I know a third grade girl who will read ONLY Big Nate and nothing else! Myson started reading Big Nate about that same time and still enjoys these books and now he is in high school. Big Nate fans span a wide spectrum of ages. That’s the beauty of Big Nate! But there is also…
Author: Pragmatic Mom
Phonebank Training: Battle for the Soul of Our Nation
When I was in college, a politico friend persuaded me to join him in campaigning in New Hampshire. I took the bus trip with him and knocked on doors, talking to elderly white people. That wasn’t so bad, but afterward, the campaign wanted us to write handwritten notes to everyone that we spoke to. My…
Art Project for Kids: American Impressionist Childe Hassam
Frederick Childe Hassam (1859–1935) was an American Impressionist painter. He along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman brought Impressionism to the American art scene. Born in Dorchester, Boston, Hassam studied in Paris and then returned to the United States, living in New York and in the South End, Boston. He captured New England seascapes…
Picture Books with Math Concepts
Please welcome my guest author today, Rajani LaRocca! I was thrilled to meet her at her debut middle grade book launch of Midsummer’s Mayhem. We actually both had the exact same debut book launch birthday (mine for Sumo Joe!) so we are “related” in that way :). What’s truly remarkable about Rajani is that she’s…
5 Activities To Complement Educational Books
The internet is a wonderful thing, granting us access to just about everything that humanity has ever discovered or postulated — but it also grants us access to nonsense, misinformation, bitter arguments, extreme tribalism, and the evident perils of conversational anonymity. In short, if you’re looking simply to further your education, you’ll have a difficult…
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 Poster Reveal!
I’m thrilled to announce that the 2021 Multicultural Children’s Book Day poster was created by Nat Iwata. It’s free and downloadable! Our entire gallery of posters is here. Nat Iwata also the illustrator for Sumo Joe! Learn more about Nat Iwata on his website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD) is an…
22 Picture Books Based on Song Lyrics
Are your favorite songs reimagined as picture books? Yes! Once you start reading these books, it’s hard to get the songs out of your head. What I love about these books is that even though the lyrics tell a story, they can often be reinterpreted to circumstances that relate to a young child such as…







