Ad-Lib Mondays
Vistas, Vantage Points, Viewpoints, and Vision
I live on the prairie. I grew up here. The vastness of the prairie gives me a sense of freedom and possibility. Not everyone sees that vastness in the same way. Many people driving through our province think the prairie is just one boring stretch of nothing. I can understand that viewpoint, although I don’t…
Read MoreUp in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner — Book Recommendation
Title: Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt Author: Kate Messner Illustrator: Christopher Silas Neal Publisher: San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2015 Genre: Picture book, fiction (with facts strewn through it like seeds sprinkled on dirt) Audience Age: 4 to 8 Topics: Gardening, time with Nana, what’s under the ground, ecology Opening Sentences: Up…
Read MoreThe Tuskegee Airmen Legacy Project — Michelle Y. Green
Most of us have at least heard of the Tuskegee Airmen — 994 African American men who served with valor in World War II, as pilots, bombardiers, navigators and ground crew. Although it is hard to fathom now, before World War II, no African American had been a pilot with the United States military. No…
Read MoreSarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay — Book Recommendation
Title: Sarah’s Key Author: Tatiana de Rosnay Publisher: New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007 Genre: Adult fiction Audience Age: 16 and up Themes/Topics: Holocaust, France’s role in deportation of Jews during World War II, Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup, truth, fear, justice Opening Sentences: The girl was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door.…
Read MoreRambling (the physical, not the verbal, variety)
Come with me on a ramble — See? The roses are out, and here and there, as yet unseen blooms hide in the wind-tangled grass. Come with me on a ramble — hidden joys await us. ~ Photo by Raymond Stilborn, poem by Beth Stilborn The first day of spring seems a good day to…
Read MoreQuestions
Questions. Kids are good at them. Why? Why is the sky blue? Why do the leaves fall off the trees — don’t they like the tree anymore? What’s that? Where are we going? (And the dreaded Are we there yet?) Writers need to be good at them, too. Why is a good question for writers…
Read MoreParty Bears! (Of the Super Happy Persuasion) PLUS a mini-interview with author MARCIE COLLEEN!
It’s YAY o’clock, which means it’s time to join the Super Happy Party Bears in a party dance — “slide to the left, hop to the right…” Marcie Colleen’s delightful debut chapter book series will make kids laugh and want to dance and celebrate along with the bears, and they’ll cheer them on through every…
Read MoreOn Stage, Everyone! On With the Show! — Julie’s Greenroom
The curtain is about to open on an exciting new offering from Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton, Lisa Henson and a whole host of others, including brand new Henson puppets! It’s a wonderful opportunity for kids (and not-kids) to learn stagecraft and to experience all that the arts has to offer in a person’s life.…
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