Embracing Fall Vibes
September 28, 2023 Comments Off on Embracing Fall Vibes
October is a mere three days away, and I hope you’re welcoming it with a new book…or six. Winter might be the obvious choice for squirreling away with a pile of new reads, but the publishing industry would disagree. September and October are when the biggest bounty of titles release. It’s not just that the winter holidays are right around the corner: the subject of fall itself, both its formidable foliage and its singular spookiness, remains a favorite of authors and illustrators to depict.
You have only to glance at the covers of the two picture books above to remember why fall is such a fan favorite. The colors! The leaves! The mums! The jaunty scarves! The jaunty boots! The scarecrows! Fall is a feast for young and old eyes alike.
In the weeks ahead, I’ll be doing round-ups of spooky-themed picture books and graphic novels. But today is about embracing the season itself, and I’m delighted to share two new favorites. (See past faves here, here, and here.) It’s Fall! (ages 2-6) is arguably the most exuberant, infectious celebration of fall I’ve ever encountered, while Hopefully the Scarecrow (ages 3-6) is a softer, quieter story of a girl’s friendship with a scarecrow, marrying the change in seasons with a love of reading aloud.
« Read the rest of this entry »The Book That Saved December
December 31, 2014 § 7 Comments
Reading to our children can sometimes be the best way to slow down and live in the moment; to see the world through the wonder of young eyes and to have our own faith restored. Never has this been truer for me than in the past month. This December, reading threw me a lifeline. And boy, did I need it.
What is normally a time of sweet anticipation (cutting down our Christmas tree! driving the kids around to look at decorations! shopping for the perfect wrapping paper!), felt this year like an insurmountable list of to dos. The word drudgery came to mind on more than a few occasions. With my husband traveling for much of the month, I was exhausted. With every step, it felt like my legs were at risk of crumpling, of reducing me to a cast-aside pile of expired Christmas lights. The rain didn’t help (because who enjoys tromping around a Christmas tree farm in the pouring rain?). No matter how many times I scaled back my expectations (the teachers will get store-bought gifts this year!), I never felt the burden lighten.
I don’t have to tell you what our stress level does to our ability to parent with patience. As my daughter erupted into yet another round of crocodile-tear hysterics (over, at one point, a hypothetical snowball fight with her brother), I began to have fantasies of walking into the neighbor’s mass of giant inflatable Santas and Frostys and never coming out. « Read the rest of this entry »
What to Read to Your Kids 