Halloween seems to get bigger every year. While I’m saddened to see the free-range trick-or-treating of my childhood wane, I still love the imagination with which so many young people (and their parents!) embrace the season. And, of course, in my household full of black cats, I need to put up a few appropriate decorations. … Continue reading
The biggest pumpkin ever grown in Michigan weighed in at over 2000 pounds. It must have been a pumpkin like that that inspired Wendell Minor’s How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? This is a story to delight and inspire any pumpkin lover’s imagination. Minor starts with an image of a typical festival-winning giant pumpkin, then … Continue reading
Every October, I look forward to the Halloween picture book display at my local bookstore, hoping to find something new to tickle my imagination. This year did not disappoint. This year I discovered Ginny Goblin. Ginny is the star of Ginny Goblin is Not Allowed to Open This Box, a delightful tale of a curious … Continue reading
Between work, play, and visiting family, I’ve spent a lot of time in airports this summer. Occasionally I’ve browsed in the many shops designed to help us survive hours of layovers. In one of those browsing moments I came across a slim volume titled Before They Were Our Mothers: Voices of Women Born Before Rosie … Continue reading
Recently I had a lovely lunch with a relative who shall remain nameless (but he knows who he is!). We talked about many things, including the stunning wildlife photography he has been doing since his retirement. He is becoming particularly adept at photographing birds in flight, with amazing images ranging from dueling goldfinches to bald … Continue reading
It is a big mistake to think picture books are for young children. Certainly that is the case with Samantha Berger’s What If. . . . Illustrated in glorious variety by Mike Curato, What If… is a celebration of imagination that can inspire young and old. The story is a simple one, told by a … Continue reading
What happens to a little girl who wants to build things if her initial efforts are met with laughter? If the girl is Rosie, in Andrea Beaty’s delightful Rosie Revere Engineer, she sits quietly in school, never saying a word, then late a night, where no one can see, she sets to work. Alone in … Continue reading
As I said last week, it has been quite a summer. The biggest adventure of the season was my trip to Antofagasta, Chile to meet with the wonderful teachers of the Tarpuq project. I thoroughly enjoyed my meetings there—including the chance to speak to an audience listening to a translation through headphones, and working with … Continue reading
When I was a little girl I was entranced by the story of King Tut. Before I could read independently, I begged my father to read my All About Archeology book over and over (and over!). I loved picturing the gold glinting in the just-opened tomb, but almost as fascinating were the questions raised by … Continue reading
It’s July, and at least in the U.S., that means thoughts turn to summer vacation, beaches and flip flops. While for many of us—and certainly in Michigan—flip flops are typically worn only in the warmest times of the years, in many parts of the world they may be the only shoes available to impoverished people. … Continue reading
