Author: Gwen Blumberg

"I rattle and clatter over the tracks. Same time, same route, every day. Carrying people from one place to another, I travel over the ground and rumble under, twice across the wide Han River. Around I go, around and around. Crowds of people wait to climb aboard. ba-dum, ba-dum..." These words unfold across the first… Continue reading I Am the Subway

Lydia Sigwarth's beautiful new picture book begins, "Dear Librarian, May I tell you a story? It's about me, and it's about you, and it's about my Library Home." When she was five, the author and her family moved from Colorado to Iowa while her dad searched for work. During this time, the family of nine… Continue reading Dear Librarian

Memory Jars by Vera Brosgol My first introduction to author and illustrator Vera Brosgol was her middle-grade graphic novel, Be Prepared.* I loved her autobiographical story about sleep away camp and was delighted to learn she had written a picture book. In Memory Jars, which was released earlier in 2021, we meet a young girl… Continue reading Memory Jars

This pandemic year, one of the smallest things that has brought me the most joy has been curbside library pickup. At night, typically with a cup of peppermint tea and if I'm lucky a purring cat by my side, I read our collective TBR blog, browse my favorite #kidbookstagram accounts, and fill up my online… Continue reading My Summer Stack

Written by Nikki Grimes & Illustrated by Wendell Minor "Whoa! This book is full of such descriptive language!" "Whoa! This book is FULL of descriptive language!" "This makes everything I'm learning in social studies about the southwest region come alive!" "Is there information in the back about all the different plants and animals in this… Continue reading Southwest Sunrise

written by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Dow Phumiruk So begins Equal Shot, a new nonfiction book that tells the story of why and how Title IX was passed. It also introduces readers to the four amazing women who fought for a law that would mandate equal opportunities for boys and girls in school and end… Continue reading An Equal Shot: How the Law Title IX Changed America

I love to read! I love picture books, middle-grade books, YA, and "grown-up" books. I love the subtle crack a new book makes when it is opened for the first time and the new book smell that lightly wafts up and tickles my nose. I love hardcovers, particularly when there’s a surprise "BONUS cover” hiding… Continue reading Free Audiobooks!

words by Matt de la Peña and pictures by Christian Robinson The first time I heard this story, I was at the January Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Supper Club. Matt de la Peña was the featured guest, and he read the book aloud for the very first time to all who were in… Continue reading Milo Imagines the World

by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha illustrated by Yuko Shimizu The Cat Man of Aleppo is the true, and inspiring story of an incredible man-- Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel. Alaa, an electrician from Aleppo, chooses not to leave his beloved hometown when the civil war in Syria reaches his city in 2013. Alaa stays behind to… Continue reading The Cat Man of Aleppo

This year, my K-8 school district has two parallel tracks for learning. The first is fully in school five days a week, and the other track is fully remote. The cohorts for both are very small, each has its own teacher, and families were allowed to choose which track was best for their child/ren. To… Continue reading Choice Still Matters