What were/are your favorite GOOD books for middle schoolers?
I have a brilliant child who enjoys reading, and I love finding her books that are rich and wonderful. My problem is when she goes to school she brings home these terrible junky books with terrible junky writing. If I give my child a reading list she can usually find the book in the schools library, but I am running out of ideas for her age group. Does any one have a favorite book from middle school that I can recommend for her literary treasure hunt?
How a deceased fantasy writer helped me explain death to my 4-year-old
Death is a scary question. It is the scary question. It’s your first real encounter of the inevitable as a child; the day you realise, because you live, you are going to have to die. Petrifying! I didn’t want to dismiss it with the old Catholic one-liners that I was fed as a child, but I didn’t want to traumatise my child any further with whatever half-baked, uncharted belly flop into the pool of hippy parenting my brain was feverishly trying to piece together.
Joining the life-changing cult of tidying up: My foray into KonMari organizing
If you are a person who reads the internet, you have probably heard of Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Most people who succeed in reading it, join her KonMari tidying cult. I’m reading the book and feeling inspired to clean. Okay, I read the book because I was inspired to clean and felt overwhelmed by how much stuff I have…
Coloring books for grown-ass adults
I’m crappy at every craft ever, but coloring… dudes, I’m awesome at that AND it’s something I can do while I have a glass (bottle?) of wine. And then I stumbled upon the world of adult coloring books. Check these guys out…
Non-religious, non-Santa Christmas books for kids
I’m wondering if anyone has recommendations for non-religious, non-Santa Christmas books for kids. We’re atheists, and we aren’t doing Santa either. I just found Little Blue Truck’s Christmas. In it, the truck delivers Christmas trees to friends. It’s perfect for my two-year old. Anyone have other non-religious, non-Santa Christmas books that might be good for toddlers, preschoolers, and older kids too?
My top 4 inspirational female characters
I wanted to take a minute to appreciate some of the fictional women I grew up with whose creators dared to make them different. The ones that I could relate to. The bad-ass women who didn’t just let life happen to them — they happened right back to life…
What are some fictional books that feature realistic and healthy couples?
What are some fictional books to read about happy marriages? Stories that are fun and good to read, and also feature realistic and healthy couples.
DIY bookends made from cement and toys
I’m not over the cement trend, and I’m certainly not over the toys-as-decor trend. So, I put them together in a functional DIY. I made a few of these dinosaur cement bookends! You could make one, or a pair. Here’s how…