Looking Beyond the Expected, with Jonathan Lopes, LEGO Artist

As I pointed out in my second K post last week, sometimes inspiration comes from surprising sources. Today I’m delighted to feature a mini-interview with an artist who has found his medium for expressing his creativity in something most of us see as a child’s toy and an underfoot hazard. Jonathan Lopes is a LEGO…

Read More

Ketzel: the Cat Who Composed, by Leslea Newman — Book Recommendation

This is the second K post today, because I couldn’t resist telling you about this delightful picture book. Sometimes we just need to enjoy the moment. And sometimes we can find inspiration in the most unexpected places, as happened in this delightful picture book. Title: Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed Author: Lesléa Newman Illustrator: Amy…

Read More

Keep Right On to the End of the Road

Have you ever had a mountaintop experience — something so inspiring, so uplifting, so affirming, that you just wish you could stay in that moment forever? Or, by contrast, have you experienced valleys in your life that are so deep you wonder if you will ever come out of them? I suspect you have. I…

Read More

Jumper cables for our lives

One day recently, my car refused to start. I can’t blame it, as it was very cold that day, for humans and for everything else, including little cars. I was sure I’d have to call the Auto Association the next day to do their jump-start magic. However, the next day — a much warmer day…

Read More

I’ve Seen the Promised Land by Walter Dean Myers — book recommendation

Title: I’ve Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Author: Walter Dean Myers Illustrator: Leonard Jenkins Publisher: New York: HarperCollins/Amistad, 2004 Genre: Picture book biography Audience Age: 5 to 10 Themes, topics: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights, equality, inspiration Opening Sentences: March 1968. The country was torn by turmoil.…

Read More

Having Heart and Hope in the Hard Times

How do we deal with hard times? Sometimes it seems as though ostriches, with their fabled “head in the sand” mentality, have it right. When the going gets tough, stick your head in the sand and hope things blow over. First of all, that concept isn’t true. As National Geographic Kids points out, if they…

Read More

Going Forward into Growth in the New Year

I’m back a week before I’d intended to be, because on New Year’s Day I decided that this post needed to be as close to the beginning of the year as possible. In 2017, I want to go forward into growth — there always seems to be opportunity for growth as we look at the…

Read More