making space for creativity
Paul Fleischman’s 1989 Newbery winning book, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, is a short book of poetry that conjures up the noise of summertime insects. Each page has two columns of text, one for each voice, mostly alternative and unison parts, although there are some parts where the two voices are saying different things…
In the middle of all the little pamphlets and one sheet reminders that we left the hospital with was the instruction to “read to your child 20 minutes a day.” This is, of course, wonderful advice. It’s the kind of public health initiative meant to convey that it’s never too early to expose your child…
Russel Freedman’s 1988 Newbery winning book, Lincoln: A Photobiography is a great biography (with lots of photographs) of Abraham Lincoln. Even though one of my first quasi-dates with my husband Evan in the spring of 2006 was to the Lincoln museum in Springfield Illinois, I don’t think of myself as having an above average interest…
This is my 6th year of birthday reading lists! (You can see the others here: 30 // 31 // 32 // 33 // 34 ). My top picks for this year were Circe, When Life Gives You Pears, Being Mortal, The Blue Sword, and The Blue Castle. The full list is broken down by nonfiction / memoirs / novels / YA/ middle grade reads (but doesn’t include any…
Sid Fleischman’s 1987 Newbery winning book, The Whipping Boy, is about spoiled Prince Horace (Prince Brat by his subjects behind his back) who has a servant for everything, including taking his whippings. But when he runs away, and takes his whipping boy, Jemmy, with him, Prince Horace learns that only by experiencing the harsh realities…
Dear Family & Friends, Merry Christmas! 2019 started out with our sweet Lily baby learning to crawl and ended with a little girl with brown curls bouncing as she runs after her brother (or Bro, as she often calls him now). Highlights of the year were our trips to North Carolina for…
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan is told from the perspective of ten-year-old Anna as she and her younger brother Caleb await and meet the woman who answered the advertisement for a mail-order bride their father had placed. Set in 19th century American Prairie, the book is short and sweet, honest and compelling. I’ve…
For me chopping up onions and celery for paleo stuffing feels like one of the first moments of the holidays. While this is certainly not a recipe from my childhood (I’m pretty sure that we often had boxed stuffing for our Thanksgivings. Not that I’m complaining, I loved boxed stuffing. It’s magic and delicious…
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley won the 1985 Newbery medal. Only daughter of a king, Aerin is looking for her place in a kingdom that is suspicious of her just as they were of her foreign, magically powerful and long-dead mother. Aerin finds a recipe for an ointment that protects the wearer…
A few months ago I was emailing with a dear friend, also named Amy, who was about to have her first baby. (Here’s a picture of us when I was pregnant with Jackson.) Amy is wise and kind, an ennegram 1 with a 2 wing (like me!), organized, caring, and especially wants to be organized…
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary is the 1984 Newbery winning epistolary novel starring Leigh Botts writing letters to his favorite author Mr. Henshaw. At first Leigh is young, just learning to read and write, then as he gets a bit older (6th grade) he writes Mr. Henshaw for a school assignment. After Leigh tries…
The last of the warm Wisconsin breezes are bringing down the very first yellow ash leaves of Fall this week. All summer I’ve been trying to find the words to write about our local Anglican parish closing, to explain something so big and complicated, private and yet at the same time a deeply shared experience….
Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt won the 1983 Newbery. It’s the second installment in a seven-part series called the Tillerman Cycle. I read the first book of the series in fourth grade, and I clearly remember being completely taken with Homecoming: the details of these kids being abandoned, counting their money and buying a tiny…
Writing in the style of William Blake’s short lyrical poems, Nancy Willard’s short, beautifully illustrated book A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers won the 1982 Newbery. It was the first book of poetry to win the Newbery, and Alice and Martin Provensen’s illustrations won the book a Caldecott honor…
Last week we came home from our third trip of the year with two little kids. Our first one in March ushered in Spring with a road trip out to Durham, North Carolina and this last one we headed up to Northfield and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In between I took the kids down to Wheaton, Illinois…