Entertainment
Josh Gad & Family Introduce New Kindle Colorsoft Kids for Summer Fun Reading in Vibrant Hues
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Josh Gad and his family are back on the road once again for the launch of two new Kindle Colorsoft models.
While summer might be winding down, the party at Kindle is just getting started. Gad and his family are road trip ready thanks to the all-new Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Kids. Retailing for $269.99, the 16GB model allows kids the power to read up a storm in colorful hues, painting vivid pictures of fantasy and adventure with the touch of a button.
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Kids (16 GB) With Cover in Fantasy River
A Kindle for kids in color.
The tech’s portable design and 8 weeks of battery life make this Kindle perfect for readers on the go. Plus, you’ve got an endless amount of storage for whatever genre your kid is into. Loving fantasy? Or how about a head-scratching mystery? The Colorsoft Kids has space for it all. If your little ones want to read poolside or while at the beach, the Colorsoft Kids is waterproof too. If you’d like to customize your reading experience, the Colorsoft Kids comes equipped with a unique cover in either Fantasy River or Starlight Reading that you can pick upon purchasing. What’s not to love?
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft 16 GB
A Kindle with a color display.
The seven-inch Kindle Colorsoft is also currently available on Amazon for $249.99. It has all of the features folks love from the og Kindle but in high-contrast color. This colorful tech includes fast page turns, weeks of battery life and access to the Kindle’s extensive book store. No running out of summer reads here. The best part? When you buy the Kindle Colorsoft, you’ll have three months of Kindle Unlimited included for free. You’ll be voraciously reading in no time at all.
Speaking of voracious reading, Gad recently joined the Kindle Kids Backseat Book Crew to encourage kids to read more this summer.
The Frozen actor and self-proclaimed “road trip expert” knows this sentiment well, given he’s always on the go. With summer travel plans made, kids wrangled and bags packed, sometimes the last thing on our minds is curling up with a good book. As a dad of two, Gad knows a thing or two about keeping kids entertained on a road trip. With Kindle’s help, his little ones and children will be able to cultivate a love of reading wherever their travels may take them, thanks to this virtual book club.
<strong>Kindle Paperwhite Kids in Starfish </strong>
A kids Kindle with a starfish-themed cover.
“I remember probably up until the age of 14, dreading reading,” Gad tells Billboard. “It was like work and I didn’t want to do it … and then something clicked, and I fell in love with reading.”
To start your family’s reading journey, you can sign up now at kindlekidsbackseatbookcrew.com. Upon signing up, you will receive a members-only Backseat Book Crew Bundle filled with reading-themed stickers, a “Kindle Kid On Board” bumper sticker, reading recommendations for the summer, a patch and a 10% off promo code for your next Kindle Kids or Kindle Paperwhite Kids purchase on Amazon.com.
Kindle Kids in Unicorn Valley
A kids Kindle with a unicorn-themed cover.
Gad explained that his kids are voracious readers, able to breeze through multiple stories quickly. Who has the space or time to carry six different hardcovers on a road trip? Certainly not Gad. Thus, the beauty of the Kindle. “Having a device like this, which my wife and I joke, is like screen time we can actually get behind, is amazing. Kids sit in the back seat. When we’re on a road trip, they will either read or listen to their books.”
Don’t have a Kindle? Right now, Kindle Kids is available for $129.99 on Amazon in whimsical Ocean Explorer, Space Whale and Unicorn Valley designs. You can also grab the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids in Cyber City and Starfish style for $179.99, also on Amazon.
Kindle’s library features thousands books for children, available at their fingertips. No matter how fast of a reader your little one is, you’ll never run out of reading material. “The kids curate their own selections of authors and books and share with each other … and on average … kids who are using a Kindle will read at least one hour a day that, to me, is like manna from heaven,” Gad says. “Incentivizing kids to read. I’m like, yes, yes, yes, Sign me up.”
<em>The Song of Achilles</em> by Madeline Miller
A hardcover book that reimagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad
I know you’re all dying to know: What does a busy celeb read on his time off on set? The answer might surprise you. “As of late, books that I’ve read that I’ve loved, James by Percival Everett,” the actor shares. “I’m obsessed with Madeleine Miller, who wrote both The Song of Achilles and Cersei … Erik Larson remains one of my favorite authors..In the Garden of Beasts or The Splendid and the Vile are great.”
Interestingly, Gad is also reading a lot of books about World War 2 and fascism to prep for his role in the upcoming project that takes place in that period. “None of these books I would call very entertaining, and none of these books are by choice,” Gad jokes.” As for music he’s currently bumping, Gad says he’s been going through a Kendrick Lamar phase: “My music is really defined right now by my children. So it’s lots of Sabrina (Carpenter), it’s lots of T-Swift, it’s lots of Kendrick, it’s lots of Beyonce … Charlie XCX. It’s it’s all the usual suspects.”
<em>The Splendid and the Vile</em> by Erik Larson
A hardcover book that paints a historical narrative focusing on Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister of Britain.
Watch Josh Gad’s Kindle Kids Backseat Book Crew Campaign below.
Entertainment
Watch Eminem’s Hilarious Outtakes From ‘Happy Gilmore 2’: ‘Put Some Respect on My Name, B—h’
Eminem made a memorable cameo in Happy Gilmore 2, in which he played the role of Donald Jr. Now, Netflix has released the outtakes from his hilarious scenes, which Em posted to Instagram on Friday (Aug. 1).
In the sequel, Slim Shady pays homage to his character’s father — played by late comedian Joe Flaherty in the original film — by shouting “jackass” during Happy Gilmore’s (Adam Sandler) backswing.
Instead of handling Donald Jr. himself, Happy Gilmore instructs his kids in the flick to take care of him, disposing of him in a nearby pond. Unfortunately, Donald Jr. meets his demise while attempting to wrestle with a family of gators.
“Come on, fake a— dinosaur, you ain’t got a d—k,” Em jokes while battling the alligators in the outtakes. “Put some respect on my name, b—h! F—k you, Detroit, what? I get some Advil, I’ll be back in 20 minutes.”
Fans seemed to enjoy seeing Eminem back in the acting world. “That was awesome! Detroit what,” one person wrote in the Instagram comments. “You should get out more man, do more of this kind of stuff. Us stans need MORE!”
Another added in his comment section: “You’re naturally funny! Please release the whole 1 hour video of you in Happy Gilmore!”
Happy Gilmore 2 hit Netflix on July 25. On the The Dan Patrick Show last month, Sandler revealed how he convinced Em to be part of the sequel.
“I love Eminem. I’m friends with Eminem, but I don’t want to bother the man,” he said. “And everybody kept saying, ‘Man, Eminem would be so funny in this part.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to ruin this guy’s time. He’s hanging out. He’s in Detroit. He’s doing his life making records.'”
Eventually, Sandler caved after agreeing that Em would be a perfect fit for the role. “Let me bug Marshall and give him a call and say, ‘Dude, I know it’s a pain in the a—, but it’s pretty funny. You mind shooting out to us for a day?’” To which Eminem obliged and the rest is history.
Watch the outtakes clip below.
Entertainment
Stevie Nicks Postpones 2 Months of Shows Due to Shoulder Injury, Apologizes For ‘Inconvenience’
Stevie Nicks has had a change of plans after suffering a recent injury, with the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman announcing Friday (Aug. 1) that her next two months of shows will be postponed as she heals.
In a note shared to her social media accounts, Nicks’ team wrote, “Due to a recent injury resulting in a fractured shoulder that will require recovery time, Stevie Nicks’ scheduled concerts in August and September will be rescheduled.”
Noting that the star will proceed with her shows in October as scheduled, the message concludes, “Stevie looks forward to seeing everyone soon and apologizes to the fans for this inconvenience.”
Fans with tickets to any of the postponed performances are encouraged to hold onto their seats, as all previously purchased tickets will be honored at their corresponding rescheduled shows. More information can be found at point of purchase.
Nicks had been slated to perform in a handful of cities across the United States and Canada across August and September, including Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Cincinnati and Brooklyn, N.Y. All of the postponed shows have already been rescheduled to new dates in late October, November and the first couple of weeks in December, as listed in the rock star’s post and on her website.
The news of Nicks’ injury comes more than three months after she first announced her solo tour in April, writing at the time that she couldn’t “wait to share these nights with you.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer had also been supposed to tour with Billy Joel this year, but the Piano Man similarly had to cancel all of his 2025 and 2026 performances as he battles a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus. In July, he provided an update on how he’s faring, telling Bill Maher, “I feel good … They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”
Nicks is currently working on a new album, her first in 14 years. The Grammy winner first revealed that she was getting back into the studio as she was being inducted into the Pollstar Hall of Fame.
“I call it the ghost record,” she said in her speech. “It just really kinda happened in the last couple of weeks because of, you know, the [Los Angeles] fires. I was sitting in a hotel for 92 days, and at some point during that last part of the 92 days, I said, ‘You know what? I feel like I’m on the road, but there’s no shows. I’m just sitting here by myself, because everybody else is at the house, doing all the remediations and everything, and it’s just me, sitting here.’ And I thought, ‘You need to go back to work.’ And I did.”
See Nicks’ post below.
Entertainment
7 Best Moments From Dead & Company’s Kickoff Celebrating 60 Years of the Grateful Dead in SF
Much has changed in San Francisco over the last six decades. But all these years later, the music of the Grateful Dead can still draw a significant crowd to Golden Gate Park, where the revered rock band played some of its earliest shows just blocks from the house on 710 Ashbury Street, where its members set up shop in the mid-1960s.
Only some of those founding members remain today — iconic frontman Jerry Garcia died 30 years ago, while bassist Phil Lesh passed away last October — but two surviving members, Bobby Weir and Mickey Hart, brought their decade-old outfit Dead & Company to Golden Gate Park on Friday (Aug. 1) night for the first of three shows celebrating 60 years since the Grateful Dead’s 1965 debut.
Rounded out by John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane, Dead & Company has become a live music juggernaut in its own right since its 2015 formation. In 2023, the year it staged its final tour, Dead & Company grossed $114.7 million across 28 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore; in 2024, it launched its Dead Forever residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere, grossing $131.8 million across 30 shows. (The band continued the residency in 2025 with 18 more concerts.) Along the way, Dead & Company has introduced a new generation of fans to the Dead’s music and subculture — while offering older Deadheads more opportunities to enjoy them.
This cross-generational appeal was on display in Golden Gate Park on Friday, where the jamgrass sensation Billy Strings — who was only 2 when Jerry Garcia died — opened the show for an audience that spanned from kids to old-timers who just might’ve been at the Dead’s earliest shows in the park in the mid-60s.
Here are some of the best moments from the first show of Dead & Company’s three-night run in Golden Gate Park. And when you’re done with that, here’s the complete setlist.
Watch Eminem’s Hilarious Outtakes From ‘Happy Gilmore 2’: ‘Put Some Respect on My Name, B—h’
Stevie Nicks Postpones 2 Months of Shows Due to Shoulder Injury, Apologizes For ‘Inconvenience’
7 Best Moments From Dead & Company’s Kickoff Celebrating 60 Years of the Grateful Dead in SF
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