And the winners are…
Volunteering to judge a poetry contest is simultaneously one of the best and the worst jobs I could have asked for. The best, because it is exciting to read so many wonderful entries from so many talented poets! The worst because, well, although we really want to encourage everyone, we finally had to select winners. We…
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Short Summer-Length Devotionals for Families
Summer’s Just Around the Corner! My family’s summer schedule is quite different from our school year schedule. What with travel, fun in the sun, and other diversions, it’s easy to get completely out of our normal routine. I find myself steering away from big “commitments.” Part of the charm of these two devotional guides by…
Read MorePoetry Contest Update!
Poetry Contest Closed and Winners Announced Soon! Our Poetry Contest is officially closed–many thanks to all the contestants! We received some fantastic entries, more than 50 total. We are putting our heads together and plan to announce the winners this coming week. This will be a tough decision; there are some talented young poets among…
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Interview with Judah Ben: Kai’Ro, Christian Rap and the Progress of Urban Pilgrims
Introduction There are very few modern books that I see as really significant. But I see the Kai’ Ro series–an urban interpretation of Pilgrim’s Progress–by youth minister, Judah Ben, as one of those series that may actually help change the landscape of Christian publishing. How you ask? His book brings the Christian rap movement–a kind…
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Web Newberys, News, and Freebies (April 29)
News Is it possible we’re heading into May already?! That means we’ve got lots of great plans in the works for our Summer Reading Challenge (look for that announcement soon!), but in the meantime, we’re getting reading to launch what I’m calling Missionary May. That means we will be covering lots of Christian books for…
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Inspiring (very) young artists
God is a God of words and pictures. He has revealed Himself to us through words in Scripture and visually in creation, and made us in his image to reflect his beauty both ways. Some folks love words, some are gifted in pictures, a few are talented at both, and others excel through other means of…
Read MorePodcast 29: What’s in Your Local Public Library?
Library Tour Introduction It’s taken us all week to pull it off, but we finally have it: a conversation with Janie Cheaney (the kids’ book author), Megan E. Saben and Betsy Farquhar (our resident librarians), and me–Emily Whitten (a former assistant editor at a kids’ book publisher). For more about us, see our About page.…
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Loving Your Library
I’ll bet most of us have warm memories of the local library. I grew up in Dallas, where one of the many benefits of the big city was the library system. The local branch was great, but we also took advantage, on many Saturday mornings, of the main library downtown, easily reachable by bus. I…
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Library Week, News and Freebies
Library Week It’s finally here: Library Week! Because my family homeschools, we depend on our local library quite a lot, so I’m looking forward to giving libraries and many librarians across America credit where credit is due. While the welfare office feeds hungry bellies, cure libraries feed hungry minds and souls. They open doors to…
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Church Literacy, Part Two: Welcoming Kids and Adults with Reading Difficulties
Last week in Church Literacy, Part One, we heard from a Christian mom who dealt with dyslexia in her son. I hope that gave you a little insight into what a family faces when they deal with something like dyslexia. Of course, dyslexia is only one of the many reasons roughly 20% of any given…
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