I am a word gatherer. I can sweet-talk a phrase here and surprise a pun there—finding the words to hold a feeling. I revel in playing with words for the sheer joy of writing. My passion is cultivating the heart-to-heart writer/reader connection. A joy-bringer, my glass is always half-full. A former Poetry Day Liaison for OCTELA (Ohio Teachers of English Language Arts), a Teacher Consultant with the National Writing Project, educator, author, and poet, I share hope-filled stories and poems.
When Water Makes Mud: A Story of Refugee Children is a tribute to the resourcefulness of children who have no toys but continue to play. Play is the work of a child.You will be inspired by the refugee children's use of critical thinking, problem-solving, design, and engineering skills.
The exquisite pictures in a National Geographic articlestarted the picture book story for me. Nora Lorek, the photographer graciously gave me her email and became my inspiration and resource. This picture book is dedicated to the 200,000 refugee children living at the Bidibidi settlement in Uganda. These refugee children come with nothing but their hopes and dreams. Their hope becomes our hope.Publisher’s profits from this book are being donated to UNICEF Uganda.
I appreciate the gentle way Ellen Leventhal empowers children in this picture book—showing even the youngest child can do small things to help others. Charlotte, the main character, her parents, and her toy bear arrive at the shelter after evacuating their home because of flooding. Charlotte watches people at the shelter and in the community share acts of kindness with the flood victims. Even though she is sad and upset, she follows their example. When Charlotte sees a younger child crying because his teddy was lost in the flood, she gives her stuffie to the little boy. It reminds me of how attached my two-year-old grandson is to his teddy bear. These small gestures shine a light of healing and hope during a natural disaster.
Perfect for all children experiencing loss or grief, A Flood of Kindness gracefully confronts difficult feelings and celebrates the healing power of kindness.
"The night the river jumped its banks, everything changed."
So begins A Flood of Kindness, a poignant picture book that addresses grief and loss and demonstrates how kindness can bring hope. Written in spare prose and told from an intimate first-person point of view, the story follows Charlotte, a young girl who watches floodwaters rise in her home and is forced to evacuate to a storm shelter with her parents. Kind people she doesn't know give her…
I purchased this book for my own little inventor—my second-grade granddaughter. She pores over the pages of this book soaking in the stories of the biomimicry inventors who solved problems by observing the natural world. Kristen Nordstrom’s stories encourage her to wonder. Her favorite invention stories come from activities she pursues herself outside—watching birds and chasing propeller maple seeds. I particularly like the resources and suggestions for how children can be mimic makers in the book. Mimic makers are our hope for finding solutions to problems.
“Young readers will be captivated by the contemporary inventors and inventions featured, and inspired to incorporate biomimicry into their own designs.” —Miranda Paul, author of One Plastic Bag and Water is Water
Who's the best teacher for scientists, engineers, AND designers? Mother nature, of course!
When an inventor is inspired by nature for a new creation, they are practicing something called biomimicry. Meet ten real-life scientists, engineers, and designers who imitate plants and animals to create amazing new technology. An engineer shapes the nose of his train like a kingfisher's beak. A scientist models her solar cell on the mighty…
Lindsey McDivitt’s lyrical language and Charly Palmer’s powerful illustrations go hand in hand drawing me into the storytelling of this picture book biography. I need to read books and be inspired by ordinary people who do extraordinary things. The story tells us how Nelson Mandela missed his wife and five children after being unjustly imprisoned for 27 years but continued his education during his years in prison.Nelson Mandela is an example for all of us showing the characteristics of leadership—courage, love, understanding, patience, sacrifice, hard work, and a passion for freedom from an unjust apartheid system for non-white citizens. His desire was for unity and freedom for everyone. Nelson Mandela’s example gives us hope for the world.
Kirkus Starred Review: “Beautiful, informative, essential.” School Library Journal Starred Review: “Highly recommended for libraries that need titles about the ongoing global fight against racism.”
As Nelson Mandela lived and worked under the unjust system of apartheid, his desire for freedom grew. South Africa separated people by races, oppressing the country’s non-white citizens with abusive laws and cruel restrictions. Every day filled Mandela with grief and anger. But he also had hope—hope for a nation that belonged to everyone who lived in it.
From his work with the African National Congress, to his imprisonment on Robben Island, to his extraordinary…
The true story of the survivor tree—the pear tree that survived the 9/11 attack—is tenderly told by Ann Magee. As a mom of a veteran, it takes me back to that time. After this tragedy, my youngest son enlisted in the National Guard and was eventually deployed. His motivation? “There’s all the more reason now,” he replied. The tree’s resilience represents the strength of our nation and its helpers. This picture book is a beautiful tribute to all first responders and gives us hope for the future.
“This true-life fable about a tree that survived 9/11 commemorates the attack while evoking a resilient spirit and the healing power of nature." —Carole Boston Weatherford, author of Newbery Honor book BOX
“Branches of Hope is a tribute to resilience and hope, a gentle way to talk with our youngest readers about the memory of 9/11.” —Kate Messner, author of The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs
The branches of the 9/11 Survivor Tree poked through the rubble at Ground Zero. They were glimpses of hope in the weeks after September 11, 2001.
During the pandemic, I seek refuge outdoors. I walk from my home to a metro park in my neighborhood. The woods are soothing in their peacefulness and beauty. When I read Deborah Underwood’s Outside In,that same peacefulness surrounds me. Cindy Derby’s watercolor illustrations are stunning. The lyrical language and illustrations in the book are comforting and exhilarating at the same time. The beauty of nature is our hope for healing.
From the New York Times best-selling author behind The Quiet Book comes a mindful contemplation on the many ways nature affects our everyday lives, even when we're stuck inside. Five starred reviews!
Perfect for fans of Joyce Sidman and Julie Fogliano, Outside In reminds emerging readers of the ways nature creates and touches our lives in homes, apartments, and cars, and is the perfect homeschooling tool to reflect on the world's connectedness.
Outside is waiting, the most patient playmate of all. The most generous friend. The most miraculous inventor. This thought-provoking picture book poetically underscores…
Gabrielle found her grandfather’s diaries after her mother’s death, only to discover that he had been a Nazi. Born in Berlin in 1942, she and her mother fled the city in 1945, but Api, the one surviving male member of her family, stayed behind to work as a doctor in a city 90% destroyed.
Gabrielle retraces Api’s steps in the Berlin of the 21st century, torn between her love for the man who gave her the happiest years of her childhood and trying to come to terms with his Nazi membership, German guilt, and political responsibility.
Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past
"This is not a book I will forget any time soon."
Story Circle Book Reviews
Moving and provocative, Api's Berlin Diaries offers a personal perspective on the fall of Berlin 1945 and the far-reaching aftershocks of the Third Reich.
After her mother's death, Robinson was thrilled to find her beloved grandfather's war diaries-only to discover that he had been a Nazi.
The award-winning memoir shows Api, a doctor in Berlin, desperately trying to help the wounded in cellars without water or light. He himself was reduced to anxiety and despair, the daily diary his main refuge. As Robinson retraces Api's…
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