Perhaps nothing more obviously demonstrates the joy of the Christmas season than the constant presence of music. The contagious joy in the world is felt and mimicked even by the secular celebrations that surround us with songs everywhere we go. Unique to Christmas is its carols, those special songs telling and retelling the joy and… Read More Second Week of Advent
{The Annunciation (1898), Henry Ossawa Tanner} The church calendar is fresh and new and all is anticipation, expectation. The year begins with celebration. Secret gifts are made ready, special messages will be sent, feasting and songs and poetry will fill the season with jubilation. We celebrate by refreshing our remembrance that God came to us… Read More First Week of Advent
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the power the sound of our language has in a child’s life, so I just have to tell you a little story from last library day. As I conversed with a Dad about his plans for formal schooldays in the coming years, he mentioned that he reads… Read More A True Tale from the Library
When I looked at my calendar for October, I cringed. How does someone like me, who valiantly attempts to keep overcommitment at bay, get herself into such a pickle? Nevertheless, commitments are commitments, so I bowed to the burden and took one day at a time. And managed to read a little as I went.… Read More October’s Reading
Grandchild number nine made his entrance into the world a week ago and there is great rejoicing to receive him. I adore all things newborn, all things, but am awestruck afresh each time by their response to the human voice. Naturally, they know their mother’s voice, but when father comes into the room the baby… Read More Listening to Language
It has been ten years since Emily and I opened the front door of our home to let 11 families in to borrow books. The families have multiplied, and the books have multiplied, and we have moved from that home to three other locations with its growth. But the work goes on. Week after week,… Read More Ten Years of Living Books
As the year gently passed from summer to fall, I traveled through the turn of the season with many diverse novels, adult and children’s, that each kept me company in this swiftly passing September. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I was told to read this book immediately, that I absolutely HAD to read… Read More Reading into Fall
Remember Mary Poppins’ sage advice? “A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down” and King Solomon’s wisdom: “A merry heart does good like medicine,” not to mention, “There is a time to laugh?” Are you, like me, often so consumed with the execution of daily duties, you forget that life should have a bit… Read More Just for Laughs
An author is nearly always that shadowy soul behind the story, a mysterious creator of the tale that comes alive for us and sticks with us after we have read to the last word. I mentioned that reading the Letters of E. B. White was a wonderful way for me to come to know one… Read More From A Writer on Writing
Most seven-year-olds would agree that reading is work. Those among them who love reading, having had many pleasurable hours in company with books, nevertheless, tackle the task with gusto. Few pleasures in life come to us without some effort—even experiencing nature takes deliberate preparation, time, and attention to be fully enjoyed. Still, with reading, I… Read More The Labor of Reading