Bookroo Discount Code

Bookroo Discount Code

Did you see my first ever holiday gift guide last week? If you did, you might have noticed that I had a section for children’s subscription boxes. These boxes were one of the first things I listed to include in my gift guide, because they make wonderful holiday gifts to be enjoyed monthly (or even year-round, depending on your subscription!). In our house, we LOVE it when the grandparents want to gift these to the girls, as they’re gifts that we know will have strong lasting power, and then every month when they arrive, we get to talk about how grateful we are that the grandparents give us such wonderful gifts!

One of our favorite children’s subscription boxes is Bookroo. Though it has been a few years since we’ve regularly received boxes, we had about a year and a half when we received monthly boxes from Bookroo, some board book boxes and some chapter book boxes (and for a bit, one of each!). The girls were thrilled every month when their Bookroo boxes arrived, we loved the unique books (some, like Wherever You Go, are still favorites around here 4 years later!), and though we own way too many books, we only ever received one book that we already had. They just do a phenomenal job picking their books.

Then, you might remember that I worked with Bookroo this summer as they launched their new reader platforms, and I absolutely love the work that they’re doing to help young readers get excited about reading and share the books they love. So, it was a no-brainer to include them on my gift guide! Read on for a little bit more about Bookroo and my discount code.

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Two New Books to Gift

Two New Books to Gift

Did you see my first ever holiday gift guide earlier this week? Or maybe you saw this list I published earlier this year of beautiful books to gift? Today, I’m sharing two new books that would make delightful gifts for children and teachers in your lives! Both published in September 2020, our younger daughter received these for her birthday in September, and I knew immediately I needed to share them with you at some point! Read on for a little more information about The B On Your Thumb: 60 Poems to Boost Reading and Spelling and Wild Symphony!

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Holiday Gift Guide 2020

Holiday Gift Guide 2020

You ask and you shall receive! My first ever holiday gift guide is ready for your shopping pleasure! My husband and I thought long and hard about the gifts we’ve given the girls over the years that have had significant lasting power and brought us lots of open-ended joy… And, we came up with 30 gift ideas to share with you this year. From gifts to inspire creativity to outdoor play to subscription boxes, we’ve got you covered. We personally own and love (or have received before, in the case of subscription boxes) 29 of the 30 gifts on this list, so you can bet they’re vetted and worthwhile! The only gift on here we don’t have personal experience with is a subscription box that one of our girls will receive this year.

And remember, though I didn’t put any books on this list, we almost always give books for birthdays and holidays. Sometimes the book is the gift itself, and sometimes it goes along with a gift. Remember that I have LOADS of booklists and book recommendations here on my website, so you can find wonderful books to gift here, too.

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25 Christmas Books for 2020

25 Christmas Books for 2020

If you follow me, then you have likely picked up on the fact that I absolutely love making booklists. While I love a good booklist focused on just about any topic, I have two booklists that I make annually that are easily my favorite to both make and read. One of them is my 90 Books for 90 Days of Summer booklist, and the other…

You guessed it! My Christmas list of wonderful Christmas picture books! Every holiday season, I create fabulous lists of 25 picture books for you and your family to enjoy together throughout the holiday season. And, every year, the lists are completely different! Which means, if you do the math, that I’ve got 75 (actually, more, because my first Christmas list had “25ish” books) fantastic Christmas books for you to choose from and cherish this holiday season. You can find the 2018 list here and the 2019 list here.

So, without further ado, here are 25 wonderful picture books for you to read this holiday season! Remember, these get snagged up quickly from your libraries, and they also have a tendency to sell out quickly from booksellers (especially the new releases), so take this list and get your hands on these books now, so that you’re ready to hit the road running when December 1 rolls around!

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Our Favorite Thanksgiving Holiday Books

Our Favorite Thanksgiving Holiday Books

Every year, I hear from many of you that you feel like you’ve got TONS of wonderful Halloween and Christmas books, but your Thanksgiving collections leave much to be desired… So, here goes— my huge list of Thanksgiving recommendations (specific to the Thanksgiving holiday —  be sure to check out this post for wonderful books about gratitude and thankfulness that comprises most of our November reading and influences most of our conversations about the Thanksgiving holiday). You’ll find it broken down by general category, and age recommendations are given as well, so hopefully you can find something to read with your children this month! Continue reading “Our Favorite Thanksgiving Holiday Books”

Giving Thanks: More Than 100 Ways to Say Thank You by Ellen Surrey

Giving Thanks: More Than 100 Ways to Say Thank You by Ellen Surrey

When I posted about our Family Focus: Gratitude and Thankfulness kickoff, I got LOTS of questions about the book we used to kick off this month in our house. So today, I’ve got some information for you about Giving Thanks: More Than 100 Ways to Say Thank You by Ellen Surrey. If you are looking for a way to inspire your children to think of all they are grateful for, who they may want to thank, and unique ways to express gratitude to others, then this is the book for you!

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Three Squeezes by Jason Pratt

Three Squeezes by Jason Pratt

When I was little, my mom used to have a “secret” hand squeeze with my brother and me. She’d take our hands and give them three gentle squeezes to say “I love you,” and then we’d give her four squeezes back, signaling “I love you, too.” Fast forward to becoming a parent myself and these three and four squeezes are now a “secret language” that we share with our own girls. I always assumed this was something unique to our family, until Lauren from Picture Book Playdate on Instagram reviewed Three Squeezes by Jason Pratt, illustrated by Chris Sheban, earlier this fall. I rarely buy a book after reading only one review of it, as I try to at least get it from the library first, but… I knew our family had to own this one. I bought it immediately to give to our younger daughter for her birthday in September and am so glad that we own a book that depicts this special (but apparently not so secret) language in such a beautiful, touching way.

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An Honest Review of Literati Kids Book Clubs — Round 3

An Honest Review of Literati Kids Book Clubs — Round 3

Have you followed along in my reviews of Literati Kids book boxes? I used my first two reviews to focus on the content of the boxes (5 books PLUS book-related goodies), their “try-before-you-buy” policy, and the ease of returns. Today, I’m sharing two last important and unique features of Literati Kids for you — the price points of the books included, as well as the option to donate used books to readers in need.

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The “Acoustic Rooster” series by Kwame Alexander

The “Acoustic Rooster” series by Kwame Alexander

Do you all know Acoustic Rooster yet? We are admittedly late to the game, as the first book in the series, Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band was published in 2011. But, Sleeping Bear Press kindly sent us the newest book in the series, Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie Starring Indigo Blume, and it was such a hit with our preschooler that I tracked down the original too, so that we could enjoy both. And, not surprising, she LOVES both of these books and asks for them on repeat. Read on for a bit about each book, as well as the upcoming Acoustic Rooster musical!

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Literacy Tip — Provide Unique Writing Tools to Make Writing Exciting

Literacy Tip — Provide Unique Writing Tools to Make Writing Exciting

A few weeks ago, my older daughter read a book in which the main character types a newspaper on a typewriter, and she decided she really, really wanted to do the same thing. Not one to say “No” to our girls when they’re really excited to read or write something, I told her we’d see what we could do (turns out used typewriters that work are hard to find and expensive!). But, being friends with an OT with every trick under the moon up her sleeve pays off, as my friend Courtney from OT OuTside has an old typewriter that we borrowed. And for the two weeks that it lived on our kitchen table, both of our girls wrote newspapers stories, letters, and notes on it every single day.

Which got me thinking about how I needed to share this tip with you all! No, I’m not saying you need to go out and find a typewriter for your kids to play on. But, I am encouraging you to think about what out-of-the-box tools you have around that can make writing fun and exciting for your emerging or reluctant writers (because, just like with reading, the more kids enjoy writing, the more they’re going to write, and the better they’re going to become). Read on for a few other ideas of fun, unique writing tools to get your kids excited about writing!

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