About Wanda

Wanda Kanten Hartfield was raised in an incredibly happy home in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada. There, she, her two sisters and her mother spent long winter days creating their own entertainment.

Loving children, she became “Miss Wanda,” the host/teacher of Romper Room — a TV show that allowed millions of children to delight in being found in the “Magic Mirror.”

Becoming a mother of two sons, Wanda was able to test her projects and ideas in the real world of her children. She was firm in the belief that if you teach your child to self-entertain, dependence on all electronics is diminished.

Wanda writes for the parent standing in the kitchen at five o'clock, aware that the tablet has been on for a while, and out of ideas.

Her position is an unfashionably direct one. The argument over children's screen time tends to circle: the networks blame the parents, the parents blame the networks, and everyone agrees something ought to be done. She doesn't find that useful. Television and phones are businesses, and businesses are not going to raise anyone's children. The rules are the parent's to set — and rules are easier to keep when there is something waiting on the other side.

So UNPLUG! opens with the case for taking charge of the off switch, then gets on with the part that matters most: one hundred and one things to do instead, from magic tricks and paper folding to kitchen projects, games and costumes. Each one is a way of offering something better than the screen.

The tone throughout is the one she'd use with a friend rather than an audience: plain, practical and a little bit funny. Pick one, hand it to a child, and see where it goes.