…and home of Honeybunch! This charming online and brick & mortar shop is the next stop in our tour of Little Hero Capes retailers. Here are a few of the goodies that stock their virtual and physical shelves:

Clockwise: Bath Cupcakes, Dragon Tail dress-Up Costume, Blue Knit Hooded Cardigan, Baby Barbells,  Pink Car Seat Cover, Tree House

Honeybunch, info@honey-bunch.com, honey-bunch.com
3885 Bloor St. W., Toronto, ON M9B 1L6

1. Batman, 2. Buzz Lightyear pumpkin, 3. Spiderman – Extreme, 4. Harry Potter Pumpkin, 5. Superman, 6. batman pumpkin, 7. Mighty Mouse, 8. Buzz Lightyear, 9. _Harry Potter Pumpkin, 10. Einstein, 11. Spider-man Pumpkin, 12. 2007 Wonder Woman, 13. Spidey-O-Lantern, 14. Batman pumpkin dark, 15. Superman Pumpkin

A collective sigh of relief is being breathed around Little Hero Headquarters where Allison is icing her ’sewer’s wrist’ and recovering from a very busy and satisfying Halloween season. Thank you to the many customers who ordered Little Hero Capes and Gear for their little hero’s Halloween costumes!

It’s always fun to see our capes soar around the globe and so we’ve decided to propose a little trade – email us a photograph of your trick-or-treater dressed in their Little Hero outfits and we’ll enter your name into a drawing for a free cape, mask and power cuffs of your choice! (It can never hurt to have a spare – or perhaps you know another lucky little kid who needs their own!)

Please read the fine print:

Only one photo/entry per child, please. Photos must be emailed to Allison@LittleHeroCapes.com by Saturday, November 28th at 11:59 p.m. EST. One winner will be drawn at random. We would love to share your photo here on the Little Hero’s Blog – however, if you would prefer not to share your photos please let us know in your entry email.

1. Tiger cub!, 2. our pet, 3. Bunny Nose, 4. dad’s old dog, 5. Puppy Dog, 6. bemused hamster, 7. Has the cat got your tongue ?, 8. goldfishes

Kindness is an attainable super power.

Teaching children kindness and compassion for animals is one way to foster this attribute. Even if you don’t have pets or access to animals in your everyday life, books are a great way to plant the seeds of kindness. Humane education began with the humane movement of the late 1800s, during which time Anna Sewell’s classic of humane animal treatment, Black Beauty, was published. While a great read for older kids, the National Humane Education Society offers the following book recommendations for kids Pre-K to 2nd grade.

Books about Companion Animals & Pets

101 Dalmations Sticker Book by the Disney Company

Mittens the Kitten by Nancy Parent

Puppies are Like That by Jan Pfloog

Widget by Lyn Rossiter McFarland

Books about Farmed Animals

Buzzzzz Said the Bee by Wendy Lewison, Hans Wilhelm

Mrs. Goose’s Baby by Charlotte Voake

Oink! Moo! How Do You Do? by Grace Maccarone, Hans Wilhelm

Books about Wild Animals

Caterpillar Dance by Will Grace, Scott McBee

Does Anyone Know Where a Hermit Crab Goes? by Michael Glaser

Guess Who? by Ann Willis, Yvette Banek

Kersplatypus by Susan K. Mitchell

Little Turtle’s Big Adventure by David Harrison, J.P. Miller

Nature Sticker Stories: Bugs by Sonja Lamut

Over in the Meadow: Book of Colors and Counting by Doug Bowles

Ten in the Meadow by John Butler

The Bugs Go Marching by Rozanne Lanczak Williams

The House I’ll Build For The Wrens by Shirley Neitzel

Time-To-Discover Series: Snakes Live in Grass by Melvin and Gilda Berger

Miscellaneous Titles

Animal Doctors: What Do They Do? by Carla Greene

My First Animals by Bettina Paterson

What am I? by Rose Williams, Fred Apps

Can you imagine a cake better suited to a superhero birthday party? This Sunny Day Rainbow Cake will look right at home in a room filled with kids in their colorful Little Hero Capes. These gorgeous pictures and a brilliant tutorial come to you courtesy of Aleta Meadowlark as posted on her blog Omnomicon. Aleta is a self-described “25-year-old woman on a diet with no kids” who created this desert to fit in with her Weight Watcher’s program. While it’s unlikely your kids are following Aleta’s diet, her recipe modifications do mean less sugar and less fat – which in general is a good thing.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a… No, wait – it is a bird! Check out these fantastic handmade bird cake toppers by Gifts Define. They are available in dozens of hues, literally every color of the rainbow.

Feel inspired to follow Jemma’s example of showing someone you care with a simple and comforting cookie? This easy to follow recipe is a favorite and makes an amazing chocolate chip cookie!

INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons hot water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

This adorable online shop was “born of a love of online shopping, stay at home mum-ism, the constant quest for unique children’s clothes and toys” and features a wonderful array of handcrafted and indie-designed wares for children. Your tour guides and shop namesakes are Monkeytail (a sock monkey) and his pal Wellington (a little dragon in yellow rain boots or “wellies”) who guide you through their happy collection of clothing, accessories, toys, books, music, party supplies and room decor. Here’s a sampling of what awaits you at MT&W:

Top to Bottom: Yellow & Raspberry Pettiskirt, Sock Monkeys, Official Toothfairy Kit, Fairy Door, Orange & Yellow Pettiskirt, What’s A Dragon Suitcase

“We have scoured every available magazine, online shop, blog and directory, every children’s store between here and Timbuktu (I even accosted random people on the street) in order to unearth many unique and original products for your children, and mine to enjoy… Yes, you will find some of the popular staples here. But you will also find rare gems and one off designer pieces that will set your children apart from the rest in the playground. I’ve tried to select products that stay true to the motto “Celebrating Kids Being Kids”. Its all about playing, great parties, funky and practical clothes and accessories, and not growing up too fast!” -Vicki, Owner of MT&W

…some from our planet, some from outer space, all from the mighty depths of our imagination. Now you and your kiddo can create your own superhero sidekicks, alien allies and supervillains – out of paper! Readymech is an online site that offers free, flatpack toys for you to print and build. They are designed to fit on an 8.5″x11″ page and printed with any printer. To tackle this project you’ll need double-sided tape, thick matte paper and approximately 10-15 minutes to construct your creation. Have fun!

I’d like to introduce you to Orren Fox, a twelve year old raising a flock of 30 chickens and working to raise $500. for Heifer International, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief. Since 1944, Heifer has helped 8.5 million people in more than 125 countries.

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks.
A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year – plenty to eat, share or sell. With Heifer recipients’ commitment to pass on the offspring and training, the exponential impact of adding chickens to communities in poverty is truly a model that helps end hunger and poverty.

Orren traveled with his family to Africa and knows the impact this will have on kids his age. Dedicated to ethical eating, he’s designed a T-shirt that reads “Free Range Kid” and has been selling them at the local Farmers Market in Newburyport MA. Learn more about this kid hero on his blog or follow him on Twitter!

I recently wrote about the earliest store-bought Halloween costume I can remember owning. Growing up, we typically we made our costumes or cobbled them together from my dad’s old clothes – which meant we we clowns and hobos many times over. Money was usually tight and I can only imagine that I must have begged mercilessly for my mother to allow me to buy one of the boxed costumes at the drugstore.

I chose Fred Flinstone. The costume consisted of a printed plastic sheath you wore like a hospital gown and a hard plastic mask that made your face sweat (not to mention the elastic band that cut into your ears). This was the manufactured costume norm in the 1970s. Don’t believe me? See the ad below. I’m pretty sure that get-up was a one time only deal – not to repeated (primarily because of comfort issues!)

Needless to say, I never had a costume quite as fantastic as a handmade Little Hero Cape but I do have fun memories of dressing up. So, a pre-Halloween request – if you’re kiddo is wearing a Little Hero Cape for trick-or-treating this year – take pictures! We’ll be asking for them in November…and who knows, you might just win something worthy of a superhero.

In a minor to salute to vintage costumes and more of a celebration of the kids who wore them, I offer you the following images from the creative folks at Flickr.com.

1. costumed child with trick dog, 2. David L. Fox in Indian costume, 3. My George Harrison costume, 4. superboy, 5. Halloween #23, 6. high ten, 7. Halloween 1968, 8. meow: halloween 1970, 9. Star Wars, 10. Halloween #25, 11. Halloween #5, 12. dracula and ?