This story blends the power of kindness and the power of nature in such a sweet, simple way. You will not regret grabbing this new picture book at the library! 

Tis the season! Election season, that is! That means it is time for everyone to brush up on their disinformation, fake-news and conspiracy-theory-spotting-skills.

I am taking an August recess with my biweekly book reviews. I plan to read many, many more picture books, chapter books and middle grade books. So, keep your eyes peeled for my fall book reviews!

Lena is a fictional character set in a very real part of history. She lives a safe life with her family in Greenwood - a flourishing black town that Booker T. Washington named the “Negro Wall Street of America.”

Small Places Close to Home is inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarks to the United Nations in 1958: “Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world.”

This is a simple story of a little girl, Mevan, who loves her home in Kurdistan, Iraq. The food. The nature. The family. The community. Then, one day, due to ethnic and political persecution, her family flees.

During Earth Week, my local library displayed a variety of Earth-themed books, so I grabbed One Small Hop (2021) by Madelyn Rosenberg. This book did not disappoint! Set in Maine in the not-so-distant-future…

A Place for Rain is such a lovely, lyrical picture book.

Do You Know Them? is a historical fiction picture book. Lettie is a smart, industrious girl who has newly-acquired freedom. As an enslaved child, Lettie was uprooted from her family, but the end of the Civil War and the freedom of enslaved peoples has given her a beam of hope.

Check out this middle grade graphic novel about my hero, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg!

It’s Earth Week! I am often writing about nature, but this week is especially important for a little nature Kidlit! Log Life is the perfect book for a nature-loving family, a science teacher, or a forest preserve educator.

This is the beginning of all naturalist’s stories: time in childhood to touch and feel the awe of nature. Ragged rocks and windswept feathers become treasured gifts.

Jennifer Thermes, a map illustrator and author-illustrator has created one of the best books I have ever encountered, A Place Called America: A Story of the Land and People.

Give this book as a gift. Teacher appreciation day? Baby shower? Graduation? This book will inspire anyone who believes in working towards change for the greater good.

Who doesn’t love an excellent graphic novel? I highly, highly recommend Wildfire by Breena Bard to all middle schoolers. T

Stacy McAnulty takes us on a fun journey learning about Pluto in her narrative nonfiction picture book, “Pluto! Not a Planet? Not a Problem!”

Can you imagine living in an abandoned shack with no electricity, no running water? Can you imagine sleeping in that shack with a skunk and a pine marten?

I welcome new faces to this blog in the new year. What can new faces expect to find when subscribing to my blog?

Author Priya Narayanan wrote the picture book biography, Friend of Numbers: The Life of Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. In this book, you follow the life of young Ramanujan growing up in rural India, finding patterns and numbers in everyday life.

My favorite part is the chapter titled “Tuna and Tears.” She thinks her “sad-stinky” tuna sandwich was actually intended for her cat, Mimi, not her. This series is great for 2nd-4th graders!