So I got a copy.

And it is beautiful. And lovely. And just wonderful and enchanting and charming. So I am doing a review despite saying I wouldn’t. It is that good.

Mr. FitzSimmons photographs relatively common animals – animals you might find in your backyard – against white backgrounds. (Except for the pink katydid – which is hard to find as it is a result of a condition called erythrism). This approach allows the animals to shine. You can focus on the textures, colors, and features of the animals. The presentation makes the animals seem quite exotic and interesting. It makes you realize that the world, especially the world in your backyard, is an amazing place.

Plus, the text is not only informative but fun. Really fun.

Take the story about the Ohio Crawfish -

“Do you know why I’m waving my giant claws? I’m warning you: Don’t come any closer. Snap! Snap! Snap! I catch my food with these claws. I also attack and defend myself with them. Snap! Snap! Snap! Do you want to know something really cool? If any of my legs get hurt, including my giant claws, I can grow new ones. Pretty neat, huh? Now, enough chitchat. Back off! Snap! Snap! Snap!”

Each of the 21 critters tells its story. Plus, the book includes additional natural history information for each critter and more. The information on the book indicates that it addresses all the National Research Council’s life science standards for grades K – 5.

It is a lovely, charming, enchanting book. I recommend it for any child or teacher. It would make a fabulous gift for the holidays. You can find Curious Critters on Amazon. It is scheduled for release on November 7, 2011.
And you can see more of Mr. FitzSimmons’ photography at his website.

I think it will inspire readers to care more about the natural world. And, perhaps, to go exploring to see if they can find a pink katydid.

But the costumes have sure gotten away from the homemade costumes of my youth. One year my mom my a red wing blackbird costume for me, and hand sewed individual black feathers on the wings. Another year my sister was a circus performer, and my mom made a white horse out of foamboard and attached it to my sister’s tricycle. And yes, one year my mom made my sister and me lion costumes from felt and yarn.

But now most of us buy costumes from the store, and then get rid of them. Disposable Halloween. But there is something we can do about the waste associated with disposable costumes – National Costume Swap Day!

National Costume Swap Day is a partnership of Green Halloween, Swap.com and Kiwi Magazine. This year, the official day is October 8, 2011. Host your own (register here) or find a local swap.

In honor of and to spread the word about National Costume Swap Day, we are having a Twitter party with prizes (of course) on September 27, 2011 from 6 to 7 pm Pacific (that’s 9 to 10 Eastern).  Be sure to RSVP at Green Halloween to be eligible for prizes.

The following prizes will be given out during the #costumeswap Twitter party on 9/27/11:

Be sure to follow Costume Swap on Twitter (@CostumeSwapDay) as well as the fabulous special guests on Twi

1. Angell Bars sample pack with sample Angell Organic Candy Bars in different flavors, an organic cotton t-shirt and stickers valued at $45 from Angell Bars;
2. Copy of the fabulous book Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations & Traditions for the Whole Family valued at $24.95 from Celebrate Green;
3. A Kiwi Magazine subscription (to the US or Canada) from Kiwi Magazine;
4. A Nature’s Path Specialty Gift Basket with a collection of products and eco–friendly items from Nature’s Path Foods; and
5. A Revolution Foods Healthy Halloween Snack Kit with 48 organic Mashups squeezable fruit for kids with a suggested retail price of $67.

tter – Swap.com (@Swap), Kiwi Magazine (@KiwiMagazine), Green Halloween (@GreenHalloween), EcoMom Alliance (@EcoMomAlliance), Practically Green (@PracticallyGrn) and Celebrate Green (@CelebrateGreen). And, of course, follow your hostess – @TheSmartMama.

When tweeting during the party, don’t forget the hashtag – #costumeswap. If you need some information on how a Twitter party works, check out this blog post.

 My first reaction when seeing the ad was how happy the two of them look and how the camera captured a moment of pure glee.

My second reaction was whether the mother, Jenna Lyons, uses a less toxic nail polish like Hopscotch Kids. I hoped she wasn’t using nail polish containing toluene, formaldehyde, or dibutyle phthalate.

At no point did I even think of gender identification/confusion issues, which is the issue that is being debated. Nope, I’m a green mom at heart. (And, just for the record, I think almost any 5 year old would love to paint any part of his or her body. My own son liked yellow.)

So, I wasn’t expecting all that much really in terms of green or natural. I mean, a shopping magazine is really at odds with the whole going green concept. Consumerism is at odds with the going green concept.

But, well, I admit surprise. There is a cute section with etsy finds – and I love supporting the primarily small crafters. I love etsy.

The toy story section has some of my all time favorite toys - all soy crayons, Crayon Rocks, from Stubby Pencil Studio and Hanno the Gorilla - as well as some cool toys I hadn’t found before, such as handmade wings (how cool! although wondering if the plated charm passes the CPSIA . . . )

But, I was struck by the MiniSpy page, which picked out the best organic onesies and then also recommended wall decals as “the ideal way to give personality to a kid’s room.” Hmmm.

Y’all know those wall decals are almost always vinyl, right? That’s right. Vinyl, as in polyvinyl chloride plastic. Somtimes referred to as the most toxic plastic.

And, if those lovely vinyl wall decals aren’t children’s products – that is, intended for children under the age of 12, they may have lead in them. Now, before you tell me your kids won’t lick the wall decals, keep in mind that lead in a vinyl doesn’t like being in the matrix and will migrate to the surface, particularly with exposure to light, heat and/or friction. And then can come off as lead contaminated dust.

Is it enough to be a risk? I can’t say, but lead exposure is additive, so coupled with lead contaminated dust from older homes, lead in our water, lead in soils from lead’s long use as a gasoline additive, our kids get more than enough lead already. They don’t need it from wall decals.

If lead isn’t used to stabilize the vinyl, then you could have maganese, or cadmium, or some other metallic salt. Vinyl must be stabilized.

Also, since the wall decals are toys or child care articles, they aren’t subject to the CPSIA’s phthalate ban. That means that hormone disrupting phthalates can be present since phthalates are used soften vinyl.

So why recommend such a product on the same page as organic onesies? Yuck.

And my next post will talk about the sunscreen recommendations . . . .

The panel will tackle parenting issues in this rapidly changing environment. Our modern world is full of new conveniences – but those conveniences bring with them a whole host of challenging and often avoidable perils. The expert panel will discuss modern safety regulations, exposure to hazards and toxins, educational toys that inhibit development, online safety.

Jennifer will tackle issues related to common chemical exposures and how to reduce those exposures. From use of household pesticides linked to leukemia to hormone disrupting phthalates in scented products, Jennifer will discuss what you can do.

Also joining Jennifer will be Robin Sax, bestselling author of Predators and Child Molesters: A Sex Crimes D.A. Answers 100 of the Most Asked Questions. Robin is a former Los Angeles County Prosecutor who specialized in felony cases including sex crimes and domestic violence. She is a sought after speaker on safety, crime, pop culture and the criminal justice system.

Dr. Jenn Berman will also participate in the panel. Jenn is a Marriage, Family and Child Therapist in private practice in Los Angeles. She has apppeared as a psychological expert on hundreds of television shows. She is the best selling author of SuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start in the First 3 Years and The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy Confident Kids.

Tanya Remer Altmann, MD FAAP, will also participate. Tanya is a leading medical authority, best selling author and media spokesperson. She is a UCLA trained pediatrician, designated spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a child health expert. Tanya is the author of Mommy Calls: Dr. Tanya Answers Parents’ Top 101 Questions About Babies and Toddlers.

The panel will be at 1 pm at Roxbury Park Community Center in Beverly Hills, California. For more information and registration, visit the Columbia Alumni Association of Southern California’s website.

So, when I was approached to do a review of the Melissa and Doug Folding Princess Castle, I was thrilled. (So, yes, I was sent a free castle and doll set for review in the interest of full disclosure.) My daughter has been asking for a pink plastic Barbie castle, and I much preferred non-branded wood. So I accepted. The castle arrived, and it is PERFECT. My princess loves the painted pink accents and the castle’s flexibility. It includes two removable turrets, flying buttresses, and a working drawbridge.

My daughter loves it, and plays with it almost every night. At Thanksgiving, some of my daughter’s cousins joined us, and they were just as entranced with the Folding Princess Castle. Melissa and Doug also generously sent my the Royal Family Wooden Doll Set to review. The girls, my daughter included, love these as well. You should check out all of the Melissa and Doug Toy Castles.

The drawbacks – the drawbridge is a little difficult for my 5 year old doll to manipulate because it is stiff. And, my daughter thinks the painted features on the female royal family members is ”too clown like.” Also, just expressed regret that the clothes cannot be removed from the royal family. 

From an environmental perspective, I do like that the castle and dolls are all wood. And, in my XRF testing experience, I haven’t had any lead or cadmium show up for Melissa and Doug Toys. I also love that the toys aren’t branded – I can escape the Disney Princesses or Barbie or any of the others for a little bit.

My daughter is so pleased with the castle, I’ve purchased for her the Princess Castle Furniture set to add to the castle for Christmas. You can check out all of the Melissa and Doug Toy Castles and accessories.

Now, bonus for my readers. I get to give away a Folding Princess Castle or Folding Medieval Castle (value $99 each – you get to pick ONE). It will be a random draw from comments. In the interest of trying (though no promises) to make this for Xmas, the contest is open until 11:59 pm on December 14, 2010. Leave a comment below with which you would prefer if you won. Winner to be notified by email.

If you want a bonus entry, follow Melissa and Doug on Twitter and let me know that you did or already do in a separate comment.

That even today, nearly a quarter of a million children in the US have blood lead levels high enough to cause significant damage to their health. And this is based upon an action level of 10 ug lead per dL of blood. Studies in the last 10 years show that blood lead levels significant lower cause permanent health problems, so the number of at risk kids is actually greater.

Children with elevated blood lead levels can suffer damage to the brain and nervous system. They can develop behavior and learning problems, such as learning disabilities, decreased intelligence, speech problems, language problems, poor muscle coordination, hyperactivity, slowed growth and other health problems.

Most of us dismiss the risk of exposure to lead. And yet. Lead exposure still occurs. In Nigeria right now, more than 400 kids have been killed from lead poisoning as a result of gold mining, and more than 30,000 people have been poisoned. A tragedy of horrific, immense proportions.

Yet lead poisoning doesn’t really occur in the United States still. Yes, it still does, even if your kids don’t lick the paint on the walls. Take a family in Tennessee living in a rental house built before 1978. They have discovered that all 3 children have elevated blood lead levels – child that is 12 has a BLL of 14, child that is 11 has a BLL of 8 and child that is 7 has a BLL of 21.7.

Or take the story of 8 month old Oskar Ryan-Garrad. He didn’t lick the walls. He didn’t eat paint chips. He didn’t suck or swallow lead contaminated toys. He simply acted like any baby and crawled around his home – a home constructed in the early 1900s. An optional blood draw found dangerously high levels of lead in his blood.

A risk assessor found lead laden dust on the windowsills of Oskar’s home, and on the floor and porch where he played. And his dad, a house painter, had lead dust on his clothes.

Monday kicked of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, and it is a great time to talk about how to reduce lead exposure. You can take some simple steps to reduce lead.

• Wash your hands and get your kids to do so too! Easy, peasy step – washing your hands regularly with plain soap and water can reduce lead exposure. We pick up lead contaminated dust from lots of sources – washing it away means that we don’t get exposed.
• Leave those shoes outside. We track in the bulk of the dirt in our home from outside. And with that dirt comes lead, cadmium, pesticides and more. Leaving your shoes at the door means that the dirt and the lead and other nasty stuff doesn’t come inside. One study found the checking shoes at the door can reduce exposure to lead by as much as 65%.
• If your home was constructed before 1978, you may have lead based paint. Be careful of peeling and chipping paint – take care of it safely or at least make in inaccessible to kids. But even if your paint is in good condition, you can have lead contaminated dust. So make sure you wet wipe regularly and use a HEPA equipped vaccuum to keep dust bunnies down.
• If your water pipes are older, you may have lead solder present, or even lead pipes. You can test your water with a simple home test kit that you mail to a laboratory. If you do have lead in your drinking water, consider a filter designed to remove lead. If you suspect lead in your water, one thing is to flush your pipes before drinking when the water sits for more than 6 hours. Just wait until you feel that slight temperature change.
• If any adult in the home engages in an industry that results in lead exposure (construction, demolition, etc.), change your clothes and shoes before your come inside, and preferably before you get in the family car, so that you don’t bring lead contaminated dust home.
• Skip vinyl products. Vinyl needs to be stabilized, and metallic salts are usually used to stabilize vinyl. Lead is often used. It doesn’t matter if you don’t suck on your fake leather (vinyl) purse – handling it can result in transfer from your hands to your mouth, or from your hands to your kids to their mouths, or from the purse directly to your kids hands and then their mouths.
• Don’t give infants brass keys to soothe them. Brass can have lead added, and infants can be exposed as they mouth brass keeys.

Okay, so why did I agree even though pushing product is inconsistent with my green message? Because my kids love the Schleich figures and playsets, and I love the imaginative play that they engage in when playing with Schleich. I love that the products aren’t tied to a move or cartoon character. Simple as that.

The Schleich figures are plastic, so they aren’t as environmentally-friendly as some toys. But they are free of hormone-disrupting phthalates and have been since 2000. Also, they paints they use are free of lead, and of the 200 or so figures I have personally tested using XRF, I haven’t detected lead.

Schleich has figures to satisfy and please almost any child. My son loved the dinosaurs when he was younger. My horse crazy daughter of course loves the realistic horses.

So I agreed to host a Schleich mommy party. While I had though 10 kids were showing up, I ended up with 22, so I didn’t get a lot of pictures at the beginning as I tried to regroup and make sure I had enough for everybody.

My daughter’s friends (mostly 4, 5 and 6) loved the horses and farm and wild animals the most.  Schleich provided some horses, some wild animals and some domestic farm animals. They spent almost 2 hours happily playing a variety of games – from having the animals act like a family, to going to the vet, to having school lessons.

My son’s friends (mostly 7 and gravitated towards the Bayala figures, and set up a very intricate “war” scene with my son’s soldiers on one side and the Bayala figures on the other. From what I could tell, it seem to be derived from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Since the party, my daughter has expressed quiet an interest in the gentler Bayala figures, particularly the unicorns and pink/purple fairies. We saw the Schleich display at Target, and she asked for every gentle Bayala figure for Christmas. And she wants the Elf boat and Floral Umbrella she saw in the Schleich catalog.

So, what can I say? With the Switch Witch coming on 10/31, and the holiday season fast approaching, the Schleich figures are a great option to encourage imaginative play. The Bayala figures allow for imaginative play that fits in with contemporary cartoons/movies but doesn’t box kids in to a set storyline. The farm animals and wild animals are great for any child. There are vehicles and people and almost anything you can imagine. The price point is consistent with how well the figures last and how detailed they are.

And, best of all, you can win a figure just by leaving a comment below. I’ll randomly pick from the coments left a winner on November 11. The contest is open until 11:59 pm on November 10, 2010 (Pacific time). The winner can pick from the category of a farm animal or wild animal or Bayala figure (just one figure – I select what it is from the category). Open to US and Canadian residents only.

So, you can probably guess I was excited to be asked to review and promote the latest offering from Rana DiOrio of Little Pickle Press – What Does It Mean To Be Pesent. Rana is a mom, a former attorney, a “greenie”, and an author. When I was asked to interview her to kick off her blog book tour byDani Greer of Blog Book Tours , I was thrilled.

Of course, given our similarities, from kids to law to green, our interview went more like two old friends chatting and laughing together than a formal interview. We talked about the difficulties of being female in law. We talked about some of our favorite “green” companies, including CleanWell. We talked about trying to write and raise kids.

Rana is a mom making it happen. Her warmth and passion shone through the phone. Rana is the founder and chief Pickle of Little Pickle Press. Little Pickle Press publishes high quality, high impact media for children. Little Pickle Press’ mission is to inspire children to protect the environment, celebrate diversity and live richly and fully.   

What Does It Mean To Be Present is the third in a series. The first book, What Does It Mean To Be Green, explores how children can help protect the earth’s natural resources. The second book, What Does It Mean To Be Global, helps educate children about the diversity of our world.

What Does It Mean To Be Present is a vibrant picture book authored by Rana and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. With its lush illustrations and rich language, the book demonstrates how a child can seize the moment. Rana believes that the message is important for kids (and parents!) today. Think about it. Our kids have busy, hectic days plugged into all sorts of media. Rana emphasizes that we teach our kids our bad habits of always looking towards the future and not enjoying the present. She commented that most parents are constantly saying “hurry up, we’ve got to go” or “we’re running late” or some iteration. And out kids learn always to look to the future.

In her comments, I saw myself reflected. As much as have wanted to live more in the moment, I can tell you most days I’m urging my kids to get going or hurry up because we are always running late to school, to karate practice, to soccer, and for dinner. We run from one activity or appointment to the next, without really stopping to enjoy any activity or appointment. 

Reviewing the book, I was struck not only how much I want my kids to live in the present and enjoy the richness of life but that I want that too. That I need to remember to be present. That life is lived in the moments. I asked Rana how busy parents can try to teach their kid be present when they are just trying to get on with life, and her advice was simple. She said, “Just take 15 minutes a day. Start by reading a book each evening.” She had other ideas – from unplugging completely one night a week to simply having a meal together.

So, we are definitely trying to be more present. Last night, at dinner, we ate together and spent the entire time talking about the food – where it came from, how it was grown, how it was cooked, what it tasted like, etc. It was a little odd, but we focused on dinner – not what was  happening the next day or at the end of the week.

I highly recommend What Does It Mean To Be Present as well as the other books in the series. The book is available from Amazon and other retailers. But, just for The Smart Mama readers, Little Pickle Press is offering 2 books plus one TerraSkin environmentally-friendly poster for the discounted price of $29.95. Just enter the code “SMARTMAMA” at check out.

Don’t forget to enter to win the Grand Prize Giveaway from Little Pickle Press- all three books in the series, all four of Little Pickle Press’  TerraSkin posters and a Dabba Walla backpack. Just go an enter here at the Little Pickle Press Blog.

And head over to the next blog in this book tour on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at The Blood-Red Pencil. Wednesday is Be Well Together and EcoMom.com, Thursday is The Hippy Mom and Friday is Country Fried Mama.

What? You don’t want cadmium when you go to McDonald’s? Well, then don’t order the French fries (just so you know, fries generally have 0.06 parts per million or “ppm” cadmium). (For reference and before you panic, low levels of cadmium are found in many items we eat. But the most common source of cadmium exposure for Americans is cigarette smoke.)

And don’t buy the new promotional Shrek Forever After glasses at McDonald’s, because, well, the painted decorations have cadmium.

Yep, that’s right. Cadmium.

Not what you wanted or expected, is it?

But it is true. And today the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a voluntary recall of those promotional Shrek Forever After glasses. 12 million of those glasses.

I was one of the people to submit the information to the CPSC. I used my Thermo Fisher Scientific Niton XRF analyzer to test all of the current promotional Shrek Forever After glasses – Donkey, Shrek, Fiona and Puss in Boots. And I found cadmium. The cadmium levels varied with the paint color, which made sense. Historically, cadmium has been used in paint to get yellow to deep red hues.

In the Fiona glass, I detected 1,049 ppm cadmium in the baby’s face. I detected no cadmium in Fiona’s dress (at the sleeve) but did find 10,900 ppm chromium.

In Puss in Boots, I detected cadmium at 1,378 ppm in the red pillow on which Puss rests, 1,048 ppm cadmium in the orange part of Puss, and 1,575 ppm cadmium in the yellow lion on which the Gingerbread Man sits. The Puss figure on the back (in the orange) was 1,707 ppm cadmium and 3,721 ppm chromium.

I detected 1,020 ppm in the green used on the Shrek glass. The yellow on that glass (at the Fiona Wanted sign) was 1,946  ppm cadmium.

Now, since the paint on the glasses is a thin film, it is likely that the cadmium levels are actually higher in the paint because the analyzer penetrates the glass, and the glass doesn’t have any cadmium. And, the XRF analyzer detects total and not soluble levels, which, as we know from the Zhu Zhu pets fiasco, can be a big difference.

The real question is – does the cadmium matter? Well, cadmium is considered more toxic than lead and exposure is linked to a number of health problems. Cadmium is a carcinogen. Ingestion of low levels of cadmium can lead to kidney damage and fragile bones. The CPSC’s recall announcement states that “[c]onsumers should stop using recalled products immediately.”

But can you get exposed from cadmium in the painted decorations on the outside of these glasses? The painted decorations are unlikely to leach into liquids contained in the glasses – the decorations are on the outside. So you might not think it matters. The decorations are also below what is known as the “lip and rim area” – or the area where you put your mouth to drink out of the glass – so you are not likely to actually put the painted decorations in your mouth.

However, you can get wear and transfer from the decorations to your hands. While dermal absorption of cadmium is very low, the exposure occurs as cadmium is transferred to your hands and then your mouth or your food. Think about it – drink out of the glass, eat a french fry or your chicken nuggets. Are you going to wash your hands in between? Nope.

Also, washing the glasses can result in contamination of other dishes. In an automatic dishwasher, the heat and intensity of the water hitting the glasses can cause the decorations to deteriorate. Unfortunately, the cadmium can contaminate other dinnerware placed in the dishwasher – although the rinse cycle may remove all or some of it.

And why is there even cadmium in a children’s product? Earlier this year, there were several high profile recalls of cadmium in children’s jewelry, in part because lead is basically banned in children’s products. But, the thing is, there isn’t any comprehensive federal regulation addressing cadmium in children’s products.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) does NOT have a limit for total cadmium. It does implement a standard for soluble cadmium in paints and coatings used on children’s toys (because the CPSIA makes mandatory the ASTM F963 toy standard). That standard is 75 ppm cadmium (soluble). But it doesn’t have a cadmium standard for all children’s products. The CPSC has recalled cadmium children’s products (including the children’s jewelry items) under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA). The FHSA allows the CPSC to find an item to be a “banned hazardous substance” if the level of cadmium is sufficient to cause substantial illness as a result of reasonably foreseeable handling or use, including reasonably foreseeable ingestion by children.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a standard for cadmium (and lead) in ceramic articles, flatware and hollowware used for food storage. The standard is based upon extractable or leachable cadmium (and lead) and not total cadmium as measured by the XRF.

In addition to this standard, there is a voluntary industry standard for lead and cadmium in the lip and rim area. These limits are not more than 4 ppm of lead and not more than 0.4 ppm for cadmium leachable from the lip and rim area.

In California, there is Proposition 65, which requires a warning before exposing consumers to chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer or reproductive or other developmental harm. Cadmium is included on the Proposition 65 list. Proposition 65′s levels are based upon exposure, so various settlements (known as consent judgments) have established content levels in various articles. Under what is known as the Boelter settlement, decorations on glassware outside the lip and rim area can contain no more than 4,800 ppm cadmium (tested by a digestive test or a separate standard for wipe tests), which is higher than the results I got (for total cadmium, although caveat mentioned above about thin film).

Minnesota also has a law regulating cadmium in paints and the like. Specifically, Minnesota law bans the intentional introduction or incidental presence above 100 parts per million of lead, cadmium, mercury or hexavalent chromium into any pigment, paint, dye, ink or fungicides used or sold in the state after 1998.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier from California also made the CPSC aware of this issue. Perhaps her involvement will lead to a legislative effort?

(Please note – I updated this post to clarify the Boelter settlement levels. I inadvertently dropped part of a sentence, so I had a lip and rim area level confused with a non lip and rim area limit.)

(Please note further – While I am an attorney, my testing of these Shrek glasses had nothing to do with my legal practice. My use of the XRF for testing stems from being a former environmental engineer, a mom and a consultant that has access to the device & uses it. I am not involved in any lawsuit or claim against McDonald’s related to these glasses. I have received no monetary benefit from testing these glasses or the recall.)