The Meditations | Book Review

The Meditations | Marcus Aurelius Awards : None Meditations is a nonfiction collection of the personal thoughts of stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Written to himself, Marcus Aurelius address the Nature of life, the Self Directing Mind, reason, how he ought to engage with mankind, what it means to live properly in the…

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Nerd Problem #2 : Book Covers

Who actually said "Don't judge a book by it's cover" ? I want to know. Because we all judge books by their covers. Even you. Need proof? How many of you have been suckered by a stunning cover only to find that the story between those covers is less than stunning? (That would be me.)…

To Read, or Not to Read?

Why do human beings read? What's the point? My six year old announced to his grandmother one day that "all Mom and Dad ever do is work and read." Aside from a few other basic activities like eating and sleeping, he isn't too far off the mark. We read a lot. Our house is full…

Thimble Summer | Book Review

Thimble Summer  |  Elizabeth Enright Awards: Newbery Medal For Garnet Linden, life on the farm is hard. It's always been hard. During the hottest summer Garnet can remember—while the barn is falling down, crops are dying, and the bills keep piling up—she finds a silver thimble that seems to change everything. Things start changing for…

Cheaper by the Dozen | Book Review

Cheaper by the Dozen | Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Awards: None Not many people think that having twelve children, on purpose, is a good idea. But that's exactly what Frank B. Gilbreth and his wife Lilly Moller Gilbreth set out to do. And whatever these two remarkable people do, it's sure to…

The Cricket in Times Square | Book Review

The Cricket in Times Square  |  George Selden Awards: Newbery Honor When Chester the Cricket accidentally gets swept away from the Connecticut countryside to New York City, he finds himself in the care of a little boy named Mario Bellini. The Bellini Family run a news stand in Times Square Subway Station, and Chester joins…

The World of Peter Spier

One picture from illustrator Peter Spier is a true representation of the age old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Peter Spier's Noah's Ark was my first dip in the rich ocean (see what I did there?) of life and swarm of detail that fill his decorations. His work spans from American Documents,…

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever | Book Review

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever  |  Barbara Robinson Awards: None In an unlucky turn of events, the Herdman family shows up at church looking for a good time, and what they find is the church Christmas Pageant. The only problem is that Ralph, Imogen, Leroy, Claude, Ollie, and Gladys Herdman are the worst kids—ever. The whole…

Bad, Worse, and Worst : Six Qualities of a Bad Book

You are what you eat. If we didn't believe this, the Whole 30 program, Clean Eating fad, and Paleo Diets (to name a few) would not be of common interest. Each of these programs strives to teach people how to eat good food. I want to suggest the same can be said of books. What you read shapes your mind as…

The World of Hilary Knight

  While Mr. Knight is best known for his illustrations of the feisty girl-child Eloise, he decorated my own readings of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Only when I grew up did I realize they were drawn by the same person, and that that person was a man. Whether Hilary Knight is drawing the cures for naughtiness prescribed by…