I checked out Sallie Bee Writes a Thank-You Note by Courtney Sheinmel and Susan Verde, illustrated by Heather Ross (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2022) from the library on a whim and now I don’t want to return it! Inn Sallie’s story, Sallie is so excited about her new scarf from her grandma that she

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It’s so much fun to read picture books with my toddler. She simply loves reading, and although here books of choice often revolve around The Berenstain Bears and Clifford or Dora (none of which I enjoy all that much), sometimes I can get in some great books that I love too.  Help! We Need a

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Fireflies: A Writer’s Notebook by Coleen Murtagh Paratore (Little Pickle Press, July 2014) is a delightful full-color journal for the aspiring writer. Filled with writing prompts and ideas, Fireflies is compared to a jar full of fireflies for you to watch for “sparks.” I loved this analogy. Although I am primarily a nonfiction writer (i.e., educational

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Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd (Random House, January 2013) is a volume about what makes nonfiction great. Using their own experiences as a writer of nonfiction (Tracy Kidder, bestselling author) and an editor of creative nonfiction (Richard Todd, Atlantic editor), the two friends provide a compelling tale of

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Raisin and I are only done with a little more than 40 of the lessons for the Kindergarten language arts program Logic of English Foundations. However, he enjoys it so much that I feel it is time I discussed it briefly on this blog. LoE Foundations is an “all in one” language arts for 4-6

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Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hill (Schwartz and Wade, 2012) is the sequel to the best-seller How Rocket Learned to Read (2010), a delightful story about a yellow bird helping a curious dog develop the ability to read. Rocket Writes a Story brings us the same adorable and talented dog, who now really wants help in creating a story,

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I mentioned last year that my son is a very creative child. He is regularly having imaginary adventures with his imaginary friends, and he constantly comes up with stories for me, stories he tells as if he’s surely experienced them. Given his intense interest in creative writing, I was seeking further instruction on how to

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