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!
Around the Web
Hilarious Picture Books with Dragons
It’s possible you’ve never read it, but our little intro header way up at the top of this email is quite possibly my favorite line in the entire email every single week. It says, “Links from around the web, the weekly run-down of StoryWarren.com, all in one convenient email. What more could you ask for? Dragons?” Well, we’re finally making good on that line with a post of picture books about dragons from Carolyn at House Full of Bookworms.
- I don’t know how it started, but there has been a surplus of funny picture books with dragons published in the last few years. And when I say funny, I mean hilarious. I literally can’t read some of these without laughing out loud.
If you have a child who likes dragons or just loves to laugh, these are your next reads.
When Your Kids Won’t Bow to Your Idols
- “One of the biggest sources of conflict between you and your kids is when they refuse to bow down to your idols.”
I dare you to cross stitch that and give it to a friend at her baby shower. DO IT.
When I had my first child, I was determined to knock this parenting thing out of the park. I read all the books, one in particular that was very A+B=C in nature.
Forgotten Magic: How my Toddler Recovered my Wonder
- He crouched down like she did, on his small haunches, and stroked the long green grass, ‘soft as a pillow,’ she told him.
“See?” she said, “so soft!”
His blue eyes excitedly met hers and his tiny mouth spread into his usual massive grin. Toddlerish giggles escaped his throat and he stood up, scampering off to explore more of that plot of grass they stood in – small, but oh so big to him.
She grinned just as he had when he left her side; she loved the outdoors, too.
The Failings of Eden
Our own Helena Sorensen has a piece at The Rabbit Room that helps us reframe our view of the Garden of Eden and the Fall.
- I wonder if this story is familiar to you.
Their bodies are virile and ageless, and they are glad and bold in their nakedness. They go out to meet the morning, and a cool mist rises from the fertile soil. The clear cries of birds linger over the tops of the trees. Every leaf is pristine, every flower saturated with color. The day’s work is a delight to them, and Adam laughs as a gecko shimmies up a tree and blinks. He gives it its name and sends it on its way while Eve reclines at his side. They eat the fruit of the garden, and it is all the nourishment they need. They never tire of its bright sweetness, and the waters of the river quench their thirst entirely. In the evenings, they visit with the Creator. They stroll and chat as the sun sets, and then Adam, filled to bursting with joy, stays up all night to name the stars.
They are given one—ONE—instruction. One rule to follow.
Around the Warren
Summer of My Extroverted Child
Rebecca Reynolds explores what it is to raise an extrovert.
- I’m 45-years-old, sitting in a locked bedroom, with one towel wrapped around my body and another wrapped around my hair. I’m wearing this because I’m hiding from my extroverted child.
Over the past twenty years, I have learned only one thing about raising children, and that’s this: kids don’t care if you are sitting on the toilet. They could walk through a room of 2,500 pooping mothers and not even flinch. But if they burst through your bedroom door (despite the fact that it’s locked) and catch you wearing a towel, they will say, “Oh, sorry.” Then they give you thirty bonus seconds before they start asking you more questions.
That’s how long I have to write this post. Thirty seconds.
Snowflake Bentley
Helena Sorensen and her family discovered a delight while aiming to fulfill a reading quest.
- If you haven’t bought a copy of Doug McKelvey and Jamin Still’s “Stories We Shared,” I highly recommend that you do. This book journal, a lovely tool for chronicling your family read-alouds, also includes a variety of reading quests that make for fun challenges during these quiet summer days. My kids are 8 and 5, and we decided to tackle the Caldecott Quest first. We put dozens of picture books on hold at the library, and we’ve checked them off the list one by one. Many, like Madeline’s Rescue, Jumanji, Owl Moon, Time of Wonder, and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, were already familiar. Others, like Sam, Bangs, & Moonshine, The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, Ox-Cart Man, Mirette on the High Wire, and A Sick Day for Amos McGee, have proven to be delightful surprises.
Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, was one of these.
Something to Do with Your Kids
If you’re hitting the end-of-summer boredom blues, here are some suggestions to get you through these final days.
And Something to Watch
This revolving piano duet is delightful. If you’ve got a pianist in your home, you can set this one up as #lifegoals. If you don’t, no worries, it’s a blast anyway.
Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 2 - January 18, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 1 - January 11, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 12, Issue 45 - December 21, 2024
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