I have kept a commonplace book for many years. If you aren't familiar with the term, a commonplace book is a notebook where you write down things you hear or read that inspire you and you want to keep in one "common" place.
They have been used by some of the greatest minds since the mid-1500s by the term "commonplace," but the idea goes all the way back to the time of Plato and Aristotle. Some people have extensive systems of cataloging in their commonplace books so they can later find...
Illustrations play an important role in helping young children learn to read. They support early comprehension, provide context, and help make stories more engaging and enjoyable. Everyone love pictures!
But somewhere between early readers (think-Step Into Reading levels by Scholastic) and middle grade(books with no in-chapter images), something begins to change in the child's brain. Children’s cognitive development is rapidly growing during this stage, and the type of the books they read...
Today is the day I have been waiting for since I was a little girl.
The first book in my debut series, The Unicorn Shore has officially released!
The Unicorn Shore: The Secret of the Shell
Book One in The Unicorn Shore Series
She thought it was just a fairy tale—until the shell whispered her name.
Nine-year-old Marigold always believed Grandma Pearl's stories about magic hidden in the waves. But nothing could have prepared her for the moment she found a...
Choosing the Right Books for Your Child
Finding books that match your child’s reading ability and maturity can feel complicated. With a range of categories and reading levels available, it’s not always obvious where to begin or when it’s time to transition to more challenging material. One of the most frequent questions parents ask is: How do I know when my child is ready for something harder?
Reading readiness can be measured in a variety of ways. To better understand how books are...
As a parent, former teacher, and now author, I’ve seen the early chapter book space change gradually. Over the past ten years, books intended for 6-9-year-olds have started to include storylines and tone more commonly found in books for older readers. Characters with sharp humor, themes of exclusion, and emotionally intense moments have become more common in stories for children who are just beginning to explore friendship and learning about themselves.
As trends have shifted, something...
I recently came across an interesting article which discusses the importance of writing things down by hand and the benefits unique to doing so. I'm not going to link the article because it wasn't well cited; however, I compiled the research and am presenting to you, The Case for Handwriting.
I am a huge advocate of developing typing skills. As a child in the late 1980s, I remember being bewildered by how fast my mother typed and made it a life goal to outpace her one day. She was taught...
Throughout the process of planning this three-book debut series over the last year, I have had the privilege of learning from some amazing teachers and mentors in the writing and publishing world.
Encouraging me to think ahead about my release was the consistent feedback I kept getting across the board, and I took this advice to heart. I knew from the start I wanted to write a series, and planning for its release was going to be key to each book's launch and the overall success of the series....
One of my closest friends of nearly 20 years is British. During the early years of our friendship, she introduced me to afternoon tea, as is the British custom. We spent countless afternoons together, with our little ones playing in the background. She'd put the kettle on, pull out the "biscuits," (that's cookies to Americans) and we'd sit and talk. The world slowed down for those precious moments. I didn't realize it but I was learning something that would not only show me how to slow down...
Move over bookworms. In 2025 we are raising book dragons!
A book dragon is a magical creature disguised as a child. Instead of gold or jewels, their treasure is books. Hoards show up in backpacks, under pillows, littered across the minivan, and stacked in every corner of the house. Once you’ve met one, you’ll recognize the signs right away.
Sign #1: The Hoard Begins
It usually starts with a small pile under the bed, then a stack of library books that somehow always end up overdue, and maybe a...
Why I Love Writing Junior Novels
If you’re not quite sure what a junior novel is, you’re not alone. In today’s publishing world, it’s a bit of an in-between category. Under the umbrella of children's literature, these books fall somewhere between early chapter books (Magic Treehouse or Junie B. Jones) and full-length middle grade, text-only novels (Harry Potter or Wings of Fire). As you read my examples, you might be thinking how big of a jump that is between the two. This is where the junior...
April 30, 2025 is Release Day for book one of my debut series, The Unicorn Shore!
The Unicorn Shore: The Secret of the Shell
Book One in The Unicorn Shore Series
She thought it was just a fairy tale—until the shell whispered her name.
Nine-year-old Marigold always believed Grandma Pearl's stories about magic hidden in the waves. But nothing could have prepared her for the moment she found a glowing seashell shaped like a unicorn's horn—and it whispered her name.
Swept away to the Unicorn Shore, a...
You know it's time. The jack-o'-lanterns have started to rot on the porch (we should probably throw those out), the fake spiderwebs are getting a little too real, and Mariah Carey has fully thawed.
Hopefully, we enjoyed our Fall TBR lists because it is time to focus on our Winter/Christmas reads.
As fall fades into memory, we find ourselves reaching for heartwarming tales and cozy winter adventures with a cup of hot cocoa near a fire. And for those of us celebrating the Holy Season of...
I developed an interest in human psychology and human behavior after taking Psych 101 in high school during the beta-testing period for dual enrollment.
I went off to college with the intention of getting my BA in Psychology and a minor in early childhood development. I nearly finished that degree, but my heart won out and I married my college sweetheart (no regrets) and his first job moved us away from my university my senior year.
When I made the decision a few years later to go back and...
Predictive text has immersed itself into our everyday world so pervasively and quietly that we almost didn't notice its appearance on almost all of our daily-use tech.
Our phones, tablets, and even computers are now finishing our sentences, suggesting words, and correcting our spelling automatically. We goof around with funny predictive text prompts, and while most of us have suffered the embarrassing autocorrect to something that is, at best, embarrassing and, at worst, offensive to the...
Your child hates reading, but is something more really going on? Plus a look into the brain centers involved.
Note: This is not medical information or advice. The conditions listed here and their symptoms are purely for educational purposes. The terms below are commonly used in schools and IEPs. They are not always the exact DSM labels but are widely recognized by educators, speech-language pathologists, and reading specialists. If you suspect your child might be demonstrating symptoms of...
Those of us who love to read know there's nothing quite like cozying up with a good seasonal book this time of year. Even if it means cranking the A/C down to 60 degrees because we live in the South.
I know many people, myself included, enjoy having a seasonally curated TBR list, and I think there's real value in doing this for our young readers too.
The seasonal changes are special. They remind us that while life can feel unpredictable, some things stay beautifully consistent. (Did your granny...
Somewhere around Mrs. Winestock’s third-grade English class, I became firmly convinced that starting a sentence with and or but would mean the end of life as I knew it. I imagined a giant red F scribbled across my paper, my promotion to fourth grade in jeopardy, and my future as a writer ruined.
Fast-forward to college years and journalism school, where I was at last liberated from my fear of the coordinating conjunction’s role in my inevitable downfall as a writer. I learned the truth, and I...
It's hard to get behind doing something hard when you don't know the why. Why do we need algebra...why do we need to repeat 2 years of general education before we can start focusing on our chosen degree… why do we have to wash the dishes before we put them in the dishwasher?
Whether it is reading or writing, kids are no different. They thrive when they want to do it and when the payoff outweighs the pain.
In the "olden days" aka the 1990's, children naturally wrote letters to grandparents,...
My husband grew up in a household where his mom and dad both were avid readers and his sisters were constantly challenging one another to cutthroat games of Scrabble. Only a few souls have the bragging rights of having beaten my mother-in-law. It's the stuff of family legend!
I had never played a game of Scrabble in my life until we were married, and it took me 10 years to learn the strategy well enough to finally beat my husband. It was a sweet victory for sure, and it hasn't happened since.
...
Being a “Book First” Family
One of the best decisions we made as young parents was to be a “book first” family, which simply means we read the book before we watch the movie.
We discovered early on that this had a number of benefits, and I believe this standard has heavily shaped our now young adult children in some pretty profound ways.
Imagination
When kids read first, their own mind's eye pictures the scene and the characters, and the sky is the limit in regard to their own imagination....
