The Warren & the World is Story Warren’s weekly newsletter, providing a round-up of our favorite things from around the web as well as a review of what was on our site over the past week. We’re glad you’re here!
It’s Ember Falls launch week and we’ve got Launch Week Specials in the Story Warren Store! Check them out and get some for yourself or friends!.
Around the Web
A Secret to Parenting that No One Tells You: The Strength is in the Struggle
Julie Lyles Carr has a guest post at A Holy Experience exploring lessons learned from sea turtles.
- We headed to a beautiful beach resort close to where we went on our original honeymoon and enjoyed several gorgeous days of rest and sunshine.
On one of our final evenings at the resort, we were sprawled on beach chairs, watching the sky move from shades of blue to a kaleidoscope of orange and pink and gold as the sun began to slide down the horizon.
From the corner of my eye, I saw several resort employees making their way down toward the surf, carrying a large plastic tub. Curious, I sat up in my chair. Michael, also curious, got up and walked down to where they were, then motioned for me to join him.
Nestled in the plastic tub were about 150 baby sea turtles, newly hatched that afternoon.
30 Questions to Ask Your Kid Instead of “How Was Your Day?”
Sara Goldstein provides some questions a little less open-ended to start that after-school conversation.
- When I picked my son up from his first day of 4th grade, my usual (enthusiastically delivered) question of “how was your day?” was met with his usual (indifferently delivered) “fine.”
Come on! It’s the first day, for crying out loud! Give me something to work with, would you, kid?
The second day, my same question was answered, “well, no one was a jerk.”
That’s good…I guess.
I suppose the problem is my own. That question actually sucks.
Talking To Kids About Suicide And Mental Illness
Lea Grover has some good pointers for parents on starting the conversation about mental illness with your kids.
- I was 14 when I tried to take my own life.
It wasn’t my first attempt, but it was the first when I knew what I was doing. My first attempt had been when I was 8 years old. I suffered from chronic insomnia, and as most parents probably would, my mother had given up on getting me to sleep. No amount of warm milk, quiet music, calming baths, or slow wind-downs had worked. On nights I came to her, complaining of my inability to sleep at 3 in the morning, she resorted to tucking me in on the couch, away from my sleeping sister, handing me a book and a shot of peach schnapps with the instructions, “Sip very, very slowly,” and going back to bed herself.
I didn’t know I was depressed, so nobody else had any way to know either.
Labor Day and a Trailer
Amy tells a story at Tiny Green Elephants about watching a church growth group come together to serve a family in need, and the ways the experience changed her perspective.
- My friend called me, she’s a teacher, “There’s a family…a little girl in my class, she and her mom are living out of their car. It’s four little girls and one boy.”
I ask around, the usual stuff, the local shelters, ask my growth group.
“They are welcome to the trailer on our property,” Heather texts back. “I have to check on water and electricity, it’s old, but it’s open.”
I call the mom, she’s kind.
My phone buzzes from a text, “The trailer is NOT ready for a family, we need to work on it…we need more time…”
“Andrew can we if they have to?”
We are still driving home from the mountains, he nods, “Yes.”
I call Mallory, the mother, back, “Hey, so the trailer needs another night before it’s ready, but you guys are welcome here if you need, just let me know, we have a room for you guys.”
Around the Warren
The Longer You Look
Helena Sorensen reminds us to look deeply and long.
- I’ve been looking at him a long time now. I’ve seen how he handles frustration. I’ve learned what he fears and what he despises. I’ve seen backward into his formative years, into the circumstances and messages that made him the man he is. I’ve watched him stand in rooms full of strangers and draw people to him with his calm, his humor. I’ve seen him wrestle our son and teach him how to build a campfire. I’ve seen him hug our daughter and tell her she’s a beauty.
I just keep on looking at him. You know, the longer I look, the more I see.
Review: SD Smith’s Ember Falls
James Witmer reviews S.D. Smith’s Ember Falls, available now!
- Sometimes I approach the writing of book reviews like a journalist: balanced, disinterested, with no agenda beyond illuminating the story so that readers can decide for themselves whether or not to try the book.
With this review of Ember Falls, though, I can’t pretend any of those things. I want to convince everyone – except for one group – to read Ember Falls immediately. The author, SD Smith, is a great friend of mine, and I’m terrifically proud of his work in this book.
Ember Falls is a sequel to the widely appreciated The Green Ember.
Something to Do with Your Kids
Have you heard of magnetic slime? It looks so cool. Here’s an instructional video on how to make it at home.
And Something to Watch
Destin at Smarter Every Day explores the physics of how cats always land on their feet. There’s lots of geeky science terms like “front inertia” in this one, but it’s pretty cool.
Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.
Carolyn Clare Givens is a displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her literary cat, Lord Peter Wimsey. 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.
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 13, Issue 16 - May 10, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 15 - May 3, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 14 - April 26, 2025
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