We love our ParentsTogether families—here are our gifts to you!

We’ve all been through a lot this past year—and yet, we’ve been able to accomplish so much together!

• We launched video projects on Instagram and TikTok, creating communities of nearly 250,000 parents and caregivers (be sure to join us there if you don’t already)!
• Together, we made the internet safer for all our kids! Thanks to your participation in our campaigns:
  • Snapchat began scanning for and reporting videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
  • Amazon Web Services increased CSAM reporting over 500%
  • Twitter created a new reporting tool for users to report CSAM
  • More people are aware of the dangers of social media, from efforts like bringing the “Instagrinch” to Congress to call for regulation around how the platform harms kids, and families like yours sharing our helpful explainers and scripts for talking to kids.
• We also all worked together to bring critical support to families in need:
  • We reached 3.5 MILLION people on TikTok with content about the expanded child tax credit and generated over 33,000 petition signatures urging Congress to keep child checks going.
  • Hundreds of thousands of ParentsTogether members signed petitions, sent letters, posted on social media, and made calls to demand their Representatives in Congress provide relief for families struggling right now.
  • Thousands of us took surveys and told our stories, expressing the needs our families had and the policies that would help us.
  • These efforts helped get the American Rescue Plan passed, which included monthly child checks of up to $300 per month. It also gave families another stimulus check, expanded unemployment, and MUCH more!
  • We’re also still making our voices heard with emails, calls, and social sharing in support of getting the Build Back Better Act passed, which will extend much-needed support with funding and programs that will benefit families across the county!

From our family at ParentsTogether to yours, thank you so much for joining us on this journey, learning, laughing, and taking important action to make the world a better place for ALL kids along the way!

To show our appreciation, we’ve put together a collection of fun FREE gifts to say thanks—and introduce some of the folks behind ParentsTogether! We hope these help your family bring a warm close to this year, and look ahead to more connection, fun, and joy to the year ahead.

Simply scroll, or click below to find:

• Journaling pages for the whole family, for recording memories, reflecting on the past year, and looking ahead to the year to come
• A playlist of our team’s favorite family-friendly songs to inspire an upbeat new year
• Cards containing over 100 questions for kids, to help build connection and prompt fun conversations
• An art print of our top-selling “Parenting Promise” design
• A list of our favorite inclusive books for kids to inspire great reading time together
• A special coupon code for a discount on our popular merch—show off your support and your family values with our great selection of t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, totes, and more!
• BONUS: A free copy of the parenting book Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child’s Potential, Fulfilling Society’s Promise by bestselling author Dana Suskind, MD (while supplies last!)

Family journaling pages

Family-friendly playlist

Our ParentsTogether family assembled this playlist of our favorite songs to help you celebrate the new year! Just click “play” and listen while you check out the reasons each team member chose their contribution—from inspiring a fabulous, positive mood to kicking off a family dance party, there’s a song here for every occasion!

And don’t forget to check out which members of our team added each song—and why!—right here.

Questions for kids

The “parenting promise”

Coupon code

Best kids’ books

It’s always a great time to add to your kid’s library, especially since reading with kids is associated with so many amazing benefits. Our team has assembled a list of our favorites for story time with kids of all ages, featuring many diverse authors and characters and inclusive storylines. Read about our recs below, and see the whole list on Amazon here! (Note that purchases made through our links won’t cost you any extra, but a percentage will go back to support our non-profit—thank you!)

WHO	BOOK	AGES	WHY WE LOVE IT
Ailen, Deputy Director	Hello, Universe	8-12	My kids and I loved reading this book together. The story is really exciting (it’s a rescue mission!) and the characters are diverse across several dimensions. It’s also pretty funny.
Pulin, Director of Campaigns	Super Satya Saves the Day	3-10	Our son’s name is Satya so of course we had to get this book about a girl with the same name who wants to be brave in her own community!
Mckenna, Digital Content Lead	Haroun and the Sea of Stories	8+	This is a children’s fantasy novel about a boy on a journey to restore his father’s gift of storytelling. It’s perfect to read together as a family, or for kids with at least a 6th grade reading level to tackle on their own!
Robyn, Director of Content	Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World	6+	The short stories, colorful illustrations, and empowering messages make this a great book to read with kids of all ages (and make it pretty easy to allow “Just one more!” at bedtime). This is the third book in the series, and I highly recommend them all!
Bethany, Co-Director	Dory Phantasmagory Series	4+	The magical realism in these stories is a delight for kids and parents alike. It reminds me of the Simpsons, in that kids love them, but there’s enough humor and knowing nods to parents to keep us engaged, too.
Emilyanne, Digital Content Specialist	Let’s Find Momo Outdoors!	0-3	My niece is a year and a half and absolutely loves this dog themed hide and seek book (her first word was dog). It has beautiful photos with fun hide and seek prompts for kids to find. Each new scene includes the dog, Momo, hiding which is really cute but also household items so little kids can learn new words.
Amanda, Online Safety Team	Power to the Princess: 15 Favorite Fairytales Retold with Girl Power	5-8	Princess culture came hard for our girls when school started again, and I’ve loved reading them these princess stories that feature smart, empowered princesses, most of whom are people of color. The stories also uplift models of queer love, interracial love, platonic friendship instead of romantic love, and self-love.
Deseyre, Operations Manager	Brave. Black. First: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World	8-12	This book tells the stories of more than 50 Black Women who were the first to accomplish a pursuit or they were the first to navigate a new situation (from Serena Williams to Ruby Bridges). As a parent to a young black daughter, it is important to me for her to see that with dedication and ambition…she has the ability to accomplish absolutely anything she sets her mind toward. Most importantly, the excellence she sees in this book is representative of the identities she holds.
PaKou, Digital Advocacy, Growth & Innovation Campaigner	A Different Pond	6-8	A 2018 Caldecott Honor Book that Kirkus Reviews calls “a must-read for our times,” A Different Pond is an unforgettable story about a simple event – a long-ago fishing trip. As a young boy, Bao and his father awoke early, hours before his father’s long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. A successful catch meant a fed family. Between hope-filled casts, Bao’s father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam.
Shelby, Campaign Director	Young, Gifted, and Black	8+	With a title that references the late Lorraine Hansberry’s phrase “young, gifted and black,” this exuberant collected biography is one readers won’t want to miss. Students are invited to explore one and two-page vignettes of 52 compelling figures in Black culture worldwide. Each profile recounts their beginnings and marvelous feats as scientists, writers, athletes, artists, or activists, both past and present.

Need more book ideas? Check out our other handy book lists:

• Children’s books that feature LGBTQ+ and nonbinary families
• Kids’ books highlighting Native American culture and stories
• Our favorite books for beginning readers
• Books for babies and preschoolers that teach about diversity

And speaking of books…

Get your free copy—mailed to you!— of Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child’s Potential, Fulfilling Society’s Promise

Thanks again so much for being here with us throughout the year! Please reach out to us via email at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @parentstogether if you have questions or suggestions for content that would be helpful for your family. And please consider making a donation to our organization if you’re able. We’re all in this together—and we’re so grateful that you’re here. Happy new year!