Dear Readers, All of us have spent over a year now dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in our own ways. Perhaps like me, you have watched others—from a safe distance—in order to gauge how they have coped compared with yourself. I know I have learned some new, beneficial habits from admirable neighbors, family, and friends.…
Dear Readers, Warning! Some might find this blog depressing. (But I hope you’ll read on, anyway!) A friend recently shared with me his monthly human-interest column for his local newspaper back East. In it, he discussed the “threads” in the “tapestry” of his life, his late sister’s, and their late mother’s. As I read on,…
Dear Kids and All Readers, I’ve been off with my Botanic Hill Detectives on their fourth case this past month. That is to say, I’ve now written over twenty-five percent of the Book 4, Saffron Street: Island Danger first draft. Yay! The four detectives, Lanny, Lexi, Moki, and Rani, have accepted a case on Saffron Street that…
Dear Kids and All Readers, On the first of each month, I find a treat in my email inbox. It’s the monthly “Now Playing” program guide from Turner Classic Movies (TCM). I have been a movie buff of Hollywood’s Golden Age films (uh, kids, that’s from the 1930s and ’40s) since I was a…
Dear Kids and Other Readers, The current Pandemic has separated many grandparents and grandchildren. Wouldn’t it be fun to bring them together safely in a Zoom Book Club? That’s just what I’m organizing with a local non-profit agency that has a bank of grandparents waiting to interact in this fun online activity. Better yet, they’ll be…
Dear Teachers, Librarians, and Other Adult Readers, In seeking anti-racist resources for my last two blogs/news items (June 4 and 11), I discovered Rudine Sims Bishop. She is professor emerita of education at Ohio State University and considered the “Mother of Multicultural Children’s Literature.” You can Google her name for more fascinating information about her…
Dear Readers, According to HealthyChildren.org, “As early as six months, a baby’s brain can notice race-based differences. By ages 2 to 4, children can internalize racial bias. By age 12, many children become set in their beliefs–giving parents a decade to mold the learning process so that it decreases racial bias and improves cultural understanding.”…
Dear Adult Readers, I worry these days about how kids are reacting to the pandemic and rampant racism. EmbraceRace.org, says, “[Kids] are fully realized people with observations and opinions about the worlds they live in and aspirations about the ones they want to bring into being.” As a parent, grandparent, retired teacher, and kids’ author, I…
