Last night at dinner, Katherine quieted the group, telling us all that she had a special announcement. “I got a new library card today. I lost my old one!” And then at bed time as we talked about our favorite parts of the day, Katherine said, “Getting my library card!” And then when I asked […]
Read moreA lot of my time as a Cybils panelist was spent discussing exactly what it means for a book to be an Easy Reader. There is such a huge range of books that are published under this descriptor. Just a quick glance at the Cybils’ Short List of Easy Readers will show you what I […]
Read more“Few children learn to love books by themselves. Someone has to lure them into the wonderful world of the written word; someone has to show them the way.” -Orville Prescott, A Father Reads to His Children
Read moreOne of the best parts of our recent trip to Richmond was our visit to bbgb, an absolutely fantastic children’s book store. I have two wonderful literary friends who live in Richmond and bbgb seemed like the perfect place to re-connect. Meg Medina (far left) is the author of Milagros: Girl from Away and Tia […]
Read moreWe just returned from four days in Richmond, Virginia. In this town, Rob and I graduated from college, lived as newlyweds and brought both our babies home for the first time. When we left nearly five years ago, we promised to come back again and again. After one quick visit, the winter after we […]
Read moreI found this note on Katherine’s desk tonight. It reads “I love myself.” Could a mother ask for anything more?
Read moreA few weeks ago I wrote a post about how simple it really can be to help your child become a reader. I got a great response from that post and was reminded again this week of how important this message is. I evaluated a little girl who is reading far below grade level. Her parents read […]
Read moreThe 2011 Cybils have been revealed! I am so proud to have been part of the amazing panel who chose Mo Willems, I Broke My Trunk as the Easy Reader winner and Have Fun Anna Hibiscus as the Early Chapter Book winner. There are summaries of each of these books and short posts about why we […]
Read moreA few years ago, I realized that pets were called pets because they liked to be pet. And when I a say a few years ago, I mean when I was in my 30s. I felt quite silly as it now seems so obvious. And then last night, I found a whole new reason to […]
Read moreBoth of my girls were huge Mama’s Girls, until they weren’t. Caroline and Rob began to bond a few years back over a shared love of the Yankees. While Caroline still thinks I’m pretty great, there are nights that she nearly knocks me over, running past me to greet Rob when he arrives home from […]
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