the pigeon to begin a... Read more →

LeapFrog Announces LeapPad Pre-Order Availability

Early learning device experts LeapFrog Enterprises announced they're taking pre-orders for their upcoming LeapPad. I had the Kiddo with me last week for a day of meetings and was grateful that of all days to have him with me, it was probably the best day to take him along. We visited the LeapFrog holiday product showcase together and he got the chance to play with the LeapPad before it will hit store shelves in a few months. I literally had to pry it out of his hands. You could say he loved it. You can also pre-order the LeapPad now... Read more →

Summer Fun with Martha Speaks on PBS

Last week I attended a behind-the-scenes PBS KIDS webinar with Martha Speaks childrens book series author Susan Meddaugh, and Carol Greenwald, the senior executive producer for the show. The pair were passionate and delightful as they spilled some secrets of the series, objectives for the show, and gave a sneak peek at two new Martha Speaks episodes this week. Martha Speaks Objectives: In case you're not familiar with the book series and program, Martha Speaks is an animated show starring a family's talking dog, named Martha. The objective for the show is to expand children's vocabulary and help kids understand... Read more →