“The Daily Doodle” – A Review by Karen M., Aunt of 6 year old. http://ark2u.com
As a teacher, I spend a great amount of time looking at books, reading books, and picking just the right book to get kids interested in reading and writing. As an aunt, I always want to be sure I know that my nieces and nephews can each express themselves in their own way. So, I was super excited when I had the chance to look at and review “The Daily Doodle” written by one of our very own Gather members, Janet Lee (who just happens to have her PH. D and might know a bit of something about children).
The first thing I noticed about this book was that it was colorful and fun looking. My niece was immediately drawn to the colors and pictures on the cover. So, we decided to explore it together. The first few pages are full of ideas and thoughts for parents and ‘kudos’ to the author as she also remembered to write a letter to the kids. My niece loved me reading the letter directly to her and we hadn’t even gotten to the fun part yet.
Once you get into the book itself, it has pages and pages of activities geared toward self expression for children. Each pages has a topic and then there is lots of room for the child to draw or write whatever it is they feel about that topic. I was curious to see what my niece thought about bedtime because unlike her teenage brother who loves to sleep, putting this 6 year old to bed is nothing short of a miracle. So, we turned to that page and I read the title, “Bedtime”. I told her to write or draw whatever she wanted and at first she was hesitant, so I acted busy doing something else and she began. She colored and drew for a good 15 minutes before showing me the picture of a “playground” of all things. It gave me a great place to ask, “Why?” She explained to me that every night when she goes to bed she is mad because she has to stop playing. She wants to play and not sleep so much. Can you imagine the discussion from this one simple activity?
It got me excited because some of the pages could really allow a child to express themselves and give their parent/teacher/counselor a jumping point for discussion. My niece and I were both very impressed by the book. We decided we would do one activity a day, but I can also see that it could be used on an as needed basis or any way that someone felt it would fit their situation.
So, if you have an opportunity to buy one fun, but useful book for your child, I would without hesitation recommend that you check out, “The Daily Doodle” written by Janet Lee or check out her webpage for other books at www.drjanetlee.com
A Review by Angela V, Mother of 5
http://www.5vinezmonkeys.com/2009/08/daily-doodle-review.html
I was on Gather.com a couple of weeks ago, and I saw an author looking for someone with a 4 – 7 year old to review her new book, The Daily Doodle. Since I have 2 kids in that age range, and my kids love all things art related, I thought I’d volunteer. I was a little nervous. I thought that the boys would fight over the book, and I was going to have a hard time getting them to share. Luckily, Janet Lee, PhD, the author of the book, was one step ahead of me. She sent me 2 books so that both Zander and Jace could try them out.
When I opened the package, the boys were with me. They barely gave me a chance to get the books out of the envelope before grabbing them! Zander can read, so he dove right in. Jace looked through each page, a huge smile planted on his face, and he’d ask Zander over and over, “What do I do on this page?” The both went through about 15 pages before I told them they had to stop. They didn’t understand the concept of daily. They were just having so much fun with the journal that they would have gone through the entire thing in one sitting.
There are several things that impress me about The Daily Doodle. First, I love that it inspires creativity. Jace is just learning how to draw recognizable objects, and you can actually see his little mind just working away while he’s using this book. Next. I *love* that I can keep a record of their artwork and how their little minds think all in one place. Sure, we’ll still have loose papers, but this is a great way to keep my favorites without all of the clutter. It’s already in the book, and the book doesn’t take up much room! And I love watching their progress over time. To see how much they’ll advance, how much better their artwork will get. I can track their progress easily by going through the book.
I took a video of the boys using the books and wanted to share it with you:
Some of the things that the boys put in the book were hysterical. For example, on one of the pages, it says, “If I had 3 wishes, I would want…”
Jace responded by drawing a large building, a small person, and a bike. When I asked him what it was that he wanted, he replied, “A new Power Ranger toy, a bike, and to buy Walmart.” LOL! He doesn’t want much, does he?
On another page, it says, “My favorite things to do with my family are…”
Zander drew us at a table and then us in front of the tv. When I asked him what his favorite things to do were, he responded with, “Eat chicken and play the wii!” Eat chicken? Really? 
These are the memories I want to keep forever. These are the moments I will treasure, and heck – I can even pull these books out years down the road and embarrass them if I need to.
I would absolutely recommend The Daily Doodle to anyone with kids in the 4 – 7 age range. And I would recommend buying new books often. Your kids will love them, and it’s a great, clutter-free way of keeping their talents all in one place.
If you’d like to purchase your own copy of The Daily Doodle, it’s available on Amazon for the very reasonable price of $14.95.
Thank you to Dr. Janet Lee for allowing me the opportunity to test out her new book on my kids. It’s definitely a hit here!
Two Parents’ Reviews : “The Daily Doodle” by H. Family
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977815468
Husband’s review:
The Daily Doodle, by Dr. Janet Mentore Lee, is a delightfully creative adventure for children and their parents.Pages for forty-eight days of journal entries are provided. Each page has space for a current date and adequate room to write, draw, or express oneself. Prompts are given as a point of departure for each day’s journal entry. For example, “The highlight of the day was . . .” appears at the top of the page, but most of the space is blank for doodling, writing, drawing, pasting as the child muses on how best to describe the day’s highlight.
Parents help by discussing the prompt with their child, then labeling any less than clear drawings or doodles. This will help immensely in later years when parents and their children sit down to think back about keeping the child’s journal, and the large oval with two misshapen rectangles on the top and multiple more or less straight lines protruding from the oval is labeled “Portrait of Uncle Fred.”
The Daily Doodle introduces children to the art of journal keeping, an activity that many children will continue throughout their lives. Parents have the opportunity to connect with the child and tap into the child’s inner vision in ways that previously may not have occurred to them. Parents also can coordinate activities, and even assist in the creative process.
The Daily Doodle is a great exercise in creative thinking. Children will enjoy the challenge and parents will enjoy watching and assisting their children’s rise to the challenge.
Wife’s review:
I was very excited to get the opportunity to review “The Daily Doodle”. As a young girl and later as a teenager I was very much into keeping my own diary, and I’ve tried as an adult to keep up with my journaling, though I must admit it was much easier to do when I was younger. Knowing what an outlet journaling has been for me in my life, I was excited to begin my own two children, ages 6 and 4, on the path to keeping their own journal.
My first thought upon receiving the books and looking through them was how much fun they would be to fill out. Honestly, I wanted one of my own! The format and font is even fun and kid-friendly. My husband has already described in his review above how each page has a place at the top to put the date and then a prompt to get your child’s creative juices flowing. There’s even a break every now and then, called a “Scribble Break”, for them to just let loose with whatever they want. Some prompt examples are: “A favorite thing I like to do with my family is…..” or “I worry about….” or “I get sad when…” or “The activity I enjoy the most is…”.
Every night for three weeks now my husband and I have included “The Daily Doodle” in our bedtime routine, and let me tell you, it has been a great way to get to know our children better. I had no idea my six-year-old daughter would instantly think of chocolate when she was asked the prompt “My mother….” or that if she could have three wishes she would wish for, first, all the High School Musical DVDs, second, to go fishing with Grandpa, and third, snow for Christmas. And imagine how it made my heart melt when my four-year-old son completed “I love…” simply with “my family” along with a cute little picture of the four of us, complete with purple hair and two differently-colored eyes.
To sum up my review of “The Daily Doodle” I’d just like to say buy it, make time for it, and use it. The time spent with your child will be priceless – not only to you but to them also.
The Daily Doodle – Journal for Children’ Review
I was reading one of Connie “Keeping You Informed” C’s “Today on Gather” posts, What Is Happening Today On Gather – Monday August 10, 2009! Connie’s articles are always very informative and filled with lots of great things happening around the Gather community! Connie posted that Author Janet Lee was Looking for 10 Moms to Review My New Kids Journaling Book: The Daily Doodle. She was give away 10 FREE copies (chosen at random), to the first 10 moms that commented on her article. The only stipulation was that you had to have at least 1 child who was between the ages of 4-7. Janet Mentore Lee is a fellow Gather mom of 3 with another on the way! Janet Mentore Lee, Ph.D. has been a psychologist for ten years. She says she does not want to tell parents how to raise their children but be a resource for them to develop strategies to connect with children and encourage them to have open communication. Dr. Lee is a licensed Psychologist in the States of Connecticut, New York, and Florida. A certified School Psychologist in States of Connecticut and New York. As well as a certified “Journal to the Self “Instructor. Stephy LOVES this journal and so do I. Not only is it very kid-friendly, it really motivates them to share their thoughts and feelings. In addition, they get to be creative and use their artistic skills. Each page has a place to write the date in which they completed that particular page, it’s going to make a wonderful keepsake for many years to come. One day when she’s grown, my daughter will be able to open that book and take a trip down memory lane. There are pages that ask about friends, family, school, struggles, strengths, some scribble pages and much more! The cover and the pages are thick and sturdy, so I know that they will be able to withstand the multiple uses by little hands! I would recommend this book to anyone with young children. It would also make the perfect gift! The Daily Doodle can be purchased at Amazon HERE. For more opinions on The Daily Doodle from other Gather Moms…
