When you’re looking for new books to read, how do you search for them? Do you talk with your friends and ask them what their favorites are and what they’re currently reading? Do you find influencers you trust and have similar tastes to yours and see what they...
When you were a child, what did you want to be? I’ve heard the most common answers were things like astronauts, actors, artists, and the like. For me, I was part of a group of friends who were afflicted by the 2000s Disney-induced craze of people who wanted to be...
You wake up in the morning, and your first thought is something along the lines of, “I need to get up and move in order to get the kids up so they’re on time for school,” “I have to pack them lunches and snacks,” or, “I need to make them breakfast.” During the day,...
The thing I hear most from parents is, “I feel like I’m not connecting with my kids. They don’t listen or cooperate. We’re stuck engaging in power struggles and I feel terrible about our interactions, especially after I yell and lose my cool.” The truth about...
Have you ever found yourself opening up a brand new book and ready to read, only to get through about twenty pages of the story when you realize that the whole time, your mind has been elsewhere? I experience this rather frequently. Though I read the words on the...
I miss reading picture books with my kids! They’re both teenagers now and prefer reading on their own. Which of course, was always the goal. The great thing about reading with young kids is that it’s so interactive. There’s more to it than just the story. You create a...
“She looks like me!” exclaimed 6 year old Anisha excitedly, on first seeing the character Rocket in Rocket Says Look Up. “This is my favourite book now!” That is the power or representation in books. Positive Representation Every child should have the right and the...
Have you ever been in one of those pay-it-forward car chains when you’re in the drive-thru line? It gives me quite the mix of emotions. First, there’s the delight and shock of something being taken care of for you, and then the guilty dread as you realize that you...
It’s been 12 years since I began the practice of having a word help guide me through my year of life experiences and lessons. Each year I like to recap how it went and predict my intentions with the newly chosen word! Last year when I selected the 2022 word, Rise, I...
Can you believe the end of the year is just around the corner? Sheesh! It feels like the years keep getting faster and faster. Well, don’t let the passing of time stress you out because we’re going to check out some ultra-fun activities to do as a family on New Year’s...
I am Melanie Adkins, and I am a Picture Book writer and illustrator wannabe! I am hoping that one day I will reach my goal and see my work in print. Today, I am here as a guest writer to think about character. It always amazes me to think of how all the characters...
Now that Halloween is in the books for 2022, it’s time to start thinking about turkeys, holiday shopping, and the important contributions of Native Americans. November is Native American Heritage Month, which emphasizes celebrating diverse cultures and is a perfect...
My mom is amazing at reciting poetry, memorizing phone numbers and birth dates. She also has an amazing gift to remember stories of growing up in rural Honduras. There is one particular story she tells of going into the city riding on Macho, the mule, with her dad, my...
Ah, it’s that time of year again. One thing I have noticed about the topic of Autumn is that people either love it or can’t stand it! I can imagine Autumn is a particularly difficult transition for those that are their happiest in the Summer. There are still...
Nothing is quite as serious at our house as game time. And while football reigns supreme in my part of the world during this crisp time of year, I’m referring to another kind of game. The board game. My family loves a good board game. Whether it be one requiring skill...
Being a differently abled mom, I know firsthand what it is like to feel different. Right before my high school graduation in the year 2000, I was a passenger in a head-on collision, leaving me an incomplete quadriplegic. After years of physical therapy, I regained...
Think back to when you were a kid. What fascinated you? What were you passionate about? How much time were you able to devote to those topics? For many of us, the act of pursuing our true interests was relegated to small pockets of time in the evening after...
There is a reason for the seasons. I am not a scientist and I won’t get all technical on you but it has to do with the Earth and its tilted axis. As I live and learn, I am finding there are seasons in my own life that have nothing to do with the Earth and its tilted...
What do YOU think? Resilience. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger? We each have our story and I wonder, do you believe that saying? I do, when I am far enough away from the trauma or trying times that we had gone through. But when you are in it? Geesh, looking for...
Do you remember a time when you were young and you wanted to be included, but you weren’t? It’s a terrible feeling. It’s strange that now as an adult, it doesn’t bother me much at all. When I first heard of the term FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) I thought, “That’s...
The pandemic was pushing groups of people apart because of their personal views on masks and vaccines, heck, it was dividing families as well. Then we started to see hate and violence against racial groups. Unfair and unjust. I started to pay attention to what, if...
There is something WE DO want to spread these days and it’s kindness. As a society, we have been challenged in more than one way over the last few years. But something that hasn’t expired is the power KINDNESS has in a home, community and in the world. Let’s dive into...