Literacy 101: Making Connections with Dog Goes to Nursery School
My job as a reading teacher and literacy coach was to help students become active readers, which means I was helping them do things to better…
Duck on a Bike: It’s Impossible to Resist this Ride
There are some books best read at bedtime. Others in the morning, over breakfast. There are books for thunderstorms, books for sick days, books for reading…
A Short Story: Finding I Am Bunny
About a year ago, an older man pulled up to our driveway while I was outside playing with my kids and said, “Excuse me. Do you…
The (Breakfast) Table is Turned in Monster, Be Good! Monsters, Part II
Speaking of monsters… We’ve invited them to breakfast! Monster, Be Good!, by Natalie Marshall (Blue Apple Books, 2013) is short, interactive, and fun; the perfect addition…
The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot: Monsters Part I
Last spring, when the buzz about The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot by Scott Magoon (Simon & Schuster, 2013) was buzziest, I bought it. But then, because the…
Early Fall Favorite: Sophie’s Squash
Our Cottonwood leaves are turning brown and crinkly. There are splashes of yellow on the Ash. This morning the air was cool enough we needed sweaters…
if you want to see a whale, ride your bike to the park
If you want to see a whale, it is better not to pack a lunch, a picnic blanket, some books and the kids in the bike…
Where’s Waldo? Start with Hide-and-Seek Duck
Will he play soccer? The trumpet? Baseball? Will he run track? Be President of his class? Ski? Star in the musical or be a stagehand? One…
Meet Illustrator Rebecca Hirsch
Thank you, Rebecca Hirsch, for giving such detailed, inspiring and funny answers to my long list of questions about you and your work. In the interview…
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? GOOD MORNING!
The location has changed (my kids are no longer hanging in hook chairs from the center island to eat; instead we are all at the kitchen…
The Art of Tibor Gergely in The Little Red Caboose
Milestone alert: my son sits for full-length picture books. He sits for book after book after book at bedtime in our reading chair, books that he…
Building Our House/Building Our Home
In July, we will have lived in our house for two years. I believe in the power of place, and there is no place other…
I JUST CAN’T WAIT: Brand New Stead/Fogliano and Fancy Nancy
Have I mentioned that I am a HUGE fan of Philip and Erin Stead? And of Julie Fogliano? Why yes I have, here: https://picturebookhouse.com/2013/03/05/and-then-its-spring-on-yet-another-snowy-day-in-wi/ https://picturebookhouse.com/2013/02/23/mommy-i-want-to-go-in-the-amos-mcgee-book/ Which…
Wisconsin Women Write for Children; We Read Their Books
Last night, instead of reading picture books to my kids, I settled into a seat in the second floor ballroom at The Women’s Club of Wisconsin…
Little Blue Truck
“Horn went ‘Beep!’ Engine purred. Friendliest sounds You ever heard.” …begins Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008) AND…
A Small Child’s Poem about Grandpa/Bubba Bear
If you know my Dad, Bubba isn’t exactly the nickname you’d expect, but he has worn it graciously (and dare I say, with pride?) since my…
In Grandma’s (or make that, Mimi’s) Arms
We could not have gotten from Point A (my daughter’s birth just over three years ago) to Point B (today), without one very special lady—my Mom,…
Kitten’s First Full Moon, and My Son’s First Look at the Sky
At the risk of Picture Book House becoming Ode to Kevin Henkes House, tonight I am writing about one more of his books that we can’t…
My Garden (With an Update on Mr. McGregor’s)
The Peter Rabbit birthday party was a success. During the scavenger hunt, only one kid panicked when I ran around the yard waving a rake yelling,…
Why Trixie, Why? My Emotional First Reading of Knuffle Bunny Free
As I wrote in a pervious post, we are having a Peter Rabbit Birthday party. The little guests will hop on over this Sunday. Also as…
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