Advent is a special time of year as we each look forward to Christmas in our own ways. Some decorate with gusto while other shop ’til they drop. Some bake cookies, fruitcakes, and candy to give to friends. Some will use Advent calendars to count the days. Many attempt to do several or all of the above. I’m afraid that would wear me out! I believe it is beneficial to analyse our activities to see which honor the Christ
The Donkey’s First Christmas by S. T. Schroder is a fun tale about a stubborn donkey that carried baby Jesus’ mother to Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. The rebel donkey is easy to love because he is portrayed so well, both in the text and in the illustrations. On the cover the illustrations portray a winter scene with falling snow, though this is not carried out throughout the story. I am a little confused as to whether the illustrator intended
by Deborah Hopkinson, il. by James Ransome One of my favorite children’s picture books is Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Clara, a very young slave girl was separated from her family and sold to another plantation to work in the fields. She learned to sew and used her talent to create a quilt that helped many slaves escape to freedom. I feel a connection to Clara with my vision for Bible quilts for children’s beds. Just as Clara’s quilt pointed
The students were great listeners! Amy Rhodes, Library Media Specialist at Briggs Elementary School in Florence, SC, invited me to share with the first, second, and third grade classes on November 15, 2011. This was my first opportunity to do an author/illustrator visit in a school, and it was so much fun! I was asked to talk about the illustrations in my book since they are so unique. I shared how I struggled from saying “I need to find someone else
Keelana and Ducker are watching the chicks play in the sunshine. The baby chicks are growing fast. They are growing fuller and longer wing feathers and their tails are becoming more prominent. This chick is two weeks old today. You can begin to see the chicks’ combs growing just above and on their upper beaks. They love it when we bring them outdoors. Today we made a bigger pen for them. They loved to fly from one side to the
