Boston is a city steeped in history, and one of the best ways to learn about all of its famous landmarks and residents is through books. Next time you head to one of our city's great libraries or bookstores, look for one or more of these 12 great children's books, including a brand-new, beautifully illustrated story about the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. From landmark lore to rich biographies, these great reads will inspire hometown pride in Boston kids in different, age-appropriate ways.

The holiday season is so festive and fun that it’s easy to get some serious post-holiday blues. Add to that the fact that winter is just gearing up here in Boston, and you (and the kids) could be going stir crazy in no time. However, just because the holidays are over and the weather is frightful doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. Here are 10 kid-friendly festivals that will have you beating the post-holiday blues in no time and keep the fun rolling all the way until spring!

Picking the right preschool for your child can be difficult. There are so many options to choose from that narrowing down the criteria can really help with the selection process. Preschools that that focus on language, whether through immersion or bilingual instruction, have flourished in the Boston area. To help make your choice a little easier, we’ve rounded up 16 of these preschools in or near Boston where your child can learn French, Spanish, German, Mandarin, or Arabic—or even become trilingual.

As a soon-to-be new mom, one of the things I’m most looking forward to is finding a group of other new moms to bond with. Finding others in a similar stage of parenthood can be a great way to gather support and share advice, especially during those tiring newborn days. Luckily, there are plenty of options to choose from in Boston, no matter what type of group you’re looking for or what neighborhood you live in. And best of all? Most of them are free!

There are few things more quintessentially summer than eating an ice cream cone or sipping a frappe on a hot day. And we can’t think of a better time to expand your treat horizons beyond your neighborhood shop than on National Ice Cream Day, a mid-July annual tradition. So we’re bringing you a rundown of some of Boston's most drive-worthy destination ice cream shops, from old-fashioned soft serve purveyors to trendy rolled ice cream makers.

Still looking for the perfect summer getaway? To us, a vacation that combines family fun with opportunities for grown-up-only time can't be beat, but a lot of hotels and resorts seem to specialize in one type of experience or the other. So we did some digging to find regional hotels that are best for parents looking to spend quality time with their kids—and each other.

Walden Pond was made famous by Henry David Thoreau, who lived at the site from 1845-1847 and wrote the book Walden based on his experience. Today, Walden is known locally for being a beautiful, pristine recreation area. It’s one of our favorite places to visit year-round, but we especially love to go in the summer. There’s so much to do with kids at Walden and it provides a great alternative to heading to the beach on a hot day. Here’s our advice on how to make the most of your visit.

It may be below freezing for long chunks of the year in Boston, but that doesn’t stop our city from absolutely loving ice cream. And to show just how serious they are about cool treats, northern New Englanders have developed their own term for a thick, creamy ice-cream-based drink—a frappe. Basically, a frappe is just a fancy term for what the rest of the country calls a milkshake (and what Rhode Islanders, no joke, call a cabinet—because, duh, that's where the blender is kept.) Whatever term your household uses, these frozen drinks are huge hit with kids, especially when temperatures rise. The next time a special treat is in order, hit one of these amazing frappe joints, which range from a 19th-century dairy farm to a lactose-free creamery. We can hear the happy slurping already.