Out of the Best Little Books

My cousin passed away from su***de, and I miss him. In honor of national su***de prevention day, we are lighting this candle to honor him and all survivors. Join me using the hashtag to honor him and anyone else in your life affected by this tragedy.

Are you more of a talent show participant or viewer?

I still am 100% a wanna-be participant, even if it means I am the comedic relief or the "narrator" or something. It's just the way I am. 🤷‍♀️

No matter what your kids' gifts are, a good, informal talent show is such a fun idea to get everyone involved and showing off their personal gifts, especially during the holidays. As a teacher in a large classroom, I LOVED the challenge of trying to make sure everyone was in a position to SHINE, from the scene designers, to the sound and light technicians, to the designers of the program, to the director, to all the many many varied acts on stage! You just can't do it without everyone pitching in.
And I especially loved challenging some kids' automatic assumptions about themselves that they "have no talent".

A small informal talent show would be such a fun family activity this Christmas break, especially right after reading this book by Kathleen Gwilliam that walks kids through SO MANY ideas of gifts we all have, even and especially the ones that are not as visible on the surface. This book is so so cute and the colorful illustrations are exactly the colorful, inviting images I always am on the lookout for. Kathleen is a children's author and mom like so many of us- check out her book!!

There's a link to the activity and discussion questions in my bio. 😉

Sneak peak to tomorrow's book on self worth and recognizing our individual talents!

Do you ever have conflicting feelings about whether to include someone?

I know I do. I want to be inclusive, but sometimes I am caught thinking, "But my house is too small for them to come over" or "I just want to be alone today". Usually the culprit is that I just didn't notice them, or sometimes they bug me. Or I assume they won't like me.

Now don't get me wrong- we all need our boundaries! You don't HAVE to invite the whole wide world into everything all the time. But what I love about this book is that it shows that the EXACT SAME situation can be viewed through two different lenses- you can either choose that you have room in your life for others, or you can be too full for them. The point is that this is always a CHOICE. And you can ALWAYS choose to make room for the people who need you.

My sister .jo.jacobson
recommended this book to me, and when I read it I realized I had read this as a poem before! It's pretty cool because you read the book forward, and then you read it backwards to see the more inclusive perspective. It's cool how all the words and illustrations work both ways! The artists did a really good job I think.

Try reading this with your kiddos and then talking through different situations they might encounter. On the playground, why might they feel like excluding others? Is that okay or not, and when or why? How could they include more friends on the playground? What about the lunchroom? What about with their siblings at home coming in and out of their rooms or play areas?

Click in link in bio to buy a copy. Happy reading! ♥️♥️♥️

Do you feel like adults in your life still struggle with being too cliquey?

When I moved to Florida I didn't really know anyone and I have realized it is not other people's job to welcome me in- it's my job to welcome them in first. So in the last year I have really been trying to be a better friend and a better host.

We all look down on middle school as being cliquey, but the real shame is that unless we are cognizant about being inclusive- honestly we continue the same problems as adults, especially if other adults hold different political, religious, philosophical views, or even just previous life stories than us.

Inclusion has always been one of my personal most important values, which is why I am so excited to share a book with you on it tomorrow! This quote is your sneak peak.

Have your kids been telling you they're bored?

That question really wears me down. A few months ago we tried to combat that by getting Brody set up to "write" his own book. We got some cardboard from an old diaper box and then stacked and stapled a bunch of blank papers in the middle and told him he could make whatever story he wanted, and OF COURSE Lightning McQueen and Matter were the main characters in his scribbles. 😂 It was so cute and time consuming. 👌

This book-The Biggest Story- could be a perfect jump start into an extended, time-consuming (cause parents and teachers are all about that sometimes 😂) activity of creating your own stories! Just get a free papers, fold them in half, staple in the middle, and then go at it! The last page in the book even walks you through how to begin brainstorming ideas for your own silly story (see last picture).

What I especially love about this book is that the mom is busy fixing the house pipes, so the young boy has to take responsibility for entertaining his own bored self- much to his chagrin- and he takes the responsibility and gets creative! I like how empowering it feels towards children- they are the masters of the destiny of their days!

If you want to buy this book click on the link in my profile.

What is something you or your kids have created lately? (Swipe right for the "Chick Hicks gas station Brody made. 😂)

This is a sneak peak for the first book on creativity!

Creativity is often overlooked as a value because it doesn't feel like a "moral", but I have known several families that identify it in their top 5 values! A creative person adds beauty to the world through their creations and has the grit to persevere through hard times because they believe they can create a new solution.

The long awaited book! I love little aardvark happy competing his race while at the other big dudes worry about non-important stuff, like winning. 😀

And you know I am a sucker for bright colorful illustrations and books with an important message. ♥️♥️

If it's not at your local library, you can find it at the link in my profile. This is a fun one to own. @ Cocoa Beach, Florida

How do you find it in you to throw yourself out there and try something new you'll probably stink at?

When I was in high school I was NOT the sports type. My junior year I decided to join the track team because "I really wanted to run", but mostly because my future husband ran long distance- the fastest in the school- and we wanted to spend more time together. 😉

Not only was running the mile a sport where I could see him, but I thought as a non-athletic type it was maybe the only sport where simply not giving up was valued, and where if and when I totally botched it I wouldn't be letting down the whole team like if they passed me the basketball right by the hoop at the end of the game and I missed. 🤷

I was ALWAYS last place. But my times still improved every race!

I think it's much harder to be have courage in situations like these, but where it's not just so you can see your crush more often. 😂

This is how I currently feel about starting to teach dance for a new studio as the youngest and most inexperienced, trying to figure out how to write children's books, cooking meals for some really great chefs, and the fact that sometimes after a day of letting my kids watch TV, I still want to try to spend a teeny bit of quality time with them at the end. It's like- look- I know I'm already losing so is it even worth still trying?

How do you find it in you to throw yourself out there? I would love to know 👇

"Is our house spotless and everything in a perfect schedule? No. But are we spending tons of time together and making priceless memories? Also no." 😂😂😂😂 Someone shared this quote with me and I couldn't stop laughing. Does this describe your summer like I feel it describes mine?

So... I'm back! 😂 I went MIA on Instagram last summer too and I'm thinking I'll just make it an official tradition. I may have graduated school, but I still like my summer vacations. 😏 I just like the slow pace without having to worry about my internet image. And I swear I have needed more naps than any other member of this family- and I have no scientific reason to back that up. 🤷

This is my favorite picture from the summer, and it was on my favorite day, my birthday! (Cause you know, I'm not always perfectly selfless like in the books I share 😉😬😂.) Bradley didn't have a physical gift for me, but he took the day off work to help with the kids all day (THANK YOU), and bought this pie from the freezer section so I didn't have to bake a cake OR do baking dishes, and and he gave Brody a dollar and took him to the dollar store where he let Brody pick a present for me, and then we got this picture in one shot!!!!

So yeah, best day of the summer, and probably the year. And that's saying a lot because I pretty much struggle every year with not being disappointed at the end of the day on my birthday. But this year was everything it should have been. ♥️♥️

I'll be back this week with books.

How was YOUR summer?

First book on courage coming next!!!

I think every pre-middle schooler (5th or 6th grade), middle schooler, elementary or middle school teacher, and 3 year old should own this book. 😂 Was that specific enough?⁣
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Basically there is a bunch of very exclusive animals that will not let others join their clubs unless they are the same animal. Duck is heartbroken that he is not allowed into anyone's club until he decides to start his own club and welcome everyone no matter what kind of animal they are. He even includes his former enemies. ❤️❤️❤️⁣
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Have I convinced you that the book is genius yet? Especially in such a divided country right now.⁣
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I think this would be one of those books that a middle school teacher could pull out and read to their class and at first the class might roll their eyes at being read a picture book, but they would soon understand what was really being taught in the message of the book. It's just so silly to exclude others. I think cartoon animals help emphasize just how silly it is.⁣
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Brody just likes it because of all the different animals and animal sounds that are included and I have a blast reading it aloud for that reason. Unfortunately he's not quite old enough to appreciate the true gold in this book yet.⁣
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As always I have free resources on my website that can be used by families, classrooms, or book clubs. I have created some open-ended and thought-provoking discussion questions as well as a fun art activity to follow.⁣
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And if you want to purchase the book, there is a link in my bio for that too. 😘⁣
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Tell me, when in your life did you need this book, or did you need your enemies to read this book? 😂 @ Merritt Island Public Library