The bustling city. New York City. I adore it. The architecture, the diversity, the speeding vehicles all work together in unison weaving lives into a medley of city-song. So when I opened the pages to Before Morning by Joyce Sidman and Beth Krommes, I marveled at its distinctive style in creating a world unknown to many young readers. The pictures are a detailed combination of scratch-board and watercolor illustrating the daily life of city-living. Robust with layers and

Every month I get a box of books from the Junior Library Guild. On the side of the box it says, “Yay, It’s Here!” And that’s exactly my sentiment. It’s like Christmas once a month. I dive into each box and every once in a while I get a book that takes my breath away. Sleep Tight Farm written by Eugenie Doyle and illustrated by Becca Stadtlander is one of those books. It was love at first sight. I opened the pages and found myself wanting to jump in. Literally! I starte

I’m not a fan of football. I suppose I can see the fascination looking at it through the perspective of NFL adoring eyes…the stadium, the fans, the uniforms, the complexity of the plays, the fact that the game can change in a split second reversing the outcome. I get it. But when I watch the game, I cringe at the collisions and hits. I loved the movie Concussion but can’t understand why CTE is such an epiphany for everyone. Doesn’t common sense tell us that if you hit yo

You can find the School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2016 clicking here. The list includes books for everyone in the family. Artman students have either listened to many of these stories or have heard about how great they are and decided to read them themselves. I haven’t gotten a bad review from my students for any on this list. I love them all but my favorites are They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel and Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo. I will be writing a rev

We’ve all heard the expression, don’t judge a book by its cover, but in this case, I couldn’t help myself. With its haunting vignette, who could? The author, Ransom Riggs, skeins a story through a stash of vintage snapshots of strange-looking children that he found at flea markets and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is the result. And, now a major motion picture. The genre isn’t my thing but I can see the book’s lure. My eight year old son was mesmerized by t

Every spring, hundreds of book devouring teens gather in celebration of literature at Youngstown State University for the English Festival. To participate in the English Festival, students must read the selected seven books prior to the April 27 event. The festival includes Writing Games, Not-So-Trivial Pursuit, Poetry, Impromptu Writing, Journalism, Informational Workshops and a presentation by a guest author. This year, the guest author is Gene Luen Yang. Students may al