There was a GOAT Jeopardy Tournament going on this week and my trivia brain has gotten a steady stream of fodder. I feel so good when I get just one answer right–and then I realize I’d be a terrible actual competitor. I’ll stick with reading the Trivial Pursuit cards from the game in my closet.

Around the Web

Unplug with Picture Books about Screen-Free Play

This book list combines some of my favorite things: picture books and play!

• It’s virtually impossible to be totally screen-free these days, although parents can take steps to keep screen use under control. I’ve yet to meet a parent who says, “I wish Junior spent more time playing Fortnite than he spends outdoors!” Ha! One way to share the joys of putting down the iPad is by reading picture books about unplugged play and the joys it holds in store for your whole family!
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The Big Story We’ve Fallen Into

Trevin Wax reminds us of the wonder of the story we live in.

• One of my favorite lines from The Lord of the Rings is when Sam and Frodo reflect on people and adventures recounted in old tales and songs. Then Sam asks, “I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into.” At the heart of this question lies the understanding that we are all in a story, and that our actions have meaning in light of that story.
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The Search for Rest in a Hurry-Up World

Jenny Donnelly reminds us the value to be still.

• My daughter Esther pulled a children’s book off the shelf and began to read it aloud. From the kitchen, I overheard something like this:
  Make your bed! Hurry up! Hurry up!
  Eat your cereal! Hurry up! Hurry up!
  Run to school! Hurry up! Hurry up!
  I made a beeline for the living room and snatched the book out of her hands.
  As a recovering hurry-upper, I didn’t want my kids to fall into that habit
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A Decade of Books

Sally Lloyd-Jones is a favorite of ours, for many reasons–one of which is all her books. Here, she looks back at the last decade and all the books she’s written.

• As I was thinking about the past decade I thought I’d just look back at the books that came out in the last 10 years. I’m blown away by how fortunate and blessed I have been that my agent, my editors and publishers and illustrators believed in the stories and helped bring them out into the world. And that you believed in the stories, too and brought them into your homes, schools, and libraries and shared them with your children. It is an honour and a privilege. And I am so grateful. Thank you!
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Around the Warren

Little While Trials

Andrew Senior shares some of his own reflections, prayers, and poetry on the “little while trials” that he knows his children will face.

• I felt them in my wife’s tummy before they even entered the world. I knew them when they needed us for everything. I feel towards them a protective instinct that even I don’t always understand. It’s absolutely right and inherent that I do not want my children to suffer. Something would be wrong if I was ambivalent about it. But equally I believe it’s naïve to think that my children will not suffer in this earthly life.
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Courageous: Inspiring Courage Through Classic Literature

Jessica Burke recommends Cindy Cage’s book.

• My little girl comes to me in the middle of the night. Crying, she asks me how to stop worrying. She’s struggled with anxiety for years now, even though she’s still young.
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Something to Do with Your Kids

If you have a cold or rainy day, you may need drawing prompts for your artists. The Kids Activities Blog has them!

Something to Watch

A camera set up in National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, Italy, filmed a tree for 365 days.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. -The Story Warren Team

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Carolyn Clare Givens

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.

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