When I was a child I resented the stories I read about the ugly mean older sisters. Why did the youngest have to be the kind beautiful one? And why did the eldest always seem to possess the worst flaws? I remember thinking, if I were a writer, I'd never bow down to that storytelling tradition. I'd write a story about the gorgeous gentle-spirited oldest daughter with the two dreadful younger sisters. If you haven't already figured it out, I'm a first born.
A few weeks ago I spoke with the author and poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, to record her introducing and reading from some of her poems and her novel Habibi. It was fascinating and exciting to hear Naomi read her…
When I was in elementary school, my mom (a K-12 art teacher) came home from a conference with new picture books for my sister and me. At the conference my mom met Patricia Polacco and received signed copies of The …
Chief Joseph Medicine Crow, aka High Bird, is an amazing man. His book, Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, shares the stories of his life traversing two cultures: that of his traditional Crow grandparents,…
Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking to Sarah Dessen to record her introducing and reading from her newest novel,Lock and Key. This original book reading is now live on TeachingBooks.net for you to enjoy.
If you listen…
If you’re familiar with Beezus, Ramona, Ralph S. Mouse, or Mr. Henshaw, then you also know Beverly Bunn.
As you may have guessed, Beverly Bunn is Beverly Cleary!
I learned this when I recently called Beverly Cleary to record her…