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Zuno has chosen Steven Kellogg’s Mysterious Tadpole. Louis receives a tadpole for his birthday. His uncle in Scotland collected it from a nearby lake, Loch Ness. However, this tadpole eats cheeseburgers and looks nothing like a frog. Can you solve the mystery before the next birthday gift arrives?

The Rule of the Ruler Measuring tapes, rulers, cups, and scales, we use them to analyze, study, compare, and contrast things. We calculate and conclude. Great for school, not so great when we apply those same principles to people. Check out Matthew 7: 1, 2 (NIV): “ ‘ Do not judge, or you too will…

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo won the Newbury Medal with good reason. DiCamillo paints brilliant imagery throughout this fairy tale while celebrating love, forgiveness, and grace. The movie does not do justice to the book. I read this novel, one with very few pictures, to my very wiggly kindergartner, and he was hooked.

Zuno knows if you live in Texas, you probably have allergies and that makes him think of Jan Heilbroner’s Robert the Rose Horse. Robert is one horse who will never run in the Run for the Roses because roses make him sneeze. In one job after another, Robert’s sneezes cause him to be fired. Will…

Riding the Spiritual Scooter My kids like to scooter. They zoom through the neighborhood, jumping curbs and coasting down driveways. One foot pushes like mad, while the other stands rock steady and enjoys the ride. When they scooter, their feet have two different perspectives. One pounds the pavement and propels them forward. The other foot…

Lois Lowry’s Gossamer explores the realm of dreams and nightmares, the dream-givers and the Sinisteeds, and good and evil. Lowry weaves a story of an unlikely pair of humans and the little dream-giver Gossamer who will aid in healing their hearts.

Zuno saw a bunny in the park when we ran today and he has chosen The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. Hug your little bunnies tight and reassure them that, like Mother Bunny, you would go to the ends of the earth just for them.

What’s in Your Closet? T-shirts, Under-Armour, designer jeans, sneakers, or flip-flops, clothes tell you a lot about a person. Are they an athlete or a fashion diva? What is their favorite color? Is everything new or do they have a favorite pair of jeans that are older than their little sister? Just as our closets…

J. R. R. Tolkien’s Hobbit is Bilbo’s story and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf chooses Bilbo to complete a party of dwarves, making their number 14 and not the unlucky 13, as they head for the Lonely Mountain to face the dragon, Smaug. Along the way, Bilbo encounters a gruesome creature…

Zuno is ready for a summer vacation and he wants to go to Japan with Yoko. Join Zuno in reading Yoko’s Paper Cranes by Rosemary Wells. Try some origami for a new summer activity. Zuno likes the origami frogs that really hop.