Reformation Day!
I know, we’re not there yet. It was on All Hallow’s Eve (nicknamed Halloween) that the fiery preacher of Wittenberg marched down the cobbled streets with a parchment in one hand and a hammer in the other. How many nails did it take? What kind of attention did he attract while he was standing there? …
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How to Throw a Simple Book Party with Costumes
You’re not going to believe me when I say that a book party with costumes can be very, very easy. Trust me. It’s all in the (easy) details and your children’s amazing imagination. I promise. Years ago, a good friend of mine told me that her family did a book party every Halloween night: costumes, the movie…
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Reading Diana Wynne Jones: an Author Portrait
You just finished a good book. Now what? Many book lovers can relate to this sad, unsatisfied feeling. But what if you banished that feeling, by reading the same author widely? Some discernment needs to be applied, especially if the author wrote across genres. And unfortunately, it doesn’t apply for an author of limited works. …
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Word Shapers: 4 Men Who Influenced the English Language
Word Shaper: Someone who shapes, and changes, words. We associate envy with the color green. Why? William Shakespeare. In America, we write “color” instead of the British “colour.” Why? Noah Webster. We have myriad books printed just for children. Why? John Newbery. Instead of “said,” we can use a thesaurus to look up “chorused,” “spoke,”…
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Portrait of a Reader: The Adventurer
Portrait of a Reader is a new feature in which we try to “unpack” a particular kind of reader. The portraits will overlap; most people will fit into more than one. Rather than being a personality test, this is more of an interest-based and ability-based description. Meet the Adventurer: a Lover of Adventure in Books and…
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Reformation Church History Book List
Happy 500th birthday to the Protestant Reformation! 500 years ago this month, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door in Wittenburg. Of course, the Reformation encompasses more than just Luther’s bold act. The Lord used men and women before and after Luther to bravely proclaim the importance of God’s Word, God’s grace, Christ’s sufficiency,…
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10 New Picture Books for All Ages, All Interests, Fact and Fiction!
New picture books! Brand, spanking, new! Beautiful, silly, thoughtful, informative, and downright fun. Take a look! (Several of these made it onto our Back-to-School Booklist, but they’re worth reminding everyone about.) Titles are linked to amazon (affiliate links, thanks!). This Beautiful Day by Richard Jackson and illustrated by Suzy Lee. Atheneum, 2017. 40 pages. For…
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Bird Boy Project: Discussion Forum 4 (and an exciting giveaway!)
Okay readers, this is it: yesterday I sent out the three final chapters and those of you who have been clamoring for “one more chapter, please!” (there are a few) have now had all your questions answered. Except . . . you haven’t. Sometimes I read an action-packed page-turner and don’t realize until the end…
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Bird Boy Project: Discussion Forum 2 (and another great giveaway!)
By chapters 8-13, we’re well into the development part of the novel, which (you may recall) I mentioned is the often the most difficult part to write. Every story has a beginning, middle, and end, and when an author begins a novel, she usually has the beginning part clearly in mind. The ending may be…
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The Bird Boy Project: Discussion Forum 1 (and book giveaway!)
At last count, thirty families and individuals (and a few classes) have signed up to receive daily chapters of my latest in-progress novel. (If you don’t know anything about this and would like to know more, see the Introductory post and the Signup post.) Today you receive chapter 7, and that brings us a little…
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