by Carolyn Leiloglou | Autobiography, Chapter Books, Cultural Diversity, Girls, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Older Elementary, Read Alouds
Let me introduce you to a modern-day Ramona. I have totally fallen for the quirky, honest, ambitious Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire by Susan Tan. The Story Cilla Lee-Jenkins is certain that she is destined for literary greatness. What she’s not...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Education, Older Elementary, Picture Books, Preschool, Read Alouds
I remember the day my daughter realized homeschooling meant she would never ride the big yellow bus. It wasn’t that she saw other kids on our street joyfully piling in. Most of our neighbors were in their eighties. We had the only school-aged kids on the block....
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Adventure, Fantasy, Girls, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Magical Realism, Middle School, Middle-grade, Parenting
Orphan Island is a beautiful, poignant story for kids on the verge of leaving childhood. My older two kids are about the same age my brother and I were when we started sharing book recommendations back and forth (which we still do to this day). So it’s no...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Animal books, Book Lists, Fantasy, For fun, Imagination, Picture Books, Poetry, Read Alouds, Recommendations
I don’t know how it started, but there has been a surplus of funny picture books with dragons published in the last few years. And when I say funny, I mean hilarious. I literally can’t read some of these without laughing out loud. If you have a child who...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Adventure, Boys, Character Training, Fantasy, Girls, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Magical Realism, Middle School, Middle-grade, Scary Stories
Sometimes, when you have been anticipating a new book in a series, it won’t measure up. Well, I’m happy to say that’s not the case with The Door Before. It was stunning. The Door Before surprised me in multiple ways. First of all, it’s not just...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Audiobooks
I’ve never seen such a huge sale on children’s audiobooks as the one Audible is having now! It took me all morning to sort through the 1,000 books on sale to bring you the 100 books I thought were the very best. If you have any questions about a specific...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Cultural Diversity, Education, Girls, Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Middle-grade, Recommendations
I loved Esperanza Rising. I love being surprised by a book, and this one surprised me. I know I had heard some good reviews, but I had also read some critical ones. I’m not sure what I expected, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did (I finished...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Boys, Character Training, Cultural Diversity, Older Elementary, Parenting, Picture Books, Recommendations
A Bike Like Sergio’s by Maribeth Boelts is a rare book. It takes the reader through both the thoughts and feelings of doing something wrong and then making it right. It allows kids to vicariously experience a tempting situation and shows them a path for doing...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | For fun, Parenting, Reading, Recommendations, Resources
It’s summer reading program time again! I always get excited about summer reading programs, especially when the rewards are more books! We all want to avoid the summer slump, but remember, our goal is to get your kids excited about reading. If these contests do...
by Carolyn Leiloglou | Baby, Book Lists, Parenting, Picture Books
There’s nothing like a book to prepare a child for new experiences. And if your child is getting ready to become a big brother or a big sister for the first time, these books are a fabulous way to prepare them to welcome a new baby. There are funny books, sweet...
