“Monster High” Is Getting Its Own Live-Action Musical in 2022

by Erica LoopFebruary 23, 2021

Monster High rose to popularity more than a decade ago in 2010. Now the show’s beloved characters are back per an announcement by Mattel and Nickelodeon.

Two new Monster High TV events, an all-new animated series and first-ever Monster High live-action television movie musical will debut in 2022. Clawdeen Wolf, Frankie Stein, Draculaura, and more are coming to the Nick network (and all the company’s platforms) next year.

photo courtesy of Business Wire

Of the upcoming television events, Fred Soulie, General Manager, Mattel Television, said in a press release, “Monster High’s strong message of inclusivity is more relevant than ever.” Soulie continued, “Nickelodeon shares our passion for the brand and its purpose having worked on the franchise when it first launched more than a decade ago. They are the ideal partners to bring these beloved characters and their stories to life through episodic television and the live-action television movie.”

Ramsey Naito, President of Nickelodeon Animation said, “These classic monsters have always captured kids’ imaginations and we are so excited and proud to welcome Monster High to our brand for a new generation of kids.” Naito added, “We have terrific partners on board at Mattel to create original content in different formats, and, with the expertise of the Nick creative team helmed by Claudia Spinelli on the animation development side, and Zack Olin and Shauna Phelan on the live-action side, we can’t wait to showcase the comedy and adventure of these characters as they defy expectations and take on the world.”

Nickelodeon did provide information on a release date—but you can expect both of the magical Monster High shows to air in 2022.

—Erica Loop

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Shawn Johnson East Announces Second Pregnancy to Parents In Sweet, Snowy Way

by Erica LoopFebruary 16, 2021

Olympian Shawn Johnson East and hubby former NFL player Andrew East recently shared their baby news reveal with the world! The couple, who are expecting their second child later in 2021, took to YouTube with a behind the scenes look at their sweet (and completely comical) family baby announcement idea.

There’s no end to the creative pregnancy announcement ideas online. When Johnson East and her husband wanted to share their baby joy with the East fam, the couple explored some of the more humorous options. After nixing the idea of a literal bun in the oven, East decided to put together a family photo portrait reveal.

The soon-to-be second time dad devised a plan that involved his parents, sisters and their families. In a perfect world, the entire extended family would gather together, smile sweetly, and get a surprise when the pair announced the pregnancy. Even though this sounded like a workable idea, reality struck. With kids who wouldn’t stand still and scheduling issues, the photo idea never happened.

This left the couple on the hunt for another pregnancy reveal idea. Johnson East was ready to spill the secret without any fanfare—but her hubby wouldn’t give up on the idea of a creative announcement.

Instead of a fam photo, East built four snow people: Dad, mom, older sib, and a new baby. He hid the baby snow person until the just-right time. Of course, everyone in the East clan was elated at the announcement. To see the full reveal, and everything leading up to it, watch the couple’s YouTube video here.

Johnson East also posted a YouTube video of her parents’ reaction to the baby news. Watch the hilarious clip here.

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

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Meghan Trainor & Daryl Sabara Welcome First Baby

by Erica LoopFebruary 16, 2021

It’s all about the baby for pop star Meghan Trainor. Trainor and her husband Daryl Sabara welcomed a baby boy on Feb, 8.

The couple posted sweet newborn pics of their new son, Riley, on Instagram this past Valentine’s Day. Trainor shared that Riley’s original due date was the 14th—but the sweet little guy made his grand debut almost one full week early.

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A post shared by Meghan Trainor (@meghantrainor)

Trainor and Sabara announced the pregnancy back in October with an excited IG post that read, “You all know how long I’ve wanted this!!!!” Shortly after, the celeb singer made a world-wide baby gender reveal on Kelly Clarkson’s daytime talk show.

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A post shared by Daryl Sabara (@darylsabara)

The new mama’s IG baby birth announcement features super-sweet pics of Riley and a special Valentine’s message to hubby Sabara, “Thank you @darylsabara for the best Valentine’s gift ever!” Sabara also gushed about his baby joy, and gave some love to his wife, in his IG announcement post, “You are my forever Valentine and I’m so beyond grateful for you bringing our son into the world.”

Congrats go out to the couple and their first son!

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: DFree via Shutterstock

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Sonic the Hedgehog to Return in Sequel & the Title Is…

by Karly WoodFebruary 12, 2021

Can you believe it’s been a year since the first Sonic the Hedgehog dropped in theaters? And what a year it’s been.

In honor of the big day, Paramount Pictures just dropped the title for the upcoming sequel: Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Catch the official title announcement below!

While you’ll need to wait over a year to catch the film when it arrives in theaters on Apr. 8, 2022, there’s bound to be more trailers dropped along the way. And if nothing else, the OG music theme from the trailer has gotten us pretty excited!

Be sure to follow Sonic on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all the deets.

––Karly Wood

Feature photo: Paramount Pictures

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Princess Eugenie Welcomes Baby & Shares First Photo

by Karly WoodFebruary 9, 2021

There’s another royal baby! Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank have welcomed their first child, a baby boy.

The Royal Family shared the happy news via Twitter. Details include that baby boy was 8 pounds, one ounce and he was born today, Feb. 9, 2021.

Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie was safely delivered of a son today, 9th February 2021, at 0855hrs at The Portland Hospital. Jack Brooksbank was present.

The baby weighs 8lbs 1oz.

Read the announcement in full: https://t.co/hPiT2aKJe3 pic.twitter.com/QfUtRIG39N

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) February 9, 2021

Princess Eugenie also shared baby’s first photo, a black and white image of his tiny hand gripping his parents.

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A post shared by Princess Eugenie (@princesseugenie)

The Royal Family has not shared the baby’s name, but baby and mom are doing fine.

Congrats to the new, happy family.

––Karly Wood

Feature photo: Luma Pimental via Unsplash

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Michele Obama’s Bestseller Is “Becoming” a Kid’s Book

by Amber GuetebierFebruary 9, 2021

It’s been on the NY TImes bestseller list for more than 100 weeks since it’s release in hardcover and now Michelle Obama’s Becoming is about to hit the shelves in paperback. While we’ve all been anticipating the paperback version, Penguin Random House announced this week that there’s also an exciting new edition coming out adapted for young readers, available Mar. 2. Read on to get the scoop.

Adapted for children 10 and up, this new edition will feature an introduction by the author directly addressing the young reader. It will also have three, full-color photo inserts. Like the original, it tells her full story to a new generation, full of joy and triumph along the many challenges she’s faces. By telling her own story, Mrs. Obama asks young readers: Who are you, and what do you want to become?

To celebrate the announcement, Mrs. Obama released a video on her IG:

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A post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama)

The trade paperback version of the original book will also be released Mar. 2 with a book club guide, featuring 20 discussion questions as well as a 5-question Q&A. And might we suggest also picking up a copy of the guided journal, Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice ,to accompany both new editions?

Both editions will be out Mar. 2, 2021. Order your copy here!

Learn more about the book and Michelle Obama at becomingmichellobama.com

—Amber Guetebier

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Rebel Girls Celebrate Black History with New Podcasts & an Epic New Book Announcement

by Amber GuetebierFebruary 4, 2021

With a new book about immigrant women out late last year and the January launch of Rebel Girls Lead: 25 Tales of Powerful Women readers everywhere are 100% here for learning about amazing women both in history and modern times. In fact, we can’t get enough. Lucky for us, they’re not slowing down anytime soon. Read on for three exciting new announcements, just in time for Black History Month.

Another Incredible New Book

Just announced for a Fall 2021 release, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic will soon be gracing all of our shelves. Complete with a forward by CaShawn Thompson, who is credited as the first person to introduce the concept of “Black Girls Are Magic” via Twitter in 2013. The book will highlight Black women from around the world, representing a diverse array of profession, time period, background, and complexion.

Black History Month Podcasts

While the the book won’t be out until later this year, there’s plenty to get hyped about right now. This month, Rebel Girls will release a four-part podcast series on inspirational Black women throughout history. Watch for:

Live Now! Harriet Tubman (Tarana Burke) & Madam CJ Walker

2/2 – Sojourner Truth

2/9 – Miriam Mekeba

2/16 – Ruby Bridges

Exciting New Hires to Take Rebel Girls to the Next Level

What’s more, following their announcement of their collaboration with Kids+Family and Imagine Documentaries to create original and historical content, feature films, and short and long-form scripted and unscripted television, they’ve made headlines again with two new dynamic additions to their creative leadership team!

Soo Koo, former Chief Creative Officer of Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Disney, will join the brand as Chief Creative/Marketing Officer: “I am inspired by Rebel Girls’ commitment to developing educational and entertaining content to young girls on a global scale,” said Koo. “I plan to use my experience driving creative and impactful marketing strategies to further elevate the stories of world-changing women and girls, while expanding the Rebel Girls footprint to meet our goal of instilling confidence in the lives of 50 million girls by 2025.”

And Lilly Workneh, formerly Editor-in-Chief of Blavity News, will serve as Head of Digital Content. She’ll be the lead in collaborating with Thompson to bring Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic to life.

“My passion for storytelling and uplifting others has fueled my professional career and I’m humbled by the opportunity to dive into the world of children’s publishing and content development with Rebel Girls,” said Workneh. “Stories have the power to take our imaginations to new heights and I’m looking forward to sharing the tales of inspirational women with the younger generation to show them how they can build a better, brighter future.”

We can’t wait to see what that future holds!

Visit rebelgirls.com to learn more,

—Amber Guetebier

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Halsey Announces She Is Expecting First Child

by Jennifer SwartvagherJanuary 27, 2021

Congratulations! The singer reveled on Instagram that she’s pregnant and expecting her first child with screenwriter Alev Aydin by posting a slideshow of photographs showing off her baby bump.

“surprise! 🍼🌈👼🏻 Photos by @samdameshek,” she captioned the post, in which she tagged Aydin. Aydin re-posted the announcement on his Instagram Story.

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A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey)

In the comments section Alev wrote, “Heart so full, I love you, sweetness.” to which the singer replied, “I love you!!!!!! And I love this mini human already.”

—Jennifer Swartvagher

All photos courtesy Featureflash Photo Agency via Shutterstock

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Can’t Visit Your Fave Museum? This Is the Next Best Thing

by Karly WoodJanuary 21, 2021

Museums may still be closed but that doesn’t mean kiddos have to miss out on all the fun. In a new announcement, PBS has shared it is now collaborating with the Smithsonian Institution to bring tons of content for PreK through 12th grade to educators across the U.S.

Starting today, you can access a huge collection of free, standards-aligned Smithsonian content on PBS LearningMedia. Everything on the hub is aligned to Common Core and national and state standards and available in a variety of formats, including lesson plans, videos and interactives.

photo: Alejandro Barba via Unsplash

Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS says “PBS and the Smithsonian Institution have a shared commitment to education and helping teachers and learners connect with relevant and meaningful resources. As this challenging year has made abundantly clear, it’s now more important than ever to make high-quality, educational content readily accessible to Americans nationwide. Through this partnership, we hope to build on this commitment to students across the country, helping to prepare them for success in school and beyond.”

Resources available on PBS LearningMedia focus on three main areas for caregivers, parents and educators.

Interdisciplinary resources that bring content from the Smithsonian’s museums by teaching science through art or history through research
Content on contemporary local and global issues
Signature Smithsonian collections and programs, such as virtual tours and the National Air and Space Museum’s Emmy-winning STEM in 30 serie

Users can browse content and filter by standards, grade level, subject and special collections. To access the entire library of Smithsonian learning-ready resources, visit PBS LearningMedia.

––Karly Wood

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Nick Carter & Wife Lauren Expecting Third Child

by Jennifer SwartvagherJanuary 14, 2021

Congratulations are in order. Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter and his wife Lauren Kitt are expecting another baby following multiple miscarriages. The couple each posted the good news on their Instagram accounts.

Yesterday, Carter posted a sonogram video with the caption, “Sometimes life blesses you with little surprises. 🥰”

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A post shared by Nick Carter (@nickcarter)

Today he followed up with a sweet family photo captioned, “As you can see, this photo wasn’t easy to get 🥰. We just want to thank all of our Dear Friends and Fans for all the love and support you have given us during this time.. There are so many emotions that we are going through being the fact that Lauren is high risk. But we know that no matter what happens God will be there. Thank you again.”

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A post shared by Nick Carter (@nickcarter)

Kitt also reposted a video announcement from People Magazine captioned “Oh Baby Baby Baby!” In the video the couple discuss that after multiple miscarriages, this pregnancy was a very welcome surprise.

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A post shared by Lauren Kitt Carter (@laurenkittcarter)

The new baby will join big brother Odin, four, and big sister Saoirse, one.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Kathy Hutchins via Shutterstock

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