Two years after its initial release, ‘Mommies’ Priceless Moments’ has helped thousands realize that the sick cycle of parenthood will one day become a bottomless fountain of memories. Written by Amanda Johnson, who was a debut author and first-time mom, the classic book is an evolving source of support for many whose little bundles of…
PiBoIdMo Day 25: Liz Garton Scanlon Loafes (and offers GOOD PIES as prizes!)
Originally posted on Writing for Kids (While Raising Them):
by Liz Garton Scanlon Recently, while discussing poetry with a bunch of 5th graders, I discovered a word that’s pretty much left our daily vernacular: loafe. Whitman used it in SONG OF MYSELF… I loafe and invite my soul I lean and loafe at my ease…
Book review: ‘Death Coming Up the Hill’ tackles racism, war, family through verse
Here is my latest review in Deseret News: “DEATH COMING UP THE HILL,” by Chris Crowe, HMH Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 208 pages (f) (ages 14 and up) This gritty tale in Haiku-like poetry takes place in 1968 — a year that saw the Tet Offensive, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and…
Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2014 Edition
Originally posted on Bank Street College Center for Children's Literature:
The Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2014 Edition includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2013. In choosing books for the annual list, committee members consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well…
PiBoIdMo Day 15: Floyd Cooper Walks Outside at Midnight
Originally posted on Writing for Kids (While Raising Them):
by Floyd Cooper I find inspiration in the oddest of places, at the oddest of times. Looking back after having illustrated about 100 picture books, of which only five I have also written, I find that I have been most inspired by things visual. Early in…
You Are Stardust Inspires Cosmic Awe in Kids
You Are Stardust begins by introducing the idea that every tiny atom in our bodies came from a star that exploded long before we were born. From its opening pages, the book suggests that we are intimately connected to the natural world; it compares the way we learn to speak to the way baby birds…
See the world from a kid’s-eye view with MATILDA, a modern fairytale (with study guides)
Matilda is a children’s novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was published in 1988 by Jonathan Cape in London, with 232 pages and illustrations by the notable illustrator Quentin Blake. The story is about Matilda Wormwood, an extraordinary child with ordinary and rather unpleasant parents. It was adapted into an audio reading by Joely…
Ella Enchanted Study Guides and Book Trailers
Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants. In 2006, Levine went on to write Fairest, a retelling of the story of Snow White, set in the same world…
Charlotte’s Web Study Guides
Charlotte’s Web is a children’s novel by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published in 1952 by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the…
The Role of Literature in Language Arts Teaching and Learning: Developing Literary Understanding
Notes from my ED-LTCY 346 class this semester, Fall 2014 at Boise State University. Children’s literature is the foundation for a rich and effective language arts program. Children’s literature motivates readers, provides them with invaluable language experience and offers them opportunities to learn about themselves and the world. Effective teachers create classroom libraries that support their…
Young People's Pavilion 