I ran across all my Hamline pictures as I was organizing my photos ... why not share? A few are posted already (look under the MFA category over in the cloud for the rest of the Hamline University MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults posts), but these, for whatever reason, never made it up. Hmmm. Can't imagine why...
Read MoreI snagged this book from the library almost entirely by random. I spotted a blue "Mystery" sticker on the spine, saw it was published within the past few years, and tossed it in the Home bag. See, I'm doing research on Middle Grade mysteries, so what better way to shop than the wonderful little blue "Mystery" sticker?
Read MoreSix years ago when I was expecting Mud Pie, I was all out of nesting opportunities. We had a nursery (from Fish and St. Nick), diapers, clothes (we didn't know Pie would be a girl), car seats, dishes, toys, everything. So what did I do?
I tie-dyed all my prefold diapers. And a heap of onsies. And...
Read MoreKylie Jean: Rodeo Queen by Marci Peschke (illus. by Tuesday Mourning). Picture Window Books, 2011.
I'll admit I was a bit skeptical when Pie pulled this off the shelf. It's very pink. But Pie Had to Have it, so into the Library Bag it went.
Read MoreRainbow Magic: The Party Fairies, Cherry the Cake Fairy by Daisy Meadows. Rainbow Magic Ltd., 2005.
In my quest to understand early chapter books, I read a handful of the Rainbow Magic series. I enjoyed discovering that strict "logic" isn't so much of a concern for this sort of book. No one is asking...
Read MoreI started the season with ten lovely tomato plants. A few heirloom, some beefsteak, others. All went well for quite a while. We made it through June, July (even with two weeks of neglect while I was at Hamline University), into August. But then the cool nights hit, and the wet days, and the icky constant dampness. Blight set in.
Last weekend I sacrificed nine of my ten beloved lovelies...
Read MoreSo, we watched the second Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie over the weekend and found it even better than the first one. Side-splittingly funny, especially given the plot of brothers - Doug and Rodrick's constant fighting - and Fish/St. Nick's similar inability to get along. The movie got to the part where Mom starts bribing the boys with fake money to spend time together, and Fish/St. Nick got excited.
"Mom Bucks! Can we do Mom Bucks?"
Read MoreWhat is up with me? I hate sewing - loathe it - despise it. But here I am, sewing like I'm, uh, I don't even know. Martha Stewart (does she sew? Did they allow sewing machines in prison?).
Here's dress for Pie #2:
Read MoreBecause I said so!
Uh, no, this is the book, Mama Why? by Karma Wilson (illus. by Simon Mendez), McElderry, 2011
The poet in me loves the rhythm in this gentle story...
Read MoreQuiet Bunny's Many Colors by Lisa McCue, Sterling 2010.
As with any picture book, the pictures are the first thing you notice. They were, in fact, what drew Mud Pie to the book at the library and compelled her to yank it off the shelf and stuff it in her over-full library bag. Predictably, she oohed and ahhed...
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