Surely this photo is more interesting than the expected stack-of-books photo. I just put it here ’cause I like it. It was the view from our patio the other night, the sort of view that makes you reflect on anything good you might be reading, and think deep, literary thoughts. And then realize that it [...]

For one thing, it was sunny, after days of grey clouds. There were corn cherry scones from Arizmendi. And some wonderful sheep’s milk ricotta drizzled with our own honey. And strawberries. Good music played. Some DeVotchKa. And the new Fleet Foxes that’s been in heavy rotation. There were presents. Things that any May baby would [...]

I’ve been meaning to report back on how Mr. T’s ultimate guide turned out. Rather than writing The Ultimate Guide to the Trojan War as he’d planned, he titled his opus The Ultimate Guide to the Ancient World. Why just cover one little war when you can take on the entire ancient world? His plan [...]

I loved reading your comments after my last post. So many great book-fueled conversations you’re having with your kids! I wanted to share another conversation with you, this time one from a recent writer’s workshop. (I’m paraphrasing this to the best of my recall. Wish I’d taken notes!) That morning, one boy read his story [...]

Here’s a crazy idea for a post. I’m going to tell you about a book that you probably don’t need. And I’m going to give you a link to a review that you can probably skip. I’ve been doing lots of reading about teaching writing in the last few months, as I work on my [...]

A few things that have me worked up these days: eggs! They’re wet and just-hunted for in this photo–you may even spy a tiny slug on one or two of them. (Which is what comes of them spending a few pre-dawn hours hidden in the backyard.) We used natural dyes on all of them but [...]