Body Smart Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance Here’s a treat for you this Halloween: a rhyming picture book that will delight your little monsters while you hit the CCSS of Fluency and Phonics & Word Recognition. Frank was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves is simple, spooky, silly fun. Frank’s dancing delights
Art Go Ahead and Judge As I’m weeding the youth collection in my public library, I am finding some gems. I know the old adage is “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, but really? If you had never heard of Little Women before and you saw this audiobook cover, what do
Art Knock, Knock! Trent, one of my preschool pals, couldn’t stop giggling as he told me this gem, “So, a horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, ‘Hey, why the long face?'” Kids love good jokes – and they don’t seem to mind the bad jokes, either! Joke books
Art You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear When it comes to Common Core State Standards, the one that I think is the most fun is Range of Reading. (I know, I know, all the CCSS are fun, but this one is the most fun!) Range of Reading: Informational Text means we want kids to “read and comprehend
Michigan Author Picture Book Update! I want to share the latest in the epic saga of my first published picture book. (Have I mentioned lately that I sold my first picture book to Charlesbridge? And that it is set to hit the shelves in 2015? And that my husband, the award-winning author/illustrator Matt
Early Learning Wake Up, World! “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” – Maya Angelou Books that celebrate diversity are perfect at the beginning of a new school year. We want our
Art Peace It has been twelve years since the terror attacks on 9/11. Most of the students in elementary classrooms today weren’t even born yet in 2001, so how do we commemorate that day with kids? The kindest way I can think of to honor the lives that were lost
Craft and Structure Words with Wings This novel-in-verse is for the daydreamers and for the teachers who want to guide, not squash, those who have such vivid imaginations. Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes is one of those gorgeously-written books you can read aloud to your class for wonderful group discussions and then
Early Learning Remember: The Journey to School Integration Yesterday was the 5oth anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech “I Have a Dream”. School starts for most Michigan students next Tuesday, and I wonder how many of those students realize that there was a time when many school doors were closed
Body Smart Go Out and Play! Go Out and Play! Favorite Outdoor Games from KaBOOM! is like a chocolate-covered peanut butter cup: it combines two good things to make something wonderful, and it is something I cannot resist. The peanut-butter-part: Go Out and Play! is a nonfiction book, so sharing it with your
Uncategorized My First Author Gig Next week I am speaking to a group of elementary teachers about writing and publishing. It’s my first gig speaking as an author to a group of adults. I am 1/3 nervous, 1/3 excited, 1/6 fearful that I will be revealed as an imposter, and the
Body Smart Brothers at Bat Because it is baseball season (go, Tigers!) and because I just found out that I get to go back to New Jersey in September to teach a seminar for preschool and kindergarten teachers, this week I’m featuring a book about baseball written by one of my favorite Jersey girls.
Craft and Structure This Plus That: Life's Little Equations Not only is this week’s picture book a fun way to teach some of the Common Core State Standards in Reading, it is also the best inspiration for your “welcome back to school” classroom bulletin board. This Plus That: Life’s Little Equations written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and
Biography Eleanor, Quiet No More This morning, I sat basking in the presence of an amazingly talented author. Doreen Rappaport was speaking at our local university, and because my husband, Matt Faulkner, will illustrate her biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matt and I were able to sit in on her lecture. I’ve been a
Art Rosie Revere, Engineer I have the best of reasons for posting late this week: I’ve been on Mackinac Island at the Michigan Reading Association conference, being inspired by dedicated educators and loving the slower pace of an island with no automobiles. Now I’m sitting in a white wicker rocking chair with
Biography Celebrate America with "Seed by Seed" What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than with a slice of apple pie and a beautiful picture book about an American legend? Seed by Seed: the Legend and Legacy of John “Appleseed” Chapman written by Esme Raji Codell and illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins is one of
Craft and Structure All the Water in the World Summer in Michigan means swimming in lakes, running through sprinklers, diving into pools. It’s a good time of year to share All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson. Science, poetry, and art swirl together in this gorgeous picture book. “That rain that cascaded
Early Learning A Little Book of Sloth For me, summer reading is all about slowing down, relaxing, and reading for pleasure. To help you unwind, I’m sharing this irresistible book, A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke. Flip through the pages and just try not to squeal at all the sleepy-cute faces and snuggly,
Fluency How I "Found" Out How to Keep my 'Tween Reading My daughter has been a voracious reader since birth, but my son – not so much. Joe reads well, but rarely would he pick up a book for pleasure. It wasn’t until I paid more attention to how he learns that I found how to hook my 12-year-old
Early Learning Farmers' Market Day I am counting the days until my local farmers’ market opens. Until then, I’m glad I found this perfect pick: Farmers’ Market Day written by debut picture-book author Shanda Trent and illustrated by Jane Dippold. This rhyming book is a quick read that can easily be turned into
Body Smart Body Actions There seems to be a direct correlation between the amount of days left in a school year and the amount of time students are able to sit still and focus. Now is the time to grab interesting, interactive, move-your-body books like Body Actions by Shelley Rotner and David
Non-Fiction Readicide I’m forgoing the picture book pick this week because I’ve just finished reading Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher and I need to talk about it with my education peeps. I put off reading Readicide at first because
Art Iggy Peck, Architect Long have I loved Andrea Beaty’s picture book series about a bear named Ted (grab Doctor Ted, Firefighter Ted, and Artist Ted from your local library and prepare to be charmed.) Then, I saw sitting on the shelf by the Ted books this gem, just waiting to tie in
Uncategorized From Bright Idea to Bookshelf I had no idea when I started writing children’s books that it would take me more than twelve years to make my dream come true, or that the path to publication is rarely a straight line. So, on my new page “The Groundhog! From Bright Idea to Bookshelf”, I’
Biography My favorite Earth Day book: Wangari's Trees of Peace Sometimes I fear that I can’t make a real difference in helping the planet, but Wangari’s Trees of Peace: a true story from Africa by Jeanette Winter shows how powerful one person’s actions can be. Wangari Maathai was devastated to see how barren Kenya was after thousands
