Have you ever received a handmade tissue-paper poppy in exchange for a donation to the American Legion outside of a store on Memorial or Veteran’s Day? Have you ever stopped to wonder, “Where did that practice come from?” The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans, by Barbara Elizabeth Walsh, paintings by [...]
In 1868, after a grueling Civil War that defined America (by almost destroying it), the novelist and critic John DeForest wrote a piece for The Nation magazine titled, “The Great American Novel.” Surveying the literary field of the time, he could find no likely candidate for such a title. Washington Irving was too cautious, James [...]
Volunteering to judge a poetry contest is simultaneously one of the best and the worst jobs I could have asked for. The best, because it is exciting to read so many wonderful entries from so many talented poets! The worst because, well, although we really want to encourage everyone, we finally had to select winners. [...]
Summer’s Just Around the Corner! My family’s summer schedule is quite different from our school year schedule. What with travel, fun in the sun, and other diversions, it’s easy to get completely out of our normal routine. I find myself steering away from big “commitments.” Part of the charm of these two devotional guides by [...]
Poetry Contest Closed and Winners Announced Soon! Our Poetry Contest is officially closed–many thanks to all the contestants! We received some fantastic entries, more than 50 total. We are putting our heads together and plan to announce the winners this coming week. This will be a tough decision; there are some talented young poets among [...]
As noted in last Tuesday’s post, I encountered Maurice Sendak when I was myself a child. My acquaintance with Russell Hoban had to wait until I had children of my own, and we met over that classic childhood dilemma: going to bed and staying there. Bedtime for Frances, published in 1960, introduced a self-willed, imaginative, [...]
News Is it possible we’re heading into May already?! That means we’ve got lots of great plans in the works for our Summer Reading Challenge (look for that announcement soon!), but in the meantime, we’re getting reading to launch what I’m calling Missionary May. That means we will be covering lots of Christian books for [...]
God is a God of words and pictures. He has revealed Himself to us through words in Scripture and visually in creation, and made us in his image to reflect his beauty both ways. Some folks love words, some are gifted in pictures, a few are talented at both, and others excel through other means [...]
I first encountered the Latin phrase Ave Atque Vale in a historical novel whose appeal (the novel’s, that is) was almost entirely nostalgic. It means “hail and farewell,” a way of saluting the past while at the same time leaving it behind. A valedictory is a farewell address, and right about now high schools and [...]
This post has been planned for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to acknowledge a potentially sensitive connection with the victims of the recent Boston bombings. Books like the ones I’m discussing below can be great windows into the world of someone who suffers a physically altering tragedy such as some of the bombing [...]
Library Tour Introduction It’s taken us all week to pull it off, but we finally have it: a conversation with Janie Cheaney (the kids’ book author), Megan E. Saben and Betsy Farquhar (our resident librarians), and me–Emily Whitten (a former assistant editor at a kids’ book publisher). For more about us, see our About page. [...]
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Sorting Out the Children’s Bible Market
Toddling into the Word: First Bible Storybooks and Early-Reader Bibles
Tricksters and Fools
Hail and Farewell: Maurice Sendak
Inspiring (very) young artists
Julie Plocher: Is this a true story ? It is inspriring to get out...
Jenni Rendall: Hi Megan, I will have to find a copy of this book ...
Aimee Robidoux: Hello, my name is Aimee Robidoux and I am 20 years...
Betsy: Thanks, Megan! I learned something new!...
Christina: I love story books about grammar and language arts...
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