“I climbed out of bed so my parents wouldn’t hear me. (Grown ups have some strange ideas about monsters under beds.) I knocked on the floorboards, then scrambled back under the covers. I waited nervously. Would a new monster appear? What would he be like? Would his snorting be as cheerful as Gabe’s?” –From “I […]
When my kids were younger, they presented me with the opportunity to learn about the need for a good laugh. With three children busily hollering in the back seat of the car on one of those overscheduled, super-hot days, I had reached my momma patience limit. After my son threw a toy car at my […]
There have been studies on it, some parents are not aware of it, and teachers dread it. Summer slide is the term used to describe the decline in learning among children during summer break. To put it simply, it’s what happens when minds sit idle for too long. A study conducted in 2011 by RAND […]
“A Taste For Dragon: Legends tell that Dragons’ body parts held magical properties. For example, eating the shed skin of the Scadinavian lindworm was believed to increase one’s knowledge of medicina and the natural world, thus allowing one to bypass years of schoolwork!” —Dragons & Monsters When we think of pop-up books, we often think of books expressly […]
It is something of a cultural meme in the U.S., but the summer of 2012 seems to have become the summer of the zombie apocalypse. There have been several news outlets reporting bizarre “zombie-esque” behavior that’s getting citizens arrested. You could easily dismiss these as isolated biting incidents, but it’s fun to mock the latest […]
My Princess Boy is four years old. He likes pretty things. Pink is his favorite color. He plays dress up in girly dresses. He dances like a beautiful ballerina. –From “My Princess Boy” by Cheryl Kilodavis. Not all storybooks arise from a place of fantasy and imagination. Some books are born at the hands of […]
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not […]
My name is Skippyito Friskito, I fear not a single bandito! The SkippyJon Jones children’s book series is about a hyperactive Siamese kitten, Skippyjon Jones, with a fantastic (and hilarious) identity crisis on his hands! His head and ears are too big for his tiny kitten body, and his imagination is too insane for his mama and […]
Ah, felines. The Humane Society of the United States says that over 33 percent of households have a pet cat, and over half of those have more than one cat. That means there is a whopping, mewling, purring 86.4 million “putty tats” with happy homes out there. I’m admittedly a person with a bit of […]
“Minvera von Vyle was a mischievous child who was coddled and spoiled and allowed to run wild. She was peevish and pushy and got her own way by throwing hysterical fits every day.” –E.S. Redmond When my daughter was about 4-years-old, she went through what can only be described as a “difficult stage.” That’s […]