We’re thrilled to have Jessica Almy of Vegbooks guest posting! She’s the queen of kids’ book reviews from a vegetarian perspective, and has a four year-old daughter, so she’s always reading the latest and best books. Plus she has hand-on experience in the car because her family rocks the road trip. She’s also got a great Facebook page.

With 101 ways to electronically entertain kids on a road trip, Road Trips for Families suggests re-introducing the window as an alternate “low tech” way to unplug, engage, and even bond.

Back in the day, parents handed fussy toddlers their keys, a teething toy or maybe a rattle. Now, we hand over the iPhone. The most common question asked by parents who look for travel advice isn’t about what highway to travel or even about kid-friendly luggage. It’s about iPhone apps. So, we decided to do some research and let our fingers do the downloading as we tried out some of the top contenders and a few more obscure apps. Here are our recommendations for the apps worth downloading. Let the happy road trips begin!

I love Common Sense Media. I’m a slacker mom, but I don’t want my daughter watching inappropriate TV or movies. And, being a slacker, I’m definately not volunteering to pre-screen every tween movie. That’s where Common Sense Media comes in.

I admit when Judy Colbert contacted me and told me about her book on temper tantrums I was skeptical. But, I was also interested. After all, who hasn’t had a temper tantrum on a road trip? I’m not even going to pretend I haven’t had a few world class tantrums in the car.

With Guitar Hero: World Tour Mobile, you can take all the fun cross country. With 15 all new tracks plus a bonus song every month, you have plenty to practice.

These games currently reign at #1 in our family for best-ever car games. The basic premise is that on your turn you answer a question about whether you’d rather eat super gross item A or B, or whether you’d rather live without feet or hands, that sort of thing. The questions are fun and thought provoking, and you learn a lot about the people in the car with you.