The Princess and The Pony: Pretty Much a Perfect Picture Book
The other night a friend reached out to talk about picture books. Next year she will leave her middle school classroom for an elementary library. I…
Monster Needs a (Mimi-Made) Costume
Mimi’s at it again. Toiling away in her basement—cutting fabric, sewing seams and carefully attaching appliques. Before she was Mimi, back when she was “just” my…
Celebrating 1 Year of PBH!
Picture Book House, the blog, will turn 1 on February 12th! In the beginning, my blog posts were shaped by books and how we read/engaged with…
Dreams of A New Niece Keep Post-Holiday Blues at Bay
Beginning in October, we joined my two nieces in keeping track of all that we had to look forward to in the upcoming months. “Next comes…
A Perfect Picture Book on a Not So Perfect Morning: Baby Bear Counts One by Ashley Wolff
Occasionally there is a bit of bickering over breakfast, when my son’s in the mood for cereal to be shared with The Very Hungry Caterpillar but…
Throwback Thursday: Halloween Books from the 80s
When we are visiting at my parent’s house, my kids play with Micro Machines, Polly Pocket and Rainbow Bright while I sneak over to the bookshelf…
Truckin’
On Wednesday morning we went to story hour at the library. Our children’s librarian is everything I love about Meg Ryan as the Storybook Lady in…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The PBH Bedtime Canon
Who knew that getting a kid to sleep would be so exhausting… Is she too hot? Too cold? Hungry? Thirsty? Not tired? Overtired? Should we turn…
Picture Book House 