Marcelo marks quite a memorable moment in our family's dynamics: For the first time ever, our daughter actually shut us out with her headphones (I realize it's coming relatively late in modern teenage life), demanding that she be able to finish this book right now (it was...
"On a little hill, behind a brown fence, under a big oak tree, is ...
Eight years after making her debut in Betsy Who Cried Wolf!, young shepherd Betsy is back ...
Possibly best known for her award-winning, mega bestselling Ella Enchanted (the book, by the way, is far better than the film, ahem!), Gail Carson Levine is certainly not unfamiliar with rewriting, re-spinning fairy tales. This one – not unlike "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" –...
Francis Vancleave – mostly known as Van – has survived World War II behind a desk working as a typist for the military higher-ups. His skill – something his mother taught him as a teenager on nights his father was away working as a tugboat captain –...
My tween son grabbed the third installment of Kazu Kibuishi's inventive, adventurous series before I could even say 'three,' then lamented at the six months he would have to wait for Book Four, Book Four: "Do I really have to wait so long?" followed with "Can't...
Truly, one of the best ways to keep the kids happily quiet in the car is to share a story ...
Sometimes the simplest things are beyond understanding … exactly because of their simplicity. While resting against a crumbling old wall, Joha happens upon a wishing stick … but everything he wishes for has exactly the opposite results. He gets himself in trouble again and again, eventually...
Since we’ve been greeted the last few mornings with showers, I figure Raindrops was the most appropriate title to post today … This chunky book for little fingers proves to be a most clever adventure in learning colors … not just the basics, but how certain...
I fully admit to being poetically challenged (damaged?). I don't get musicals either. But something about free verse is sooo gloriously addictive – when the rhythm is just right and you can't seem to put the pages down ...
Young Marissa wakes one morning with a toothache – too much candy does have painful consequences! So it's off to the dentist instead of school. She experiences the morning hustle bustle of a busy city, careful to hold her mother's hand tightly. The most "unusual"...
In the book of Exodus in the King James Version of the Bible, Moses first called himself a “stranger in a strange land.” From then on up through Robert A. Heinlein’s 1961 novel of the same phrase, the “stranger in a strange land”-genre has been...
If you're a parent, go get this book and start reading NOW. Even if you don't have a son. While you're ordering, make sure to also include Leonard Sax's latest, Girls on the Edge, another life-changing read. If you're a parent, truly, you owe it...
Mimi's independent ways continue ...
The adorable Mimi is a typical toddler just on the edge of finding her independence, but still needing a bit of assistance now and then from Mommy and Daddy, even Grandma and Grandpa. She's good at throwing her toys in the trash can, but hasn't...
That it has taken me months to write this specific post is NOT an indicator in any way that this book was not informative, entertaining, useful, and often just downright fun. I also 'read' most of it via iPod, which I'd also highly recommend because...
Open the first spread of this warm little wonder – just out as a durably thick board book for the chunkiest little fingers – and marvel at those sleeping, trusting, dreaming faces ...
Here's some flip-flop reading fun in honor of my little nephew's birthday today – which makes him old enough to start preK next month ...
Here's another adorable chunky book for the youngest chubby little hands to hold ...
As the new boy in town, living in a motel with his near-silent father, young Rob Horton literally hasn't unpacked. He keeps a virtual suitcase tightly locked with his deepest feelings and thoughts, most notably memories about his mother who passed away six months ago...
