My second grader is currently reading “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” It’s one of our favorites — a great young reader chapter book, and one of the few Roald Dahl books that doesn’t creep me out. It’s a funny and wonderful story about a feud between three local farmers — Boggis, Bunce, and Bean — and Mr. Fox, […]
20 Board Books to Read with Your Baby
One of my favorite times of day has always been just before bed, when clean (usually!) kids in fuzzy jammies all pile on the bed or the couch and we read together. We started when they were babies and we still do it today. So I’m over at The Train Driver’s Wife, listing 20 of […]
12 Spring Books for Kids
Spring books for kids are great fun, because they encompass so much. Animal babies and hibernating and bugs and flowers and gardens and rainy days…there’s so much there. Personally, I’m always drawn to books about flowers (maybe because it takes so long before we can plant them here?). And if you need a grown-up book […]
Homemade Christmas Ornaments
We finished reading On the Banks of Plum Creek earlier this fall. It’s one of my favorites in the “Little House” series, and certainly has my favorite Christmas stories of any of the books. There are three Christmas chapters — early on in the book, Mary and Laura agree to give up their Christmas presents so that […]
Barnes & Noble Discovery Weekend
Thanks to Barnes & Noble for sponsoring this post! Barnes & Noble is my happy place. There’s one near us that has a kids’ storytime every Friday morning, so I take whichever kids are home (and whatever friends are around), and we head over where they hear stories and play at the train table and […]
Read Something.
(This post contains affiliate links.) Read something with your child. Not to teach them anything. Not to practice sounding out words or get an early start on learning to read. Just because sometimes there’s no greater feeling than sitting down, with a kid on your lap, looking at pictures and books together. Figuring things out […]
Summer Reading List for Pre-Teen Boys
So a summer reading list ain’t just any reading list. It’s a science, my friend. No one wants anything too ponderous over the summer. You want fun, and adventure, and mystery, and not too much thinking. Or at least, if you’re going to be thinking, you don’t want to realize you’re thinking, you know?
11 Children’s Books About Nature
It’s Nature Week here on the blog! And today — children’s books that will inspire kids to get outdoors and investigate things. But as I was making up this list, I realized that “books about nature” encompasses a lot of stuff. Animals. Oceans. Birds. Bugs. Hiking. Camping. Boating. Eco-friendliness. You could go just about anywhere […]
The Secret to Getting Your Kids to Read What YOU Want
When it comes to reading, my son is a fantasy-loving geek like his mama. During our quiet reading time, right before bed, he’ll reach for Percy Jackson or Harry Potter or The Hobbit. But, as I’ve mentioned before, the kids don’t have required reading lists at school. It’s as though everyone is so excited the kids are reading, that no one’s concentrating on what […]
10 Classic Read-Aloud Chapter Books
A friend and I were talking the other day and we realized — our kids don’t have required reading lists in elementary school. And while I want the kids to read what they like, I also want them to be exposed to books they probably wouldn’t pick on their own. I’ve learned I can get […]
