The Warren & the World Vol 6, Issue 25

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

Screen-Free Travel: Road Trip Games for Kids

Erica at What Do We Do All Day? has thoughts on how to make road trips less iPad reliant.

Here’s the scene. The whole family is looking forward to vacation. You are going somewhere exciting and new! There will be sun! Sand! Surf! Mountains!
The problem? It’s one heck of a car ride.
So what, you’ll just pull out the iPads, right?
Sure, it’s easy to strap on the headphones and give each kid his or her own screen to watch what they want, but will it challenge their critical thinking skills, improve literacy, strengthen math skills, enhance family bonds?

“I’m Proud Of You” – My New Hero

There’s a new documentary about Mister Rogers out, and here’s an old piece by Jason Gray about finding a new hero.

“L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” (What is essential is invisible to the eyes – from Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince)
These are the words on a plaque hanging in the office of my new hero. Who might that be you may wonder? Kierkegard? Billy Graham? Bono?
Would you be surprised if I told you it was…Mister Rogers?
Let me explain:

10 New Middle-Grade Books, June 2018

Melissa Taylor has a new book list at Imagination Soup.

I absolutely loved Front Desk — it’s my favorite book on this list — don’t miss it. The others are mostly a mix of adventure and coming-of-age.

Music, Children, and Chaos

Drew Miller writes about the joy of an out-of-tune piano and bad harmony.

There I stood, in front of the fireplace with my guitar strapped on and dozens of lyric sheets in my hands with songs like “This Is My Father’s World” and “Be Thou My Vision.” I turned to my left and gave the nearest student that familiar instruction to “take one and pass them back,” watching the sheets of paper make their way around the circle we had formed along the perimeter of the room. On this Wednesday morning, chapel was held not at school, but at our neighboring nursing home. In the middle of the room, couches were filled with residents, some smiling pleasantly, others vacantly, and still others giving the appearance of being annoyed at the general state of things. The smell of artificial maple syrup wafted through the air.

Around the Warren

Stories, Soup, and Sewing Needles

Hannah Hubin finds truth again in The Tale of Despereaux.

Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux tells the story of a kingdom in which a protagonist makes friends with a princess, a rat with a broken heart hatches an evil plot, a queen drowns in a bowl of soup, and a mouse born with open eyes and big ears becomes a knight with a shining sword. It is, quite simply, a children’s story – a wonderous and imaginative plot that unfolds between Chapter One and happily ever after.
Much of what makes The Tale of Despereaux such a good children’s story is that it, like all good children’s stories, does not have to exist. There was no reason for Despereaux to live; he was the last and the least, nothing depended upon his life, and by all logic he should not have survived. Yet we have a story only because he did live.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Liz Cottrill rediscovers an old favorite book.

What is your opinion of a 44-year-old mother who reads a children’s novel and stays up till 1:00 a.m. to finish it? And what if she reads it again 15 years later and finds it just as entertaining as the first time? Does this reflect immaturity on her taste in literature, or could it be that it is true that the best literature for children is best because it is enjoyed at any age?

Something to Do with Your Kids

Need a good craft for these summer days? Try these plastic bead suncatchers.

And Something to Watch

This week was the summer solstice–the longest day of the year–in the Northern Hemisphere. Need help explaining to your little ones why they have to go to bed while it’s still light out? Check out this video.