by Carolyn | Adventure, Audiobooks, Boys, Character Training, Fantasy, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Middle-grade
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes had my kids (and me) hooked from the first pages (or, rather, the first few minutes as we listened to the audiobook). Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the story of Peter, a blind orphan forced into a life of thievery by the...
by Carolyn | Baby, Imagination, Parenting, Picture Books, Preschool, Read Alouds
Reading with a child is such a beautiful way to express love. The time spent, the cuddles: they show your child there is nothing more important in the world to you right now than they are. Even better is when that book is about the love between a parent and child....
by Carolyn | Craft books, For fun, Free, Imagination, Older Elementary, Preschool
(Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I only recommend books that I personally enjoy and believe my readers will as well. This post contains affiliate links. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade
Pioneer and fantasy are not two words I would normally put together. But Melissa Wiley does a charming job melding these two genres in The Prairie Thief. But the fantasy element still surprised me. I knew Wiley had written some of the extension books for the Little...
by Carolyn | Coloring Books, Imagination, Resources, Uncategorized
Ok, I know you are here for recommendations of coloring books for kids. But first I have a question. What do you think of allowing your kids to color or doodle while listening (say to a read aloud or audiobook)? Perhaps your kids could benefit from it more than you...
by Carolyn | Audiobooks, Chapter Books, Classics, Girls, Historical Fiction, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Read Alouds, Recommendations
The Moffats, by Eleanor Estes, is listed on several wonderful book lists for children. My oldest daughter has enjoyed this book, along with the rest of the series, but I had never read it. I thought it was about time to rectify this omission. The Moffats is the first...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Character Training, Girls, Historical Fiction, Imagination, Middle School, Middle-grade, Mystery, Read Alouds, Scary Stories
How do you feel about scary stories for kids? When I was a kid, Goosebumps was a popular series, but, honestly, Nancy Drew was too suspenseful for me! On the other hand, my daughter loves “scary” books (at the same age that I couldn’t handle them)....
by Carolyn | Book Lists, Education, For fun, Imagination, Recommendations
This is the third post in a series on books that inspire creativity in kids. So far, we’ve looked at artistic creativity and inventive creativity. This post will focus on written creativity: the desire to create stories. These stories could be verbal, written,...
by Carolyn | Book Lists, Boys, Education, Imagination, Middle-grade, Nonfiction, Older Elementary, Picture Books, Resources
Last week, we looked at artistic creativity. This week, I want to talk about a different set of books that inspire creativity in kids, specifically, inventive creativity. Ok, maybe I just made up that term, but what I’m talking about is the drive to invent or...
by Carolyn | Book Lists, Education, For fun, Imagination, Recommendations
Most of us love to see creativity in our kids (as long as it’s not expressed in Sharpie on the living room wall). Encouraging creativity is a great way to boost our children’s self-esteem, independence, and perseverance. And let’s face it, creativity...
