Earth Day 2017 has come and gone. Trees and grass are greening up. The soil is coming to life after spending the last few months in a frozen state. Before we know it, we’ll be seeing what I call summer critters. Here’s a book to get your little ones excited! The Worm by Elise Gravel […]
Tomorrow is May Day. The school year enters the home stretch. There is testing to be completed, curriculum units to be completed, grading to be completed….I share with you a tweet from @teachergoals: Trying to fit everything in by the end of the school year be like… Which reminds me of Key and Peele’s homage […]
Ever need some alone time? You know, you love your family, your friends, your co-workers and schoolmates, your kids… BUT! If you have to hear one more bit of chatter or listen to one more giggle, or “Mama pleeeeez” you think you might explode?! Here’s a book for you (and you can share it with […]
I’m having out-of-town guests next month. Putting together my show-them-the-best-of-Chicago list includes, of course, the iconic Second City right up there at the top. As I hopped online to find out what revue is playing right now, I was disheartened to see that Second City has experienced problems lately with verbally abusive audience members. So […]
I was doing my car radio listening thing a few days ago. And I heard a story about a new scientific find: There are signs of a chemical reaction under the icy surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. This activity might just provide the conditions for life… way, way out there. The conditions for life. An […]
This week the United States Supreme Court returned to full strength. Here’s a really good intro to the life of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Edel Rodriguez As a child, Sonia found blossoms in the most unexpected place…around a chain link fence, near broken […]
Here I am closing out on my sixth decade. And yet I am tingling with anticipated joy at the thought of dying Easter eggs this Saturday. There is something so satisfying about the transformative process of dipping a white egg into a murky liquid and 5 minutes later pulling out that same egg, now bursting […]
Everyone is talking about who will be next on the United States Supreme Court. Today let’s talk about your household’s Supreme Court…you and your partner. I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day and this two-foot-tall kid came barreling through, not just my line but all the lines at all the […]
Remember playing with the noodles in your alphabet soup? Ever drop your kid off at Montessori preschool and end up sharing a moment drawing letters in the alphabet sand tray? I don’t know about you, but there’s something irresistible to me about those shapes. So my heart leapt a little when I ran across a […]
Today I took a walk over to my local bookstore to see what’s new. The children’s table is loaded with books related to issues in the news: women’s rights and Supreme Court justices. And a catchy little alphabet book that will have kids talking about coop communities and equality for all! A is for Activist […]