For an entire afternoon one Thursday in August, my family didn’t do anything exciting. To be clear, there are many mornings, afternoons, evenings, entire days, and possibly entire weeks where we do nothing exciting, but this particular afternoon stands out in my memory. We had just returned from a vacation to Homer, Alaska. After days…
My sons and I are learning to whittle. With careful hands and practiced movements we’re each shaving off slivers of basswood to turn our blocks into forms that hopefully look like mushrooms. The first slivers had barely hit our living room floor before a dozen wood creations were crafted in our minds. “I want to…
“Don’t worry, he’s the main character so nothing bad will happen to him,” my seven-year-old assures my five-year-old with a matter-of-factness that only a young child can muster. The author reinforces his belief, guiding the protagonist through every battle and hardship with ease. Do bad things happen to good characters? Do heroes ever fail their…
