Oh my word! What a start to the year!

Here's what stuck out to me from the JANUARY 2019 picture book releases that crossed my desk.

I wonder if you read and loved any of these? And I wonder which books weren't included on my list for one reason or another that definitely...

Challenging the ordinary through storytelling is a surefire way to hook readers. Take a familiar tale and tell it from a new perspective. Shine a light on what goes on after all of us humans go home for the day. Question what really makes the bad guy so bad, and offer...

Understanding our feelings and the feelings of other builds empathy and sensitivity, helping to make us a more supportive, more communicative society. Children are constantly observing, learning from what they see, how others react and interact, and this goes for what...

Oh my word! What a start to the year!

Here's what stuck out to me from the JANUARY 2019 picture book releases that crossed my desk.

I wonder if you read and loved any of these? And I wonder which books weren't included on my list for one reason or another that definitely...

When we learn about others' lives their experiences can help shape our own perspectives on the world. When we read about different celebrations we can witness the universality of giving thanks and celebrating as one. When see how other lives their lives in ordinary but...

Happy New Year! I'm so excited to continue to share favorites from small and independent presses as we start into the new year. This week I thought I'd intentionally focus on beautifully illustrated picture books. Each approaches its subject matter in a different mediu...

Happy new year!

This Picture Book Recap series was something new I tried in 2018 as a means of staying on top of my TBR pile as well as giving a quick nod to those titles I couldn't stop thinking about from month to month (You can see the whole series using this link)....

It's the return of the Sleeper Hits list!

If there's anything consistent about the kidlit community it's that you can bet that social media feeds will be congested with Best of The Year lists from every corner of publishing. These lists break down the best books of the...

Okay, so.... apparently October is a big month for book releases I read double or triple what I normally read in order to make the picture book recap for October. Here's a portion of the book pile from when I was starting to work out which 16 would make this list.

I hop...

This week I thought I'd intentionally focus on nonfiction titles. I found three biographies featuring individuals I have never heard of but whose stories moved and inspired me. I found three books about nature that each caused me to see our world a little differently.

H...

Woah! Some seriously outstanding books are coming out this season. And just as I put finishing touches on this recap of my favorite September picture book releases I have an absolute mountain of October books to tackle (and we're already midway through October!) so bes...

A fable. A celebration. A ukulele. And the 14 standard punctuation marks (But not the interrobang‽).

Here's what I've been crushing on this week from small, independent publishers, often responsible for delivering to us the unique, the unconventional, and the memorable....

School is off to an amazing start. Seriously, I don't know how I got so lucky to teach the students that I do. But as we're preparing to talk about banned books I wanted to share the books from August that really left an impression. 

Here's what most stuck out from...

I've fallen behind on my reading and on my blogging, but not on my crushing.

Here's what I've been crushing on this week from small, independent publishers, often responsible for delivering to us unique and often unconventional stories. 

Check out previous Indie Crushes ...

It's been a busy, wonderful summer break. We've traveled. We've been home bodies. We've explored our library. We've read mountains of books.

Here's what most stuck out from the JULY picture book releases that crossed my desk.

I wonder if you read and loved any of these?...