For context, I typically write this newsletter in the evenings. On days when I have a large lunch (today, for instance), I often don’t really need dinner. But if I stay awake past 8 pm, I get peckish before bedtime. The logical bedtime snack is, of course, cereal. I can see at least half of you nodding along with my thinking here. But let me share my dilemma: I’m out of milk, and about three hours from getting hungry. So, do I wrap up the Warren & the World and head out to the store for milk (which will, inevitably, also result in me purchasing the store-brand Lucky Charms), or do I hold out and try to stave off the bedtime snackies with something else? I suppose a third option is going to sleep at 7:30. Maybe I’ll try that.

Around the Web

The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo

Janie at Redeemed Reader points us to a middle grade novel from Kate DiCamillo.

• The Puppets of Spelhorst is a bittersweet fairy tale with engaging characters and an enthralling conclusion.
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Leaning In

Emily Doane reflects on lessons learned about Jesus from her rafting guide.

• As the bow of our raft started to plummet into a Class 4 rapid on the Arkansas River, my pulse quickened and my adrenaline shot up as I heard my guide shout, “Paddle forward! Don’t stop!”
  My best friend and I were seated at the bow, in charge of setting the pace for the four other strangers to follow. If I were to fall out of the raft, I had to trust that one of them would help rescue me. Before the tour began, I doubted their ability to do so when they all shared that they didn’t know how to swim.
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What We Get Right, and Wrong, About Hope in Sports

Timothy Thomas considers our understanding of hope and optimism through the lens of sports.

• In 2021, Baltimore Ravens (the NFL team I root for) kicker Justin Tucker lined up to kick a game-winning, record-setting 66-yard field goal against the Detroit Lions. Tucker is considered statistically the most accurate field goal kicker in history and has now made more field goals than any other kicker in NFL history. So the decision to send Tucker on the field at Detroit’s indoor Ford Field Stadium for such a long field goal didn’t seem that outlandish. Many Ravens fans assessed the situation and were hopeful about the team’s chances to win. Many were also optimistic.
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Prayer Too Deep for Words

Rachel Wojo lifts up a prayer when no words come.

• She, too, had lost her daughter, though her circumstances were completely different than my own. Her note began: “I know you are a praying woman.”
  Read more

Around the Warren

Bookish Believers

Katelyn Ho reflects on what good reading does for our faith.

• It felt like a guilty pleasure, like scrolling through pratfall videos on TikTok. I could have been studying I Corinthians or poring over the latest John Piper paperback. I could even have been slogging through The Scarlet Letter for AP English. But there I was sitting on my bed, turning the pages in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
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Review: While Everyone is Sleeping

Kelly Keller reviews Sarah Mackenzie’s second picture book.

• Many of our readers probably recognize the name Sarah Mackenzie from her faithful presence in the read-aloud world. Sarah is the host of the popular Read-Aloud Revival podcast, encouraging parents, teachers, and adults of all vocations to recapture the joy of reading aloud to the children in their lives.
  Sarah’s most recent offering into this space is a beautiful picture book tailor-made for reading aloud: While Everyone is Sleeping. 
  Read more

Something to Do with Your Kids

Are you looking for some fun family activities for the next month? Check out this list of options to consider in the month of November!

Something to Watch

I introduced you to RobWords a few weeks ago, and he’s now released a video all about dinosaur names, and that’s just grand.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

–The Story Warren Team

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Carolyn Clare Givens

Carolyn Clare Givens is displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her two literary cats, Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. She's the author of The King's Messenger and Rosefire and in her free time helps run Bandersnatch Books.

You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.

Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)

• The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 41 - December 9, 2023
• The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 40 - December 2, 2023
• The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 39 - November 25, 2023