I’m so tickled that Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom is including If You Want to Knit Some Mittens on their website for educators! Although this picture book is a funny, fictional, friendship story, it’s also the story of how a pair of wool mittens starts with a sheep’s coat, which
Hi, educators! I hope you’re well. I’m sick as a dog in Florida, and I’m having to cancel my storytime in Minnesota for tomorrow. I’ve never had to do that in 15 years of author visits & storytimes. Sigh. Meanwhile, two things for you today! I’m Looking for Kids to
In September, I visited Scotland with my husband, sister, and brother-in-law—and our daughter Maddie joined us for a couple of days in Edinburgh. I’m so grateful to have had this trip. Whenever I’m lucky enough to travel, I think about what people all over the world have both in common
Fall is my favorite season, when I get to enjoy cooler weather and gorgeous leaves here in Minnesota. For my book A Leaf Can Be…, I have a gazillion (well, not a gazillion, but 30+) downloadable reading and writing sheets tied into common core ELA standards for grades K‑2. Here’s
[Still off the grid, but I’ll be back next week!] Wow, did I have a loony summer. That’s because Yvonne Pearson (author of Little Loon Finds His Voice) and I teamed up for 14 Minnesota storytimes about loons. FOURTEEN! Whee! Here’s a quick photo gallery, and I want to give
I am SO delighted to be featured on children’s author Judy Bradbury’s blog today! She’s featuring We Belong and focusing on some ideas to support social-emotional learning. I hope you’ll visit! [My Classroom Connections posts share a way to connect one of my books or poems to a classroom topic–often
I love seeing student equation poems—they always make me smile when I see them on social media. Unfortunately, after I reply with enthusiasm, I usually just move on. What I should be doing is sharing them here, so that other educators can see how to use Snowman-Cold=Puddle as a mentor
Today, for Classroom Connections, I decided to use my Lion of the Sky poetry collection as a starting point for my sticky note poem. I picked a riddle-ku and used the N+7 exercise to swap out the nouns. (I used this online children’s dictionary, since I don’t have a print
On Wednesdays (when I share tips for educators related to my books) for Poetry Month, I’m planning to share poetryactions–that’s what I’ve called poems that use some book as a starting point for my inspiration. Usually I write these poems inspired by other people’s books, but this month, I’ll do
I’m so excited to share the lovely news that Secrets of the Loon is a winner for the 2021 Riverby Award for exceptional nature books for young readers! Whee! I am hugely honored. This picture book launched right as the pandemic hit, all in-person events were canceled, and, like many
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National Poetry Month projects through the years
Small Reads Roundups (poems
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