I was watching a movie with my children when the subject of tornadoes came up. Answering their questions, I realized I was a bit rusty on my knowledge of everything concerning tornadoes, so we decided to do a little research to help us better prepare in the case of a tornado. What exactly is a... Continue Reading →
How would you like to read free books with your kids while helping out others? Sounds great, doesn't it? We Give Books, a Pearson Foundation Initiative, is offering families the chance to do just that. Decide what literary partner campaign you want to read for, pick a book (or more) from their growing selection of online... Continue Reading →
Reading is a very important part of our lives. We are well known at our library, review books for various authors and publishers, and then pick up some more books in our spare time. I'd like to share with you some great reading challenges for children and young adults coming up in 2012. An Illustrated... Continue Reading →
C.D. Shelton attempted to write an inspirational book for children with A Kid's Guide to Being a Winner. I can't help but feel that the author missed the mark with this. Certainly, concepts such as respect, thoughtfulness, gratitude, responsibility, and a positive attitude are beneficial to promoting a peaceful society. However, Shelton has focused on these principles... Continue Reading →
Percy Jackson fans will not be disappointed with Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero. The first series creatively wove a modern young adult fiction tale with Greek mythology. My children waited with excitement for each book to be released. Riordan topped himself with this first book of the second series. Rather than merely continuing with the... Continue Reading →
Ellen Jackson has a series of children's picture books regrading various Earth-based holidays. So, when I ordered a copy of The Winter Solstice years ago, I had great expectations. Instead, I found a book focused solely from a Judeo-Christian perspective, even stating empirically that we now celebrate the winter solstice with Christmas and Hannukah. Most... Continue Reading →
Our family is no stranger to our local library. The librarians know us all by name. We are there quite frequently, checking out books, hanging out, or running in for a quick pick up of books on hold; a quick trip to the library for us is about 20 minutes. So, it seems to surprise... Continue Reading →
Willow, star of Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan's book of the same name, attends an art class in which every student is expected to conform to the demands of the strict and unimaginative art teacher. Determined to embrace her true self, Willow continues on, expressing herself through beautiful and unique artwork, to the disdain of... Continue Reading →
It had been a big day. It had been a hard night. Many parents can identify with the opening pages of Kat Yeh's book, You're Lovable to Me. Long nights and sometimes longer days can often leave parents tired and cranky. However, it's important that we continue to show our children that no matter what, we love... Continue Reading →
After reading It's Not the Stork with my children, I had high hopes for It's So Amazing, the next book in the series by Robie Harris, geared for ages 7 and up. I decided to read the book before sharing it with my children, as I wasn't quite certain what the difference between the two... Continue Reading →
living peacefully with children 