Did you know that today is International Day of Families? Do something fun with your family to celebrate, like making some quick and easy mini-pizzas:

You’ll Need:

• Thick, mini pita bread
• Spaghetti sauce
• Shredded cheese
• sliced veggies

To Make:

1. Spread the sauce onto the pita bread.
2. Add shredded cheese.
3. Use the veggies to decorate each pita pizza to look like someone in your family.
4. Bake the pizzas in the oven for about 10 minutes at 425 F.

Yum!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

The May issue of Chirp is all about getting active. Check out this short video of animals dancing. The lemurs are my favourite!

This video sure makes me want to get up and get dancing!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

Don’t forget to send us a drawing of you playing outside for your chance to win a Stella and Sam: Follow Me! DVD. The winning drawings will be posted on www.owlkids.com/chirpfamily

Contest Deadline: May 15th, 2012

Send your art to:

chirp@owkids.com OR 10 Lower Spadina Ave., suite 400, Toronto, ON M5V 2Z2

Good luck in the contest!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

Chirp, chickaDEE, and OWL will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this weekend at the Toronto Public Library. Come on out and say hi and get a drawing from some of your favourite magazine illustrators!

Chirp Comic writer and illustrator, Patricia Storms, will be there at 1:00pm on Saturday.

The Vole Brothers writer and illustrator, Roslyn Scwhartz, will be there at 2:00pm.

Saturday is also Owlkids Day at St. Paul’s Cathedral, where you can meet all kinds of comic authors and illustrators and listen to them talk about what it’s like to make comics. Visit the TCAF website for a full list of events. Hope to see you there!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. Good luck in the next one!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

Splash ‘n Boots were just voted the 2012 Canadian Children’s group of the year! Send us a picture of yourself dancing or doing something silly for a chance to win 1 of 5 Splash ‘n Boots DVDs and CDs.

Send your pics to: chirp@owlkids.com. Remember to include your name, age, and address.

Good luck in the contest!

Contest Deadline: May 31st

Send us a drawing of you playing outside for your chance to win a Stella and Sam: Follow Me! DVD. The winning drawings will be posted on www.owlkids.com/chirpfamily

Contest Deadline: May 15th, 2012

Send your art to:

chirp@owkids.com OR 10 Lower Spadina Ave., suite 400, Toronto, ON M5V 2Z2

Good luck in the contest!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

You might have noticed the new comic strip in the April issue of Chirp. Imagine Mary is about a girl who loves to pretend and each month she will be dreaming up a new fantastical adventure. Jeffrey Stewart Timmins writes and draws this strip. To see more of Jeffrey’s cute drawings, check out his website: http://goutwort.ca/blog/

Happy reading!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

If you are in the Toronto area between April 10th and 22nd, and are looking for something fun to do with the family, check out Tiff.kids International Film Festival. Over 130 films from all over the world will be shown at the festival this year!

We were lucky enough to see one of the Tiff feature films already, Canada’s Stella and Sam: Trip to the Moon

In this short film, brother and sister Stella and Sam travel to the Moon with their friend Owen, and their dog Fred. The four characters set out to find the man in the moon, but find an alien instead!. As the troupe makes their way back to Earth they notice that Owen’s favorite stuffed animal, Macaroni, is missing and so their adventure starts all over again. This is a cute episode from the Family channel show Stella and Sam, based on the books by Marie-Louis Gay. The voices are done by children which is refreshing and fun and the animation is beautiful.

Visit: http://tiff.net/tiffkids/festival/schedule/day1 for a complete listing of films and events. Keep in mind that these films are from all over the world, so some of them have English subtitles only.

Happy viewing!

Jackie, Chirp Editor

Easter is here! Celebrate with a classic tale like Here Comes Peter Cottontail, now remastered and out on DVD. This stop-animation movie tells the story of how a young rabbit and his hoppy friends save Easter and deliver colourful eggs to children everywhere. It’s full of cute characters and fun songs that the whole family can sing.

Click here to print out a Peter Cottontail colouring page.

Jackie, Chirp Editor