Queen Christie’s enchanted sword cast a halo through the underbrush as she crouched low, her keen eyes scanning the darkness for a familiar glimmer. A breeze tousled her hair, and she caught her breath as she glimpsed it: the glow of a magic stone discarded among the brambles. With a quick motion she snatched it…
Some years ago, I listened to a talk by cognitive psychologist Lera Boroditsky about how language shapes the way we think. Lera talked about an Aboriginal community in Australia that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right. An example of using this in everyday life would be to say, “There’s an insect approaching your…
Something caught the ear of my oldest as he passed through the living room. His younger brothers and I were piled on the couch reading Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran, and he couldn’t help but linger and listen as the gentle prose pulled us all into the magical world of Roxaboxen. Barbara Cooney’s darling illustrations put…
Do you remember when you “graduated” from the kids’ table and joined the adult table at Thanksgiving or other family gatherings? Was that transition something you’d looked forward to? Or did you find yourself wishing you were back with younger siblings and cousins? While you sit with those memories for a minute, let’s connect that…
My grandparent’s house has been pink for about as long as I can remember. Nestled in a quiet neighborhood, only a few doors down from a church with a bell. The house had a palm tree in the front yard and a giant evergreen near the garage that seemed perennially a home to an owl….
NOTE: We plucked this one from the archives, because I think Kelly’s lovely welcome to new readers should be repeated for ALL new readers! – JDW Dear Child, Today you read your first word. It was “at.” You then proceeded to read “am,” “an,” and “ad.” These are small words as the English language goes…
There is a certain little word that can make parents crazy. It is worse than ‘Oww!’, more frustrating than ‘No!’, and more challenging than ‘Mine!’ That word is: ‘Why?’ At a far-too-young age most children discover the word ‘why’ and its mystical powers for simultaneously getting parents to talk and flustering them. My wife and…
My wife loves plants. I love beautiful places that encourage a restful heart. The result is that I have learned to love gardening and the general niftyness of the plant world. Caring for plants can also open our eyes to larger truths. For example: After thinking over the relationships I’ve been blessed with, I’ve concluded…
First, Maginos heard the clacking of jaws. Stooped on one knee, his whiskers drooping, the mouse wizard glanced up to see a monstrous spider looming above him, its eyes burning through the gloom like hot coals. Maginos stretched out a trembling forepaw, and the hint of a magic firebolt sparked between his fingers. Every muscle…
Little Men is the perfect summer read-aloud. It is a story that celebrates motherhood, life-long learning, community and relationships. Through the antics of the boys and girls and the gentle patience of Jo and Mr. Bauer we are introduced to a lovely story sure to please any age. Little Men continues with the characters from…
There’s something I wish I could give to my friends who are moms of toddlers and babies. I wish I could give you a taste of what I see, now that my oldest children are teenagers. I want to give this to you, because I know you are tired. I know it feels like some…
Lucy Pevensie scans the deck of the Dawn Treader in panic. A gloom like a rolling fog pressses upon the ship as the prow slices through a black sea. Sweat beads Drinian’s brow as he clutches the tiller. Caspian, the noble prince who freed the company from captivity and vanquished a sea serpent, twitches in…
