I begin most days by reading the news. I read our local paper and a bit of national ones. I like to “keep up,” as us info junkies say. When I’m involved in something that prohibits my ability to read, I’ll listen to the news. I especially enjoy The New York Times online version’s invitation […]
This year my sweet wife found two little great-horned owl ornaments at a local florist shop. We were thrilled. We are often visited by two huge great-horned owls in the late evening here in Louisville, KY.
There are dozens of ways to say “yes” or “no,” but they aren’t just different looking, actually they are all subtly different in meaning.
It’s never too early to begin reading to and talking with a child. Language and communication skills are acquired from birth. Read on.
Toys are the tools children use to learn about their world. Books can diversity playtime by introducing other cultures to a child’s frame of reference.
Children taught to ask questions enter school ready to learn.
Kids are home from school (still) and the vastness of summertime stretches before us filling our vision of what that once meant, and how, due to the pandemic and to overdue showcased racial inequalities in our lives, those possibilities have forever changed. I recently read, with a strong measure of personal embarrassment and regret, a book […]
This week, my hometown newspaper published a list of 100 books to enjoy during social distancing, which reminded me of many similar lists that have been published recently for parents, for new graduates, and for kids. The Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards lists of books preferred by kids are among my favorites. (I featured them in my May 21, 2020, blog.) […]
I’ve just finished reading one of 10 essays from the 2012 book When I Was a Child I Read Books, by Marilynne Robinson. It was a no brainer for a literacy teacher, teacher educator and a contributor to a children’s library like myself to be drawn to a book with this title. However, I received this […]
These days there are so many ways for us to dismiss a religious, political, racial or economic individual or group as not fitting, in one way or another, and thus not seen as any kind of asset to our lives. All my life, I’ve heard that children can be so cruel and petty to each other. […]
