In a whimsical garden, curious barnyard animals discover a mysterious box with red wheels, revealing a sweet surprise: a baby inside!
Category: Book Reviews
Our Reading Life, September 2024
Join us as we chat with Tanya Arnold and Sarah Kim from Biblioguides about books that shape our reading lives. Welcome to Our Reading Life!
Planting Stories: Pura Teresa Belpré
Planting Stories shares the inspiring tale of Pura Belpré, NYC’s first Puerto Rican librarian, who brought Puerto Rican folktales to life for kids.
Balderdash! John Newberry and The Boisterous Birth of Children’s Books
Balderdash! is a whimsical picture book biography of John Newbery, celebrating his creation of children’s literature with lively illustrations and fun text.
War Boy: A Country Childhood
Michael Foreman was born in March of 1938, so he was only three years old on April 21, 1941, the night an incendiary bomb dropped through the roof of his bedroom. Part of his description of that night sounds just like the memory a three-year-old would retain. “The sky bounced as my mother ran.” Foreman…
Come Rack, Come Rope!
Come Rack, Come Rope! by Robert Hugh Benson is a gripping historical novel of faith and courage during the brutal Catholic persecution in Elizabethan England.
Lad: A Dog
Lad: A Dog celebrates the loyalty, intelligence, and bravery of Lad, a noble collie, through heartwarming tales of his courage and devotion.
The Secret Princess: A Tale of Hope
The Secret Princessis a middle-grade Catholic fairy tale about faith, family, and perseverance, with themes of the Sacred Heart and the Eucharist.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
A Canticle for Leibowitz is a must read Catholic apocalyptic novel idea for book club or a study in ethics.
Dead-Eye Dan and the Cimarron Kid
Dead-Eye Dan and the Cimarron Kid by Glenn McCarty is a fast-paced, wholesome Western for middle grade readers about a noble cowboy.
Show Notes: Our Library Life – September 2024
Join us as we talk about the newly revised and expanded Picture Book Preschool from Sherry Early!
Reflection: Strip Off the Old Self
It’s clear from this language, and my own experience, that my old self isn’t going to come off as easily as that itchy dress I was supposed to wear. I have to formally disown it and divest it of all authority. The t.v. show was called “Branded” because the soldier had been convicted of cowardice….
Book Review: Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom
Swallows and Amazons, written by Arthur Ransome in 1930, is one of the most perfect children’s adventure novels I have ever read. My only regret is in taking so darn long to get to it. Despite being a reader and lover of English children’s literature, somehow I never knew about Swallows and Amazons until I…
Book Review: Shipwrecked: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy
What a coincidence that Shipwrecked was donated to my library just as Sara and I were putting the finishing touches on our Kensuke’s Kingdom book club packet, for which we are using this same cover! In the Author’s Note for Shipwrecked, Blumberg says she became fascinated with Manjiro while doing research for her book…
Reflection: Pitch a Tent in Hope
“My meditation on Acts 22:26 is something like, My flesh shall pitch a tent in confident expectation. This is not a confident expectation that God will arrange things in my life for my comfort and convenience. This is an expectation that God, who cannot lie, will do what he has promised.”