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Squeal with the pigs, bray with the donkeys, and low with the cows in the big red barn where the only quiet things at the farm are the eggs. From dawn to dark, follow the animals until the day finally winds down in Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. Which animal is your favorite? I…

Be Flakey Snow rarely falls in our part of Texas. The sight of even a few wispy flakes sparks currents of excitement through children and adults alike. Eyes widen. Smiles appear. Ooos and aahs echo from classrooms to conference rooms. After summers of triple digit heat and the normal winter fare of rain and sleet, snow…

In previous posts, I spotlighted several premiere books of their respective series. Today, I encourage you to follow through on one: Suzanne Collins’s Underland Chronicles. Join Gregor as, one by one, each of his family members find themselves entangled in the conflicts of the Underland. Collins deftly weaves her ever-present themes of war and peace…

Larry Burkett’s How Things Work Series: How Our House Works educates kids on home construction and maintenance. Burkett encourages good stewardship as he teaches readers to properly care for their home. Children learn that water and electricity come at a price and how to keep that cost to a minimum. Good spending habits and a…

The Empty Box of Turkish Delight “At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more. Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking; for she knew, though Edmund did not, that…

Jerry Spinelli handles the touchy subject of peer pressure in his novel, Wringer. Most boys look forward to their tenth birthday. For Palmer LaRue, just thinking about turning ten makes his stomach hurt. In his town of Waymer, a peculiar rite of passage marks a boy’s tenth birthday and Palmer wants no part of it. Peer…

Zuno challenges you to count your blessings with Helen Haidle’s The Real 12 Days of Christmas. When this carol was composed, religious freedoms were restricted in England. Parents hid the symbols of their faith in songs like this one. Decode the carol and tell me which line is your favorite.

Little Things Big. Little. Which would you rather have? Big? Bigger is always better, right? God, however, has an eye for small things. David vs. Goliath Baby Moses in his basket vs. the Nile River and Pharaoh’s army Bethlehem vs. …well, name your city. Bethlehem, tiny, overlooked, overshadowed by its big sister city, Jerusalem. Even…

When their only daughter, Blair, heads for Peru and the Peace Corps, the Kranks just haven’t the heart for Christmas. Luther Krank takes the reindeer by the antlers and hatches a plan to skip Christmas entirely by planning a tropical cruise instead. His wife, Nora, makes a reluctant accomplice, as friends, neighbors, and co-workers try…

Friends don’t let friends sleep through Christmas. In Bear Stays Up, Bear’s friends make it their mission to keep their hibernating friend awake just long enough to celebrate. A sleepy, droopy-eyed Bear hangs in there through one job after another as the friends search for a tree, decorate it, hang up the stockings, and tackle…