I am excited to share a perfect picture book biography for Perfect Picture Book Friday- DANCING HANDS: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln By Margarita Engle (author) and Rafael López (illustrator) Published by Atheneum/Simon and Schuster August 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Biography for ages 4-8 Themes: biography, arts, refugees Places: Venezuela, […]
Inspirations
N is for Nicaragua and the library we built #atozblogchallenge
Welcome to today’s A to Z Blog Challenge Post. This year I am writing about Library Love and today I’d like to share a library near and dear to my heart. When you step away from your normal routine, amazing things can happen. Last year a friend invited me to go on a woman’s retreat […]
Ten Important Lessons I Learned from Roald Dahl
Reading James and the Giant Peach was one of the highlights of my childhood. I was hooked from page one. Many of the most important lessons I learned in life came from books written by the brilliant Roald Dahl. And, in honor of his 100th birthday, I’m sharing some of his wise words. […]
The right word at the right time – encouragement
Did you know that there is a National Day of Encouragement? Well, why not? There seems to be a holiday for everything. Words have power. The right word at the right time can help a person to continue a task, overcome an obstacle, or find the courage to try something new. On the other […]
A Celebration of Children’s Book Creators
It’s Saturday and time to celebrate with others who link up with Ruth Ayres Celebrate This Week. If you’ve visited my blog before, you would recognize that kid’s books play a central role in my life. My career choices were made around the fact that I wanted a job where I could read and share […]
U is for Uganda
When I traveled to Africa, I learned how livestock ownership could change a family’s life. A donkey can serve as a taxi or means to haul water. Chickens give eggs that can be eaten or sold. A goat can enable a girl to get an education. This is the premise for Beatrice’s Goat by Page […]
Celebrate Pi Day! 3.14152653
When you live with a math fanatic March 14th is a big day. And, this year it looks like it will be the best ever! It is Pi Day and we are going to celebrate. I first learned of Pi day from my daughter Mee Mee who loves all things math. Since we enjoy all holidays […]
Girls on the go at Happy Go Smile
Here at A Field trip Life, I’m always on the lookout for places to go, people to meet, and books to read. Field trips aren’t just for kids. Grownups need to get out and about. And there are times when girlfriends just need to do something a bit different together. Dee, Mary and Naida are […]
Floating into the New Year –
A few months ago my daughter, Roxanne, suggested that we go and decorate the Rose Parade float built by the students at the Cal Poly Universities. I’m always ready for a field trip so we signed up. Unfortunately, Roxanne was scheduled to work on campus so my brother, John, joined me. We kept asking […]
Thanksgiving Day – thinking of children who need families
As we enjoy this time of family and give thanks for many blessings, I think of children who do not live with families of their own. After adopting two of our children through Holt International Children’s services, my husband and I became aware of the overwhelming number of vulnerable children in the word. Children […]
R is for raising readers…
I never grow tired of watching a child learn to read. It is an amazing process that has determined the course of my life. There’s so much we can do to help raise readers. Here are a few suggestions: 1. Read to your children. This is simple advice but the most important. 2. Let your […]