Sing and sign with your little one for early literacy – and learn the Stinky Diaper Song!
This is the latest entry in my Little Hands Signing video series. See the whole series here and look for more videos to come!
Read This!: ALL EYES ON HER by L.E. Flynn
All Eyes on Her by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Summary: You heard the story on the news. A girl and a boy went into the woods. The girl carried a picnic basket. The boy wore bright yellow running shoes. The girl found her way out, but the boy never did….
Everyone thinks they know what happened. Some say Tabby pushed him off that cliff— she didn’t even like hiking. She was jealous. She had more than her share of demons. Others think he fell accidentally—she loved Mark. She would never hurt him…even if he hurt her. But what’s the real story? All Eyes On Her is told from everyone but Tabby herself as the people in her life string together the events that led Tabby to that cliff. Her best friend. Her sister. Her enemy. Her ex-boyfriend. Because everybody thinks they know a girl better than she knows herself. What do you think is the truth?
This taut, suspenseful story kept me up way too late several nights in a row. Flynn tumbles readers directly into the mystery of Tabby and her motivations, as seen through the eyes of the people around her, including her sister, her rival, her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, the best friend of the boy she is accused of murdering, and the internet commenters on her case. What they all have in common is that they all have their own motives for what they share – or don’t – with the reader, the cops, and the many people asking questions about Tabby. Not until the end do we hear from Tabby herself – and is it any wonder that after being claimed, labeled, pored over, analyzed, and judged by everyone who thinks they have a right to the contents of her mind, the real Tabby is a far more complicated being? Flynn’s searing novel leaves the reader with answers full of their own uneasy questions about the reductive way that our society treats girls.
Favorite quote: “The universe is always trying to split girls in half. Half angel, half demon. No wonder so many of us turn into monsters.”
ALL EYES ON HER is out now.
New Little Hands Signing Video: Our Day
Here’s a fun-filled early literacy activity for your home or online classroom or storytime from the Nita’s Day Teacher/Librarian Guide.
Our Day: An Early Literacy Activity for the Classroom Using American Sign Language
This is the latest entry in my Little Hands Signing video series. See the whole series here and look for more videos to come!
Read This!: SHE LEADS: THE ELEPHANT MATRIARCH by June Smalls
She Leads: The Elephant Matriarch by June Smalls
Summary: She is the Queen. The matriarch.
She leads her daughters and their daughters.
Text and illustrations follow the journey of an elephant matriarch as she leads her family through the wilds of Africa. With facts about African elephants on every spread and a message that will encourage girls to be the trailblazers of their generation.
A quietly powerful book about real girl power in the animal kingdom. She Leads manages to be both straightforward and moving, fact-filled and lyrical, always firmly grounded in the power, nurturing strength, and beauty of the elephant matriarch and her legacy to those who will follow. Yumi Shimokawara’s naturalistic illustrations bring the queen and her society to life, while June Small’s main text offers the elegance of poetry, filled out by more information in the sidebars on each page. Ideal for storytime, the classroom, or bedtime reading.
SHE LEADS: THE ELEPHANT MATRIARCH is out now.
Oh, The Places Your Mind Can Go!
I was honored to be asked to share a writing prompt for CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth, an inspiring literary magazine for teens. Seriously, check out their current project, “This is Not a Snow Day”, which documents life in Baltimore during COVID-19, from the point of view of our city’s youth.
CHARM hosts “Oh the Places Your Mind Can Go,” a weekly video series featuring local authors who invite you to explore the world without leaving your home. Everyone is welcome to pick up a pencil (or phone) and join these weekly writing journeys, AND you can submit your response to CHARMS’s online publication. (There are prizes, too!) Check out my episode (which of course puts a fantasy twist on the theme of place!), as well as previous episodes featuring YA novelist Karen Hattrup and memoirist and poet Sheri Booker, at http://linktr.ee/charmlitmag.
Stories By Hand with Kathy MacMillan 