It’s Free Book Friday! This week, enter to win A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters: Concrete Poems, written by Betsy Franco and illustrated by Michael Wertz. What might you see if you swam in the sea? Dive on in to encounter everything from dolphins and octopuses to sea turtles and squirrel fish. This clever book […]Read more "Free Book Friday: A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters"

In the spirit of our Comparing Animal Traits series, I’m kicking off the Fourth of July weekend with a celebration of diversity and unity, exploring what makes various people, animals, and places both similar and distinctive. See how well you do on the quiz below. (Practice question: What do these topics all have in common? […]Read more "What Do Shailene Woodley and Platypuses Have in Common?"

The Fourth of July has got to be one of the best days of the year. Eating corn on the cob, speeding around a lake on a boat, making s’mores by a campfire, watching fireworks, and breathing in sweet summer air on a beach or at a pool—these are just a handful of the things that come […]Read more "Patriotic Reads"

For many students summer isn’t just a time to work on tans; it’s also time to work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 60 percent of the American youth labor force (ages 16‒24) are employed during summer months. In fact, between April and July of last year, the labor force grew by 14.5 […]Read more "Before They Get to I.O.U.: Teaching Financial Literacy"

It’s Free Book Friday! This week, enter to win An Ambush of Tigers: A Wild Gathering of Collective Nouns, written by Betsy R. Rosenthal and illustrated by Jago. Have you ever heard of a prickle of porcupines? Or a tower of giraffes? What about a parcel of penguins? Those are just a few of the […]Read more "Free Book Friday: An Ambush of Tigers"

I’m pretty excited to tell you about new books in one of my favorite Lerner Publications series. In Fall 2015 we’re releasing four more Math Everywhere! titles. These books walk through real-life situations in which kids encounter math. Each scenario provides all the information a reader would need to solve the problem the character in the […]Read more "Math Everywhere!"

I have to say, I really love living in Minnesota. I was born and raised here, yet I feel like the state always holds something fun and new for me to discover. One of my favorite things about Minnesota is its diversity. We have the highest population of Somali people outside of Africa. We have […]Read more "State of Diversity"

Happy Friday! In case you missed it, this is our plan for the weekend: This library was set up last summer on the beach of a Bulgarian Black Sea resort, and we think they have the right idea. Are you listening, Minneapolis Parks and Rec? However, we’re slated for thunderstorms on Sunday, so that’s our […]Read more "Friday Fun: Links and a Giveaway"

In preparing for the 21st Century Children’s Nonfiction Conference in New York this weekend, I’ve been asked by the facilitator of one of the publishing panels on which I’ll be sitting to turn the mirror on myself to answer the question, “What nonfiction do you enjoy reading?” In making a list for myself, it turns […]Read more "Nonfiction Pleasures from a Nonfiction Editor"