Today I’m featuring a guest post by Robert Norris, author of a memoir that is also a tribute to his mother called, The Good Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise: Pentimento Memories of Mom and Me. Here he talks about how she fostered in him a love of stories. Read on to the end to find out more about the author and his work. My Mother Imparted to Me a Love of Stories Mom died January 14th, 2021, just four days short of her 95th birthday. In the ensuing weeks, I spent a lot of time reading through the voluminous amount of correspondence we’d maintained for decades. She was a prolific letter w ..read more

Lola Meets the Bees by Anna McQuinn is a cute picture book that teaches little ones about honeybees. It starts when Lola visits her mom’s friend Zora, who keeps bees on the rooftop of her home in the city. She sees bees flitting from flower to flower, spreading pollen as they go. Lola learns that bees don’t sting unless you threaten their babies, which are inside the hive. She wears a special suit to keep her safe when looking inside. Zora teaches Lola about how the hive boxes are put together and where the bees store honey. Lola gets to taste some of the yummy honey Zora has collected. When ..read more

Today I’m featuring a guest post by author Ruth Behar, whose books feature complicated mother-daughter relationships. Read on at the end of her post for more info about the author and her books. Relationships between mothers and daughters are always at the heart of my stories. In my first middle-grade novel, Lucky Broken Girl, which is based on my own life, Ruthie, an immigrant girl from Cuba, is suddenly bedridden because of a severe leg injury that takes place in 1966 in a car accident. Ruthie must depend on her beautiful young mother, who gives up her nights out, pretty outfits, and high h ..read more

Curious children want to know: What happens to things that live in the ocean when its time to sleep? A picture book by Steven J. Simmons and Clifford R. Simmons satisfies that curiosity in their book, Where Do Ocean Creatures Sleep At Night? The book covers some widely recognized sea life, like stingrays, which burrow in sand and keep their bodies flat and hidden. And clownfish, like Nemo and his dad, that rest in anemones, which are poison to other fish. Also, whales nap near the surface, where they can take in air from their blowholes. I have to admit I didn’t know where ocean creatures sle ..read more

If you’re looking for a sweet picture book with tender drawings that capture the joy of life beginning, look no further than You Are a Little Seed. Written and illustrated by Sook-Hee Choi, the book shows different types of seeds and the flowers they grow into. Some seeds are light and fluffy and blow in the wind, like those of a dandelion. Some are ugly and wrinkled, but they turn into sweet-smelling lilacs. Some, like lotus flowers, release their seeds from pods. The book ends by says, “Yes, you are a seed, too — with a flower in your heart.” The illustrations are colorful and soothing and ..read more

All About Color, a picture book by Elizabeth Rusch and Elizabeth Goss, opens with a surprise fact: Color doesn’t exist. We only see blue skies and green grass and yellow flowers because light sends messages to our brain. The illustrations are also unexpected, as they show people with green or purple skin and things in the world around us in unusual tones. The choices compel readers to look at the world around them with new eyes. But the book also focuses on what color means when we do see it. Team uniforms to help you identify who is on your side. Stop lights that regulate traffic. Red on a s ..read more

Theo Tatterly has a special gift. He can see ghosts and help them peacefully transition to the next world. He comes from a long line of people with magical abilities and both the living and the dead reside in the ancestral home in South Carolina. Theo, as the last male in the line, is the main target of an evil force who wants to oust them from that home. If he wants to save it, he will have to stay clear-headed and call on his cousins for help. The Fall of the House of Tatterly by Shanna Miles has an interesting premise. A 12-year-old boy finding his talents and working to save his family. T ..read more

Annabelle is excited to go to her grandparents’ house and learn to cook gumbo, one of her favorite things to eat. But when they get to Mami and Papi’s, no one can agree on what kind of gumbo to cook. Some want okra, some want chicken. They vote to decide but come out with an even number for each. Annabelle keeps suggesting new ways to decide, until they all agree and get to work cooking. They’re all happy with the delicious result. Yumbo Gumbo by Keila V. Dawson sneaks in a bit of math with a family story of figuring out how to compromise with meals. And there’s also the mouth-watering descri ..read more

When Rosamund is woken with a kiss after being asleep for 100 years, her first instinct is to flee. With her prince in pursuit she opens a door and steps from her story into the protected haven of Home Educational Academy, where princesses find refuge from their fairy tales. The young women (and one prince) at the academy all had their tales go awry in some way, and Vera, the headmistress of the school, promises to educate them and protect them before sending them on their way. But Rosamund finds that all is not right at the school. For one thing, the lessons are always the same. For another ..read more

Our Story books seek to shine a light on historical figures who accomplished great things. Fatima Al-Fihri is one of those. In 859 CE she established what has become the world’s oldest university in the city of Fes, Morrocco. Born in Tunisia, Fatima was the daughter of a wealthy merchant who migrated with his family to Fes. When he died young, he left a fortune to Fatima and her sister. They each spent their inheritance building a mosque. But Fatima also firmly believed in the importance of education, so she expanded the role of her mosque to also be a center of learning. Fatima’s story has g ..read more