Did you ever dream of becoming a detective? My daughter and I have been reading Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Craig Sharmat. We kept the experience going all weekend with more books, activities and detective apps. This funny series features the adventures of a pancake-loving kid detective and his kooky […]

Looking for a quick winter activity with housebound kids? When it’s time to turn off the TV, kids can make their own movie! It’s a powerful form of storytelling, a way to make sure a kid’s favorite story never ends. All you need is a smartphone, stuffed animals, or action figures.

Does the kid in your life love ballet? Last month, I read Ian Falconer’s Olivia and the Fairy Princesses at my daughter’s preschool. It is a fantastic book, introducing kids to independent thinking, modern dance and the work of dancer Martha Graham. In a funny sequence of illustrations, the main character reenacts Graham’s famous dance, “Lamentation.” The […]

My daughter Olive loved reading Cosmo and the Robot by Brian Pinkney. This science fiction picture book recounts the adventures of two kids living on Mars. They explored the red planet, saved a broken robot and used a variety of space tools in their adventures. In Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age, I described how […]

Is the kid in your life obsessed with Disney’s Frozen? Instead of forcing children to read about something they don’t care about, help them find more books and multimedia materials related to the hit movie. In Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age, I encourage kids and caregivers to explore all kinds of media: […]

Are you reading the right way with the child in your life? In Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age, I share simple, yet effective interactive reading techniques to maximize the benefits and enjoyment of storytime. It’s not only important THAT we read with children, but also HOW we read with children. Born […]