Open Road's Caribbean with Kids (Open Road's Caribbean with Kids Guide)

You're taking a vacation, and you're taking the kids--and the latter needn't cancel out the former. The Caribbean has long been a vacation favorite, but there's much more to keeping the kids happy than just packing the ubiquitous bathing suit, shovel, and pail. Caribbean With Kids knows which resorts and seaside inns welcome children, have programs planned for them, and provide them with the chance to play with kids their own age, while you and the spouse explore more adult pleasures. The guide also opens the door to activities the whole family can enjoy together, such as hand-feeding hummingbirds in Jamaica, snorkeling with stingrays in Grand Cayman, swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas, and exploring caves in Puerto Rico.

This is, however, not just an entertainment primer; it's a full-fledged guide book. Along with all the child-related activities there are the necessary details on passports and travel agents, when to go and what to pack, transportation around and between the islands, recommended children's books, and island food. There's also a chapter on each island, featuring arrival and departure information, lodgings, shopping, what there is do to, and practical stuff like currency, electricity, Web sites, and tourist boards.

Paris Permenter and John Bigley know kids, know parents, and know the Caribbean. They make it as clear as the Caribbean Sea that a family holiday doesn't have to be an oxymoron. --Stephanie Gold