Items tagged “Education & Development”

Peace, love and Zen. If we had a little more of these in our lives, the world might — almost certainly would — be a better place. You can help foster these qualities when you stock Maybe (A Little Zen for Little Ones), a delightful book that reinterprets a classic Zen story in an accessible context for kids. The book, by Sanjay Nambiar, tells of a wise girl who experiences a series of events that at first seem lucky (or unlucky) but turn out to be quite the opposite. The book is beautifully illustrated with modern graphics juxtaposed with traditional backgrounds and a relatable “heroine.”

Marketing is filled with commonly used adages, though some of them are clearly half-baked. One that I hear often is, “Consumers are no longer brand loyal.” And while there’s a kernel of truth to that maxim, you could get burned if you simply accepted it on face value. True, most of us will not carry a flame for one store, product or experience from cradle to grave, but that doesn’t mean we can’t form affinities for certain items or shops. So even as marketers bemoan consumers’ fickle tastes, they spend millions of dollars a year trying to cook up ways to stoke our devotion…

Recently I took stock of my wardrobe and determined that I really didn’t need anything new for fall. As a result, I’ve spent very little time in stores or on shopping sites. Not exactly music to retailers’ or designers’ ears, I’m sure. But don’t worry. Just because I haven’t been seeking out new products doesn’t mean they haven’t found me. Within the last week alone, I’ve fallen under the spell of two items I didn’t know I needed until I stumbled upon them and they spoke to me, begging me to bring them home. But these enchanted encounters didn’t happen in a store. Nor did they occur in an online shop.

Reports of childhood bullying are in the headlines. Kids pick on others because they don’t act the same or have some distinguishing feature or attribute that singles them out as different. Children want to be like their contemporaries and, when someone isn’t, the temptation to bully often rises. Advocate against intolerance and give customers a way to do the same with Just Like You, a story that aims to explain what being “different” is about to young children. Stock this informative, easy to understand book and help everyone spread the word that we are each valuable in our own, particular way.