Kids Blog

As the sun sets, the animals in the farmyard should be settling down for the night. But in Lindsey Craig’s Farmyard Beat:

“Chicks can’t sleep. Chicks can’t sleep.
Chicks can’t sleep
‘cause they got that beat.”

And so begins a toe-tapping dance party where each animal’s noisy contribution to the beat wakes up another. The chicks go peep and wake up sheep. Cat’s purr and meow wake up cow. The racket grows until it is so loud that Farmer Sue comes to investigate the noise. Of course, she joins in and the entire farmyard dances to the beat until they “fall in a heap. Asleep.”

Leo Lionni was born into a family that appreciated art, and, from a very young age, he knew he wanted to be an artist. He loved nature and started keeping small creatures--minnows, birds, fish, and more--in his attic room in Amsterdam. He also created terrariums, and many of these natural details found their way into his later work.  Like so many successful children’s authors, Leo Lionni was able to remember and tap into the things that were important to him when he was a child.

As his interest in drawing grew, he was mentored by his Uncle Piet, who was both an architect and an artist. Leo was very lucky to live just a few blocks from two wonderful museums. Further, as a child he had a special pass so he could go there to draw whenever he wished. He learned to draw details from great works--plaster casts of famous statues, and they made such an impression on him that many decades later he could still remember them perfectly, as he could with clarity recall so much about his tiny pets and naturescapes.

"I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse."

August Pullman has a face that only a mother could love, only his mother to be exact. The main character of R.J. Palacio's book Wonder has an extra large forehead. His eyes are much lower than they should be. His mouth always hangs open and his ears are underdeveloped and cauliflower-shaped. What people do not know when they look at August is that they are seeing a very smart, funny, and capable young man.

Does anyone actually like writing thank-you notes? Of course, you are grateful and thankful for the thoughtful gifts from your loved ones, but what do you actually write in the thank-you note? And how long does the note have to be?

In Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-you Notes, by Peggy Gifford, ten-year-old Moxy Maxwell, who is a master procrastinator, has promised her mother that she will have all of her holiday thank-you notes finished by the day after Christmas. Part of the rush is due to the fact that she and her brother, Mark, are going to visit their father in California and are going to a star-studded New Year’s Eve Hollywood bash. In order to go to California and attend the fun New Year’s Eve party Moxy MUST have her thank-you notes finished.  In true Moxy fashion, she finds plenty of activities to distract her from her task. As time ticks by, Moxy develops many shortcut plans in order to have her thank-you notes done on time...one of which includes her stepfather’s brand-new copy machine and a can of gold spray paint.