• Lists

    2023 CYBILS Awards Winners

    award winners

    The CYBILS Awards have been announced and I’m so excited to share some great books for all ages! “The CYBILS Awards aims to recognize children’s and YA authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal.” The winners are selected by a group of volunteer judges…

  • Lists

    12 Best Books for Graduation

    graduation header

    Yes, this post should have gone live way back in May or even April, but since I didn’t get anything together at that point, I thought I’d still try and post something that can be a helpful gift guide for the next graduation season. It’s probably not surprising that books…

  • Lists

    12 Books of Poetry for Teens

    microphone

    I’m going to bet this may not be one of my more popular posts. Let’s be honest, you say the words teens and poetry in the same sentence and your mind automatically conjures up some classroom where you learned to memorize poetry from centuries ago. But, I promise, that is…

  • Lists

    15 Winter Wonderland Board Books

    Today I’m sharing a list of board books, 15 Winter Wonderland Board Books, in fact! Not something I do very often, and yet board books are so important for the tiniest of readers! At our library, board books are one the highest circulating collections. Most likely, because they don’t take…

  • Lists

    15 Lyrical & Poetic Picture Books

    poetry

    I love read aloud picture books! A great picture book that can be read aloud is very close to perfection. And, honestly, some of the best picture books are lyrical and poetic and absolutely beautiful to read aloud. These 15 lyrical & poetic picture books are also a great way…

  • Lists

    Goodreads Choice Awards 2021

    goodreads

    It’s the time of year when you start seeing “Best of” lists and “2021 Favorites” almost everywhere you turn! The National Book Award winners were announced last night. I don’t tend to read a lot of the National Book Awards as they focus primarily on books for adult readers. And…

  • Reviews

    Change Sings

    mural

    Synopsis: “’I can hear change hummingIn its loudest, proudest song.I don’t fear change coming,And so I sing along.‘ In this stirring, much-anticipated picture book by presidential inaugural poet and activist Amanda Gorman, anything is possible when our voices join together. As a young girl leads a cast of characters on a…

  • Lists

    Celebrating Poetry through Picture Books

    keats

    There is no better time than when your child is young to introduce them to poetry. Songs are basically poems set to music and kids LOVE songs! Today I’m sharing 12 picture books celebrating poetry! Poetry is not uncommon in picture books because children love sounds and rhyme and rhythm…

  • Reviews

    Float, Flutter

    butterfly

    Synopsis:  “Come see animals of all different kinds hurry to their very special destination in this delightful story that beginning readers will love reading again and again. See animals float, flutter, scuttle, slide, crawl, clamber, gallop, and glide as they move from place to place. This story features only twenty-four…

  • Lifestyle

    Slice of Life Day 4: Snow

    Slice of Life Day 4

    I love how a good snowbalances on branchesblankets the groundabsorbs the sounds of the citymaking everything feelquiet,cozy,and still. The Slice of Life Challenge is something new I’m trying this month! I’ll be posting brief posts that show a glimpse of my life in story-format. A slice of my life as…