Kids in upper elementary, ages 8 – 12, read middle grade books. I’ve been reading some great ones and have finally gotten a chance to review the best of the newly published middle grade books. (Look at these piles! And these are just my favorites, not everything I’ve read . . .) The Grave Robber’s Apprentice by Allan Stratton Our... [read more ]

Once kids take off in reading, they’re dying to read chapter books. The best part about a beginning chapter book is that your kids are reading, and feel successful. The stories are cute and are accompanied by plenty of illustrations to support the reader. Here are some of my recently published favorites. Kylie Jean chapter book series Written... [read more ]

I’ve been stockpiling books to review, apparently the pile has gotten so far ahead of me that I can’t get all the great books into one post. (Or the post would be a novel.) So, for now, I’ve picked my favorites of my favorite picture books to share and will get to the others soon. A Few Blocks by Cybele Young Older sister, Viola,... [read more ]

Knock, knock! Who’s there? Peas! Peas who? Peas read a new Valentine’s Day picture book. (. . . yeah, I probably need to skip the joke writing . . .) New Valentine’s Day Picture Books: Mr. Prickles A Quill-Fated Love Story by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Scott Magoon Mr. Prickles and Mrs. Pointypants learn a valuable lesson about... [read more ]

I met Sarah Wu when she was Mrs. Q., the anonymous teacher blogger, chronicling her year-long experience eating school lunch. Since then, she’s officially come out and published a book which I know you’ll want to read. “I know that at some point in your life you ate hot lunch at school. . . I have news for you: School lunch has... [read more ]

Becoming a playwright will get your kids writing, it’s a writing activity that engrosses young writers. Kids get to see what they wrote in a live performance and that in itself is very motivating. Steps to Writing a Play 1. Characters Pick the characters in your story. We used Christmas toys to get started. JJ wrote a play about (see photo... [read more ]

As we finish 2011, I thought I’d share the most popular posts of the year and chat with you about 2012. Like last year, January will be all about learning and education topics. And, last year was a dozy for me because of what I wrote in January. If you are new here, you can start with this seemingly innocent post which started an avalanche of... [read more ]

Don’t forget about buying non-fiction books for your kids. Your elementary-aged and middle-grade readers will devour these six titles; and they’ll make great gifts for the upcoming holidays. So, in no particular order, here are my recommended non-fiction gift books. Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey by Bob McCabe Last... [read more ]

Do ipad book apps count as books? Some bibliophiles argue that they don’t, insisting that book apps are more game than book. But, I disagree. I think it’s great that kids can access books in this new way. Sure, there are interactive game-like elements, but in a quality app, these don’t have to be distracting and can add meaning to... [read more ]

Today I invite you to join me in art journaling — and to include your kids in the experience, too. I began to explore art journaling after realizing how much joy I find in creating. Before kids, I used my music and dance to channel my creativity. Now, I found myself missing that creative part of self different than my writing. Beginnings of... [read more ]

Do you love to read about Christmas or Chanukah with your kids? Me, too! Here are my favorite newly published books about each holiday. The Third Gift by Linda Sue Park illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline A boy watches his father gather “tears” of resin from the trees. The tears had many uses, for medicine, flavoring wine, for funerals... [read more ]

I can’t say enough about the importance of building block play. Like me, Learning Materials Workshop knows that children need blocks to explore, invent, represent, design, and imagine. President of Learning Materials Workshop, designer and educator, Karen Hewitt of Vermont, U.S.A., creates play objects for children and designed these most... [read more ]