You wouldn’t guess that it’s spring here in Boston, given the snow we’ve been getting in April! Still, I am dreaming of spring and getting my little garden going. These are my favorite picture books for garden inspiration. These books demonstrate that gardens can transform an environment, bring neighbors closer, and even become a political…
Category: Best Books for Kids
Best picture books, chapter books, young adult books, graphic novels and non fiction for kids.
Fun & Easy Ways to Expose Kids to Poetry
National Poetry Month is a celebration of poetry introduced in 1996 and organized by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. I’m not great about exposing my kids to poetry so this is my easy way for April’s National Poetry Month. I’m just going to have…
20 Hamsters & Guinea Pigs in Early Chapter Books
I’m not sure what children’s publishing rule of thumb seems to dictate that hamsters sell Early Chapter Books but when I judged the first round of Cybils, there was a surprising amount of hamster-themed books in this category. This, of course, lets me search out more Early/Easy Chapter Books with hamsters as characters as well…
My Chinese Silk Road Heritage
I covered my Japanese Daimyo family history and my husband’s Chosun Dynasty family history on his father’s side, so I thought I’d cover my Chinese family history today. My father immigrated from China before the Communist Revolution to attend UCLA for a PhD in mathematics. He was asked to return to China right as the war began, but…
Picture Book Doll House at My Library
My public library has a display that I’ve long admired of a picture book doll house. Each room represents a children’s book. Isn’t it wonderful? Three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and living room. The Good Night Moon room was the most obvious to me; this is such an iconic book but Five Minutes’ Peace is…
Kid Lit Blog Hop
Hello! Welcome to the March 2016 Kid Lit Blog Hop. This exciting, now monthly hop, is where we develop an engaged group of people who love everything that has to do with children’s literature. Everyone is welcome to join us: bloggers, authors, publicist, and publishers! Simply make a post related to Children’s literature and add…
21 Picture Books about African-American Female Musicians
March is Women’s History Month so I’ve started off with a video of a musician that is new to me, Hazel Dorothy Scott, a jazz prodigy who was prominent during the 1930s and 1940s. I could not find a picture book biography on her (yet) but here’s hoping that someone will write out. In the…







