Here’s a simple word choice lesson you can do with kids while reading FINDING MY PLACE: ONE GIRL’S STRENGTH AT VICKSBURG or really any historical fiction book. Word choice is one of the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing. One thing about the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing that I love is that these [...]

I am honored to preview this book, which will be officially out on October 2! Don’t miss it. *Picture book, contemporary winter-themed, preschoolers through 2nd graders *Young girl as main character *Rating: When someone can rhyme and tell a story as well as Janet Lawler can, then you don’t want to miss her books. Snowzilla [...]

I had the best of intentions to do a blog post on this book: That’s My Dog before I went out of town. However, I’m still getting my stuff together and now my dear daughter is crying. So, I will do this book justice with three activities on another day, but I want to tell [...]

Before I talk about the new TRILINGUAL picture book, My Sister is My Best Friend by Nicole Weaver (Guardian Angel Publishing), I would like to announce the winner of Melissa Goodwin’s book, The Christmas Village. The winner is Beth F.! Thank you, Beth, for your comment, and happy holidays to everyone who left a comment [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Middle-grade novel, fantasy and adventure A 14-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy, and a baby girl are the main characters. Rating: The voice in this book is unusual and playful and makes the book as popular as it is–popular enough to be made into a movie (along with book 2 [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Young adult novel, contemporary A teenage boy and a teenage girl as main characters Rating: Refreshing ya novel with incredible timing, pacing, and voice! Short, short summary: Told in both Nick and Norah’s POV, this novel starts with an interesting premise and a pick-up line that I’m sure many [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Middle-grade novel (although third graders will love it and not sure if they count as “middle-graders” Elementary-school-aged boy as main character Rating: Read the book–even if you’ve seen the movies. Roald Dahl has one of the best writing styles and voices of all times! Short, short summary: Although there [...]