Category: I Can’t Stop Making Lists

I went to ALA Midwinter while it was happening in Seattle last weekend, and it was amazing to walk the exhibits space and just see so many great books. I’m not as current with what’s happening in children’s lit since I left teaching, and I really miss it. I love being a full time, working writer, but…I love children’s books, and I love sharing them with kids. I was at ALA on Sunday, and then Monday morning they held the ALA Youth Media Awards, where they announce all the big winners in kidlit. This is what I watch every year for the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott books, and then I immediately buy all of the Caldecotts for H’s collection–we have them all for every year of her life, plus the year I was pregnant (and lots of other years because I just love Caldecott books). I also picked up a lot of the other award winners announced on Monday, and by Tuesday they’d all arrived.

Read more on We’ve Got the 2019 Caldecotts (And Lots of Other Award Winners)…

I know I’m not a working librarian anymore, but the American Library Association had its annual midwinter conference here in Seattle over the weekend. Which was really exciting since this is where the announce the Newbery and Caldecott books every year! I didn’t go to the awards ceremony, but I did spend Sunday afternoon walking around the exhibit floor.

Read more on ALA Midwinter in Seattle…

It wasn’t a terrible month for reading, or a bad to start to a new year of books.

We’re still in this phase of life where we read and reread H’s favorite books on a loop, so even with our trips to the library, we don’t read that many new books. She could have Winnie-the-Pooh read to her every night and be completely happy, and…honestly we’re also pretty happy. Adam loves reading Pooh to her. But we did read some new stuff this month.

Read more on January Books We Read…

Time for a new year! And 2018 is a big year. It’s the 10th anniversary of this blog in April, and that means it’s the 10th anniversary of me keeping this running booklist. So here’s the new list, I’m getting a jump on my reading already for the year. As always, this post will be linked on the What I’ve Read page over on there on the left.

Read more on 2018 Books Read…

I’m feeling better after battling the flu and then a superinfection on top of it. I was down from December 28th until this past Friday, the 5th, when I went back to work but still felt pretty grim. I didn’t really start functioning until yesterday, and I’d say I’m still about 80%. Just need to catch up on sleep and recharge my batteries.

Read more on The New Year…

Other posts on this round robin: Our Quilt Block for the Kids Quilt Round Robin, Our Next Kids Quilt Round Robin Block, Our Last Kids Quilt Round Robin Block.

H got all of her blocks back from this summer quilting round robin back in September, and we love them. She’d asked for brown and rainbows, and that is what she got. We haven’t had a chance to sew this quilt together yet, but we will. She’s been less interested in sewing this fall, but she did just ask me the other day if we could make something, so I think we’ll pull these blocks out soon.

Read more on Kids Quilt Round Robin Blog/IG Hop…

My planner videos will be over at Paper Tangerines now, same as my Instagram! I’m keeping the Orange Room Crafts channel (which is so neglected right now) strictly crafts and creative living.

Read more on I Have a New Planner Video Channel!…

I so wanted to do a summer reading post back in August to wrap up the stuff we read during those months off from school. But it just never happened. I didn’t stay on top of the photos for some books, and it was just a much busier season than I anticipated (I started working full time for Wirecutter on July 5th).

Read more on What We’ve Been Reading…

“I love dogs! They’re my favorite pet animals.”
“I love parrots! They’re my favorite birds.”
“I love dolphins! They’re my favorite sea animals.”
“I love lions! They’re my favorite big animals.”
“I love dinosaurs! They’re my favorite reptiles.”
“I love spiders! They’re my favorite bugs.”

Read more on Her Heart Is Endless…

In January, I wrote a list of protest and activism books for kids for GeekMom. I never blogged about the list here, but after last Friday’s events, when the health care bill was killed after people on both sides of the aisle spoke out, it felt like a good time to remind our kids that speaking out–and speaking up–works.

Read more on Protest Books for Kids, and Sewing As Empowerment…

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