by Carolyn | Girls, Graphic Novel, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade, Newbery, Older Elementary
There I was, at the public library, perusing the juvenile biographies. I was Looking for the 26 Fairmont Avenue books by Tommie de Paula when something else caught my eye. El Deafo. It wasn’t just the bright blue cover or the interesting title. I knew El Deafo...
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 | 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 | 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 | Audiobooks, Classics, Girls, Imagination, Older Elementary, Read Alouds
We listened to Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary as an audiobook, and let’s just say I was enchanted along with my kids by this story. Emily Bartlett lives on a farm in a small Oregon town in the 1920’s. She longs for a library, like the...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Girls, Historical Fiction, Middle-grade, Mystery, Recommendations, Steampunk
Let me just say, if you have girls, go get this book! When I first heard the premise for The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, I was intrigued. Jordan Stratford has taken two historical figures (plus a few others), squashed their timeline and given them a fictional...
by Carolyn | Book Lists, Boys, Girls, Imagination, Older Elementary, Poetry, Read Alouds
It’s easy to neglect reading our kids poetry. But poetry can give our children an appreciation for words, rhythms, sounds and meaning like nothing else. Poems show you the world with a new view. They can be endearing, funny, or breathtaking; the best poems...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Discussion Guide, Dystopian Future, Girls, Highschool, Movies, Young Adult
The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth is a thrilling narrative of a 16 year-old girl and her battle for self-identity. Told in a first-person present-tense voice, the character Beatrice Prior is reminiscent of Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games. However, unlike...
by Carolyn | Character Training, Education, Girls, Picture Books
We all want to be teaching our kids character traits like patience, consideration, and trustworthiness. But sometimes helping kids understand what those words really mean can be a challenge. Learning a meaning in context helps kids grasp the abstract. This book can...
