by Carolyn | Adventure, Character Training, Cultural Diversity, Girls, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Middle-grade, Newbery, Older Elementary, Read Alouds
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin features a young girl, Minli, who lives in a poor village with her parents. Her father tells her stories each night, but her discontented mother says the stories are a waste. In an effort to make her family happy, Minli...
by Carolyn | Book Lists, Early Readers, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade
I was thrilled to be invited to appear on a local show, SA Live, to give children’s book recommendations for various ages! You can watch the recording by clicking the image below (my segment begins at 17:30), or you can read more about the books I chose below....
by Carolyn | Animal books, Board Books, Picture Books, Preschool
Learning the alphabet is a foundational skill for our kids. And ABC books are a great way to teach and solidify the alphabet in your preschooler’s mind. But let’s face it, moms, ABC books can be pretty boring. But alphabet books that tell a story?...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Boys, Character Training, Classics, Cultural Diversity, Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Newbery, Read Alouds
How would you feel if you were 13, left alone in a cabin in the wilderness, responsible to take care of it until your family arrived? That’s the situation Matt finds himself in at the beginning of The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Through...
by Carolyn | Girls, Nature, Parenting, Picture Books, Read Alouds, Recommendations, Toddler
I never had a sister, but I do have three girls, so I’m always excited to find a book about sisters getting along (or learning to do so). And I’ve recently found a delightful series of picture books that do just that! Lori Nichols series about Maple and...
by Carolyn | Animal books, Audiobooks, Book Deals, Classics, Free
Librivox is an amazing organization, and I just want to say thank you to the thousands of volunteers who make it possible! In case you haven’t heard of Librivox, it is a website with thousands of free audiobooks. They are all older books whose copyrights have...
by Carolyn | For fun, Imagination, Older Elementary, Picture Books, Preschool, Read Alouds, Recommendations, Toddler
This fun picture book totally surprised me! I had expected Home by Carson Ellis to be about different types of homes people from around the world from highrises and ranches to igloos and wigwams. And Home does start out that way. Then, just when you think you know...
by Carolyn | Classics, Girls, Middle-grade, Older Elementary
I know I might make some enemies with this review, but I have to tell it like I see it. Or, in this case, read it. I was told this was a classic. I’m inclined to like older books, and I had seen Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh on multiple book lists. I will...
by Carolyn | Animal books, Book Lists, Education, Nature, Older Elementary, Picture Books, Preschool
The ocean is a beautiful and fascinating place for children and adults alike. And there are an amazing number of wonderful books about the ocean that any child would love. I’ve picked a handful of ocean themed books for preschoolers in today’s post....
by Carolyn | Chapter Books, Cultural Diversity, Early Readers
The Ling and Ting books written and illustrated by Grace Lin are one of my new favorite series for early readers. These Level 3 chapter books are a great bridge to build your child’s confidence in reading longer stories. Ling and Ting are Chinese-American...
