March: Book One by John Lewis My rating: 5 of 5 stars I just finished this series, and I feel like it gave me an understanding of the Civil Rights movement that I missed in my US history classes. John Lewis’ story makes the struggle for equal rights personal, and the graphic novel format is […]

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas My rating: 5 of 5 stars Angie Thomas was one of the guest speakers at the Louisiana/Mississippi SCBWI KidLit conference this February, so I heard about her book in emails for weeks. I looked at the title, and the jacket, and thought, “This is probably a good book, […]

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Fantastic. This book was not like anything else I’ve ever read. The premise of a slave being raised as the subject of an experiment in the nature of humanity and race was so interesting to consider. Anderson succeeds in pointing out the hypocrisy […]

Re-opening the blog attempt #… yeah, I don’t know either. The whole keeping-up-frequent-posts-with-no-home-internet thing is a bit of a drag.  It requires discipline.  Which I sometimes lack. But here goes again, anyway. I went to my first writer’s conference this weekend.  The Louisiana-Mississippi region of SCBWI held its first ever KidLit conference Saturday at Sacred […]

Dangerous! by Tim Warnes My rating: 5 of 5 stars I loved this book. I think Isaac loves it even more. Sweet little mole is labeling everything…until he meets something lumpy, and bumpy, which doesn’t fit into just one label. The conflict which ensues, and the resolution, are touching. And the labels made me giggle. […]

Your Fantastic Elastic Brain Stretch It, Shape It by JoAnn Deak My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was a good introduction for the girls to what the brain does. I like its emphasis on the elasticity of the brain (though it’s possibly over-done…but maybe it’s worth repeating so many times) and the fact that […]

A Good Day by Kevin Henkes My rating: 5 of 5 stars I love Kevin Henkes’ work. This is a delightful little book, short enough for Isaac (age 2) to listen to over and over again. It’s uplifting, and (gently) sends a message that I want my kids to learn – a bad day will […]

On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne My rating: 5 of 5 stars Beautiful and inspiring. A great introduction to the life of Albert Einstein with lovely illustrations. Totally engaging for my 5- and 7-year-old, and led to more detailed questions from my 9-year-old. Hard topics – his work […]

There’s a Wolf at the Door by Zoe B. Alley My rating: 5 of 5 stars Repeat, repeat, repeat library check-out for us. I really should buy this book. (Christmas! Hint! Hint!) Some of the comic-book style dialogue gets annoying to read out loud, but these reworkings of five classic wolf-centered fairy tales are funny […]