Raising Readers

Spring break 2018 has ended for us, and we had such blast on our week off! Not only did we spend time out with friends and family, not only did we go to playtime events and amusement parks, but Penelope (my 5 year old) came to me with this book in hand before the week ended. Ages 4-7........... $4.99 "Mommy, I have a list of FIVE things we need to do. And don't worry, they're all at home! And I'll help get them ready!" Now, if you know my kid, you know that she has strong determination in the things she does. She makes long, elaborate plans without anyone knowing and then brings us into her world at 1,000 MPH without turning back. If you aren't familiar with Billie B. Brown, she is a spunky little girl with a best friend, Jack. They show up in each other's books, learning life lessons that any young child can relate to and apply to life. And you know what? That's exactly what my daughter was doing: Applying a life lesson she learned from th

I consider myself pretty stinkin lucky because I have two girls who are extremely close. They are more than sisters, they are best friends. For the most part, when they're together, they play SO well together. Eleanor looks up to her big sister with wide eyes soaking up everything she does and Penelope wraps her arms around her little sister and guides her through learning new things daily. So, when Penelope brought home a virus that kept her home from school for about two weeks, I wasn't really concerned about boredom. And really, that was for 2 reasons. 1) My kiddos get along like crazy (about 90% of the time. There's still room for sibling confrontation because, hey, they're human). and 2) Sticker books. Yup, that's right, sticker books. We have so many sticker books because I stock up on those suckers in bulk! You never know when there might be a birthday party you've forgotten about and need a last minute gift. Or when there's a surprise snow

Have you seen my new YouTube series, Caboodle Doodles, yet? No?! What are you waiting for? Go  HERE to see the newest episode In this episode, I grabbed The Big Book of Drawing, Doodling, and Coloring (which, for right now, is on customer special for ONLY $8! It's a steal!) and started with, what I thought, was a pretty easy page. I am no artist, clearly. BUT I do enjoy a good, relaxing coloring session. I don't care if you're 3, 30, or 300 years old, it's very clear that coloring has some serious benefits for individuals. Did you know? Coloring provides a meditative state of mind Coloring lowers stress and anxiety levels Coloring helps you focus on the present task in front of you Coloring aids in practicing problem solving skills Coloring activates the creative side of your brain And coloring can help develop fine motor skills If you're like me, join me on this little adventure! Grab yourself a copy of the book  HERE or go to &

I'm sure if you've been on Pintrest any time in the past...forever, you've seen beautiful reading corners set up with blankets and pillows, and canopies. Sometimes, there are even tents or special lamps. There's usually a place to store books so that kids can easily grab one and comfortably sit down and read. A quick search and you'll find a million different ways to put together your own special corner for your kids to have a magazine cover reading spot. I look at these and think of how beautiful they are. And then I think about how little my girls would use it for actual reading. I am 1000000% sure they would end up turning it into a castle. Or a cave. Or some fairy land where they have to defeat bad guys to save the world from total devastation. I'm sure these kinds of reading corners work well in some homes. I'm sure they work fabulously in classrooms. I just don't think they're for us. Instead, I want to share with you the top 5 reading &q

I suppose as a book lady, it's pretty easy for me to spout off the importance of reading. But how should you respond when presented with reading myths? I've come up with a list of five common myths I've been told by several people, and I want to reassure everyone there is nothing too big to not make reading a part of your daily life! MYTH #5 Reading can only be done through books. Yes, books are AMAZING tools! But you know what else you can read? Anything else with words. Literally. Anything. Else. With. Words. If your child feels a little turned off by the thought of a book for some reason, they don't have to miss out on reading all together. Read the back of cereal boxes together. Or street signs. Or menus. Or birthday cards. Write notes back and forth to each other. Take the pressure off of your child from the necessity to read a book and shift their attention to something else. I promise there is something tangible in their lives they can read,

I recently read that 35% of teachers make it a habit to read to their students. Thirty-five percent. Let that number sink in for a minute. Less than half of our teachers are reading out loud to their students daily. Now, I am not saying that teachers are lazy. I am not saying they lack doing good in the classroom. I am not saying they are doing less than they should. In fact, every teacher I've had the pleasure to work with has been an amazing hard working professional who delivers their hearts to their students, teaching them skills to succeed as leaders. What I AM saying is that our teachers have too much pressure on them. Our schools run on test scores, which are then observed by the state as the deciding factor for programs, funds, and support. And when teachers feel their jobs are on the line by those scores, they might start focusing "teaching to the tests" instead of teaching to the hearts. I don't have any answers on battling this, but I do recogniz

Once upon a time there was a book lady who decided she wanted to occupy another tiny part in the interwebs and so she grabbed a hold of the blogosphere and said "Hello, blogosphere! I think you and I should be friends!" Sometimes, you just need to Do. The. Thing. And right now? Blogging is The. Thing. that needs doing. So what should you expect? As with most things in the world, I'm not 100% sure. And that's A-Okay because finding out is half the fun (or, maybe most the fun, only time will tell) All I know is that right now, I *think* it'll be part mommy-ing, part reflections, part figuring out social media, and of course, lots of books, reading, and literature. Brought Cuddle Bear's Book of Hugs and the cuddliest Cuddle Bear into my kindergartener's classroom! I can tell you what it's NOT going to be: perfectly refined and edited material. Because as much as I'd like to give you perfectly refined and perfectly edited material to read,