Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations. It’s created by MIT. I had heard of it years ago from the founder of the company who created my first PragmaticMom blog template. His young son was using it to create games. My son was…
I am delighted to have Lindsey and Dana, the two Children’s Librarians behind Jbrary, guest posting today!! They have a wonderful YouTube channel that is all about storytime songs, and today they have a list of picture books you can sing before, during, or after reading! Not only is singing fun, but it is one of…
What’s a school author visit via Skype like? I just experienced two successful ones so I thought I’d share my experience in the hopes that you will be able to get authors to your kids’ school too! Skype is really very easy and kids are surprisingly unperturbed when there are minor technical issues which can…
Have you heard of the APALA children’s book awards? Of course not. I blogged for three years on children’s books seeking out the best Asian American KidLit and I didn’t know about it. That’s a shame because Asian American children’s books are slowly coming into their own, well on the heels perhaps of the Asian…
My son and his third grade buddies have been taking tennis lessons since school started. Now that it’s too cold to play outdoors, they decided to switch to fencing. There is something about little boys and swordplay — my son has been wielding a stick as a sword since he was old enough to toddle….
It’s my turn to choose the Picture Book of the Day and I picked the 2014 Seibert Winner, Parrots Over Puerto Rico. I thought we’d explore parrots today with a non-fiction picture book, a singalong parrot picture book and an easy reader with a naughty parrot. Next, I clear up confusion that I have about…
There seems to be a new sub-genre in children’s books that targets boys to get them reading. It’s for boys like my own who graduated from potty and underwear humor (ok, maybe they never do!) and still want funny but with a science twist. This is not to say that these books are science fiction;…