Fairies, Monsters, and Summer Magic

August 25, 2025 By Maria While stores and social media are preparing for Halloween and back to school, I am intent on enjoying what’s left of the summer with my family. Especially the time we have left before school starts again. Don’t get me wrong, I love autumn. It is probably my favorite season betweenContinue reading “Fairies, Monsters, and Summer Magic”

A Roar to Read About

August 21, 2025 By Maria Most people, including myself, think it’s normal for a kid to cuddle with a toy teddy bear, which is essentially a fierce predator. When my daughter was a toddler, her favorite stuffy was a teddy bear named “Bear-Bear”. Bear-Bear is still sought out for cuddles at bedtime but now isContinue reading “A Roar to Read About”

Time for Sharks

August 17, 2025 By Maria Apparently, not having cable can cause you to totally miss shark week. . .by a long shot. I thought it took place in August, but it was weeks ago in July. Oh well. It’s still summer.  Plenty of beach days remain, so let’s read about sharks! One of my favoriteContinue reading “Time for Sharks”

Unique and Resilient 

August 9, 2025 By Maria This is a piece I wrote a couple of years ago regarding my middle child. He is now nine years old, not seven, but he still enjoyed these stories when we revisited them recently. I was actually about to return the books to the library, when my son asked meContinue reading “Unique and Resilient “

Books of the Month July 2025

August 4, 2025 by Maria Just in case you missed anything, I put together a list of the books I wrote about in July. At the end of each month, I will write a list of all the books I wrote about during that month. The post titles will link back to the original blogContinue reading “Books of the Month July 2025”

Teatime and Closeness

July 24, 2025 By Maria Tea. My family all know that I love tea. I started drinking black tea with milk as a teenager. On a trip to England, I was introduced to British tea and that was the end of that. No more weak Lipton Tea for me ever again. Tea has been myContinue reading “Teatime and Closeness”

Planting Seeds of Kindness

July 17, 2025 By Maria Now that summer is here, all three kids are home and unfortunately, they are not getting along as well as we would like. We have had many talks about kindness and treating others as you wished to be treated, and so on. Thankfully, we are starting to see a shiftContinue reading “Planting Seeds of Kindness”

Books of the Month – May

June 22, 2025 by Maria  Just in case you missed anything, I put together a list of the books I wrote about in May. At the end of each month, I will write a list of all the books I wrote about during that month. The post titles will link back to the original blogContinue reading “Books of the Month – May”

Boxes of Adventure

May 26, 2025 By Maria What is the box? Is it a device for carrying something? Is it a way to transport something through the mail? Is it used for storage? Treasure? Trash? Maybe you think it belongs in the recycling bin. But my question is, what do your kids think a box is? Well,Continue reading “Boxes of Adventure”

Is your Mama a Llama?

May 12, 2025 By Maria Mother’s Day was yesterday, so I figured it’s a good time to write about some of our favorite mother themed picture books. I never have high expectations for Mother’s Day. For me it is still more a day for my mom and grandmas (when they were around). The focus isContinue reading “Is your Mama a Llama?”