Red Reading Boots
Thanks for the Memories, Miss Rumphius!
Today, the day I am writing this column, has been a long one. It started with a 4 a.m. alarm. It is the day Darling Daughter moves to college. In Boston. Which is far from Minnesota and so necessitates a plane ride. During a pandemic. Alone, as her university is not allowing parents on campus during this challenging time. Tell me
Almost Time
I’ve been waiting for Elizabeth Stickney and Gary D. Schmidt’s Almost Time for quite awhile. Seems appropriate — it’s a book about waiting, after all. I read very early drafts of it years ago, so long ago that I can hardly recall details — only that it’s about the making of maple syrup. What I discovered upon reading it in published form is
Storytime in the Time of Coronavirus
I’ve had the great joy these last few weeks of pulling together “distanced” storytimes for a few families who could use a half hour of sitting on the couch and letting someone else entertain and interact with the kids. This has been a stretch for me. Though I’m grateful for all of the apps and platforms that allow
The Rabbit Listened
In my current regular storytime group, I have a little one who insists he has whatever book I’m reading at his house, too. I hold up a book and he jumps in excitement. “I have that book at my house!” he says, while his parents shake their head behind him. I tease him saying, “We must have exactly the same
Heidi Bread
I realized (again) over the winter holidays this year that much of holiday frivolity centers on food. I’d have it no other way, myself, but I must say that after a couple/few weeks of eating grand meals, too many sweets, and grabbing tea/coffee more often than usual, I crave simplicity when I sit down for lunch in the middle
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
“Hey! Unto you a child is born!” I think of this line each and every Christmas Eve when the Christmas story according to Luke’s Gospel is read. If I’m the one doing the reading, and you were to pay close attention, you’d probably notice that I have to take a nano-second pause so as to drop the “Hey!” and
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
In my storytime bag this past month I’ve been carrying The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I don’t always use it, but I like having it with me — I know it will always work. When I pull this book out of the bag, there are smiles, clapping sometimes, and always a chorus of “I have that book!” The Very Hungry
Bee-bim Bop
I’ve been on the storytime circuit this last month as I have a new picture book of my very own. Readers of this column know how much I adore storytime, so wherever I’ve gone to read my book, I’ve asked if I can do a whole storytime, the better to read other picture books, as well. Usually the regular beleaguered
Moving Books
Many momentous things have gone down in our house this summer. #1 Son graduated from college in May, is gainfully employed (locally!) as a software engineer, and has recently moved to an apartment. Darling Daughter started her senior year of high school last week and is busy working on college applications. It makes me a little light headed
Strictly No Elephants
It had been one of those news days…. Actually, there had been a string of such news days — hate-filled headlines, bombastic egos, dangerous threats. The world seemed extra prickly and dangerous. It’s at these times that I especially like reading with kids. Fortunately, I had a reading gig all lined up at an elementary school — it was the week leading
Kids & Books…Books & Kids
Last week I was a teacher-presenter at a young authors and artists conference for a couple of days. Tremendous fun — the kids who come to these things want to be there and want to learn. They’re readers, writers, artists! They are an engaged, engaging, and exuberant lot, which I enjoy immensely. I taught six sessions on bringing conflict to your stories — “Making It Even
The Season Of Styx Malone
Our Books & Bagels book group met a couple of weeks ago to discuss The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon. When I pick the books for this parent-child bookclub, I’ve usually read them in advance and know they will be good for discussion. This one I picked before I’d read it. I’d read reviews and whatnot, of course,
Bim, Bam, Bop … and Oona, an Interview
Poor Oona — she’s always the last duck to the pond…. But then her frog friend Roy reminds her: you’re good with gizmos… And so Oona the duck goes to work in the barn on her gizmos, pouring her creative and determined self into getting to the pond before the faster ducks. Along the way, she learns there
Olive, The Other Reindeer
I’m writing this on the birthday of my dear friend, Molly. She is one of my bestest friends from college days. It’s a big birthday — well worth celebrating, which she’ll do next week with a rollerskating party complete with musical hits from the 1980’s. This is very Molly — the kids immediately said, “Only Molly!” Molly is, quite possibly, the coolest
The Christmas Alphabet
When our kids were small and we were building our Christmas book collection, the night on which we brought out the holiday books that had been in storage since the previous year was always a very special night. With #1 Son, this was but a handful of books at first; but once we added Darling Daughter to the