John Lithgow Book:

		List Price: $15.00		Publisher: Fireside Salesrank: 163296
		Our Price: $0.93
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		Media: Paperback

Editorial Review:

What's a palooza?

An activity that keeps kids from uttering those terrifying words, "I'm bored!"

You may know John Lithgow as star of stage, screen, and television or even as a bestselling children's book author. But his most important role -- parent -- was also the most fun. Whether building cardboard castles or putting on a King and I puppet show or conducting a treasure hunt in the National Gallery of Art, John has spent years perfecting the art of the palooza.

A palooza is easy to do!

• A palooza doesn't cost much (some cost absolutely nothing)

• A palooza is instigated or organized by parents but is quickly taken over by children

• A palooza may involve a computer but never the TV

• A palooza may use all varieties of arts and crafts

• A palooza may secretly teach children (and parents!) a thing or two

• A palooza is entertaining for the entire family

• A palooza depends entirely on the inexhaustible creativity, ingenuity, imagination, and sense of fun of young minds

This book contains 101 ideas for creating paloozas for children ages 3 to 12 wherever you are. Grouped according to interests and themes -- like art, drama, music, vacations, and birthdays -- and incorporating lots of extrapaloozas, fun facts for parent and child, and suggested additional reading for all ages, John's paloozas range from adopting your own soup can for a day to inventing your own secret language to establishing left-handed day or creating a self-portrait. A Lithgow Palooza! is an utterly unique collection of original activities guaranteed to transform any household from bored to bubbling with fun.

A Lithgow Palooza! Reviews:
A Lithgow Palooza
2009-10-27 - I picked up this book as I was surfing through the childrens book section last month, it seemed cute and insiteful. Boy! Was I ever wrong! This book is absolute GENIUS! John Lithgow is a good actor, a smart person, but he is so fantastic with children he makes Mr. Rodgers look like the wierd guy who sits on his porch with a shotgun.
My family started doing these Palooza activities once a week and we have four under our belts with only 97 more to go. My children are already picking which ones to do almost two months in advance. I walked in on my daughter last night as she was looking up famous astronauts in history that she wants to portray on the "Mission to Mars" Palooza, not playing a video game or chatting online with her friends or even watching television. My wife is in love with it because she was complimented on her homemade donuts at the Halloween Carnival, yes the recipe was in the Holiday Paloozas.
In the introduction Lithgow warns that even he has only done 10% of all the palozzas in the book and doing them all would be impossible. So the gaunlet is thrown down and my family has accepted, we are Paloozaholics and can't wait to finish all the Paloozas in the book (should only take three years, give or take a few weeks). Thank you Mr. Lithgow.

Lithgow Mania
2007-01-09 - I was given this book as a gift, and our family loves it. Lithgow has an amazing mind--and he's just quirky enough to cater perfectly to kids. We have used many of the ideas in the book, and have even expanded by creating our own "paloozas." You'll never run out of ideas or creativity if you buy this book. He has several others out now too.

A world-wide wonder for children to learn and play from!
2005-06-08 - This is a playful, richly informative book giving lots of interesting ideas to make kids THINK and HAVE FUN. I checked out the book from the library and now I need my own copy... because the age ranges are so broad, it's a resource you will be using for YEARS. (And yes, even if you are an adult I can almost guarantee you'll find something new and fun!) Lithgow creates interesting paloozas, and side-notes offer more details and resources for further exploration. Some of my favorites:
Labyrinths (no, it isn't the same as a maze!)
Kolam
Backwards Party

5 stars is not enough!
2004-05-02 - Creative, innovative, superlative, outstanding. I just received my copy today and have read through one half of the book so far, but am very impressed. Every new parent should be given this book at baby showers. Lightow writes in an understandable, friendly conversation manner which is easy to understand.

As a left hander in my middle years who has struggled with the challenges and redicule of being "different", I especially appreciated the chapter relating to lefties. Creaping/galloping degeneration in usefulness of my left hand is forcing me to become ambidextrous in performing the simplest daily activities.

Thanks to a very literate and intelligent person for this great resource for parents.

My advise: Throw away the coloring books and remote controls and, buy this book.

Thanks to you Mr. Lightow for this enlighting and entertainig book. By the way, we loved Third Rock also.

CV

a delightful surprise
2004-04-13 - I'm a grade school teacher and I picked up this book looking (as ever) for a few new ideas for activities for my students. I hit the mother lode. This is as creative and refreshing a presentation of activities for kids that I have ever come across. These activities show a tremendous respect for the inherent creativity in children and prove that if you give them the time and inspire them with smart ideas, they'll create. And learn.

For example, "Bibliomancy" is a whimsical little "fortune-telling" game that asks the child to randomly choose a word from the dictionary to answer his own question about the future. So he has to read and understand the word, and then use some mighty creative logic to prove how the word points to his optimum outcome. "Color Concentration" adapts the classic memory game by using paint chips from the hardware store. So at once, kids are playing a familiar and fun memory game, becoming aware of the nuance of color, and reading those evocative paint color names. I loved "Museum Hunt," which gives adults a great way to thoroughly involve a child in the museum experience-or even replicate the experience from your own home using online art resources. And I will absolutely do "Palio" with my class next year, when they'll invent their own adaptation of the wild horserace that takes place in Siena, Italy every summer.

For the most part, the activities, or "paloozas," just require the adult to set it up and let the kids have at it. This book is a terrific resource for getting kids genuinely engaged in their own creative possibilities. It is also, by the way, a wonderfully enjoyable read for grownups, who are tossed rich and tasty tidbits on art and literature and culture that remind them of why they want to expose their kids to this stuff in the first place.