Education

11 New Picture Books, July 2020

I don’t have as many new picture books to tell you about, and some are from previous months. BUT, these books are great and worth your while to read. 11 New Picture Books, July 2020 Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Luisa Uribe IDENTITY A beautiful, beautiful story that helps a […]

Mentor Texts to Teach Juicy Word Choice in Writing

When we teach children to use rich, wondrous words by filling them up with the sound of many wonderful words. We must read to them them authors who use astounding word choices. We must encourage them to read high quality mentor text picture and chapter books filled with precise, lyrical, sensory words. Katie Wood Ray, […]

New Workbooks and Activity Books for Summer 2020

Need some fun activity book ideas to keep your kids busy and learning? Here’s what’s new! New Workbooks and Activity Books for Summer 2020 The Magical Underwater Activity Book by Mia Undersood These Button Books activity books are Pura Vida Mom’s kids’ FAVORITES. Read facts about the world of real and magical plants and animals […]

Compelling Hero’s Journey Chapter Books

What is the hero’s journey? It’s a story about an imperfect hero who goes on an adventure where he or she learns lessons through mistakes and triumphs, wins some sort of victory, and returns home a different person. Joseph Campbell famously wrote more about this concept in his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. […]

Edge-of-Your-Seat Survival Chapter Books For Kids

If your reader likes survival chapter books that are fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat adventures, I’ve got 27 great recommendations. Because a parent recently told me that her tween daughter only likes survival stories, I wanted to share with you the best of the best. (Incidentally, I think her daughter is not alone; lots of tween kids ages […]

2020 Virtual Summer Camps for Kids

We don’t need anything else virtual BUT, the challenge we have this summer is to keep kids learning and not regressing. To that end, I’ve updated my list with the most note worthy virtual summer camps for kids. I hope this will be helpful in preventing the summer slide and also your kids something to […]

45 Popular Illustrated Chapter Books for Emergent & Middle Grade Readers

Kids enjoy illustrated chapter books, whether they are for emergent readers or middle grade readers. I can’t wait to share these popular book titles that will appeal to readers ages 6 to 12! Illustrations offer picture support for children who are just learning to read as well as provide a sense of frivolity and […]

Free Printable Summer Reading Bingo

Want a fun game to keep your kids reading throughout the summer? I’ve made a FREE PRINTABLE READING BINGO to help motivate more reading. Because this summer is the weirdest of all times. We don’t know if libraries will be open. Kids are missing friends and school and books. They’re on screens way too much. […]