A Very Special Children Museum

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art that is located at 125 West Bay Road in Amherst, Massachusetts. It goes way beyond the beautiful work and 70 fabulous books of author Eric Carle, which are outstanding in and of themselves. The Museum shows other authors' books and art work. With the amazing staff; programs, work areas for children, auditorium, and book store are so well incorporated and presented. 

You have to give yourself a couple of hours to fully enjoy all of the Museum's areas. Here is a link to the website that presents the Museum so well. For now, you can view this short video to capture much of what the Museum offers.

Parents Are Models for Our Children

One of the most powerful singers, Harry Chapin, captured my attention when I was teaching middle school students at a boarding school in 1978. Little did I know at the time, that I would be working like a parent. Here is a wonderful video of Chapin singing his song "Cat's in the Cradle." The video — with 19 million views — opens with his wife Sandy explaining how she passed on to him the poem and then his son, Josh, says a few gentle words about his dad.

Whenever I hear this song, I reflect on my parents and my parenting as a father. As you watch this video, listen carefully to the words as Chapin sings; they are so meaningful, especially in today's parenting of children especially in the midst of AI. Is there a difference among Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials and how children have been / are being raised?

459 Weeks!

When I was reading the May 10, 2026 NYTimes Book Review "CHILDREN'S & YOUNG ADULT BEST SELLERS," I discovered in the top 10 Picture Books section The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin and that it was #7 in the top 10 list AND that it has been on the list 459 weeks.

Well, I immediately went to the library and checked it out. Whew! It is such a beautiful book with magnificent illustrations and charming story. When I read it to a preschool class, the children were fascinated and enjoyed the story and illustrations.

ANOTHER Excellent Book Review

 

Here is a link to a new book review of Forward backwards - THE SAME as posted in the spring issue of Tomorrow's Child, a magazine from the Montessori Foundation. Launa Schweitzer, a long time educator and head of a school wrote the excellent review and did a wonderful job capturing the essence of the book. 

By the way, the price of the book has been reduced from $13.99 to $8.50 to enable more people to buy the book!

The Importance of Humor in Our Lives

Catch the value of humor in our lives by reading Humor Me by Chris Duffy. When he is not writing books, Chris is a standup comedian. 

In his last few pages, Duffy captures humor nicely. "My understanding of the core goal of humor is simple: It's to make people laugh and have a good time. All the other benefits that I've explored over the course of this book flow from there. So if you're doing things right, humor is going to bring people in, welcome them, and make them have a good time." (pg. 216)

Here is his excellent 7-minute TED Talk, "How to Find Laughter Anywhere." 

A Special Eric Carle Book . . . and Others

If you are not familiar with author Eric Carle, this is a perfect book for getting to know him. I am reading it to the preschool children I read to each week. This book has 11 one-page Aesop fable stories retold and illustrated by Carle that children love. His illustrations are of the best in the business of children books.  

Along the way, I discovered this YouTube video that is a reading of many of his books. It is amazing! Oh, and by the way, here is a link to his museum, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts. 

Here Comes The Sun

This post is not the popular song by the Beatles (😎), but it is the recently published book by Bill McKibben. The author presents the world's transition in electric power and heat from coal, oil, and gas to solar and wind power. The statistics he shares are so impressive. 

Here is a link to a brief YouTube video to capture your interest in reading his book. The statistics he presents are so impressive and a wake-up call on energy production and use. I lean towards the solar panels as I have 12 on my house. The savings alone are amazing.

Children Are So Sharp

I was reading to a group of preschool children as I do every Tuesday and Thursday, and I thought it might be good to read a book I discovered in their school library. Make Van Gogh's Bed by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo was a children's book that I thought they would enjoy. Van Gogh was one of the artists  along with other artists of that period. 

When I turned to the page below, I introduced the painting by saying that my wife and I crossed this water-lily pond in France. Before I could say anything further, Frankie, a 4-year old class listener, said, "Monet." My jaw dropped, and I quickly recovered by saying, "Yes Frankie, it was painted by artist Claude Monet, well done!"

 

A MUST READ FOR KIDS & PARENTS

As a follow-up to his fantastic bestseller, The Anxious Generation, author Jonathan Haidt has a graphic book that beautifully appeals to kids and adults — especially parents and educators. This is a must-read book for preteens, teens, young adults, and parents. 

The book mentions that AI and technology goals are pitching social media apps no matter what the human damage results are, so long as financial profits are high priority. The book and this video below have Jonathan's two simple student rules for going forward with today's technology: "Use technology as a tool. Don't let it use you. And, second, fill your life with real freedom, friends, and fun."

Take five minutes to view this YouTube interview with Jonathan Haidt.

DD Reads Boffo to Many Children

I—also known as DD—love to read books to children. I have been reading to them since 1980 — first to my children, then to children ages preschool through middle school.

The characters come to life with the different voices I use, which I do now every Tuesday and Thursday at two different schools. Boffo - The Great Motorcycle Race by Frank Dickens is a classic and a favorite for 3- to 8-year old children. This — and many others — YouTube below was made so I could share with children because of COVID restrictions. If I get lots of views, I will periodically share other readings.

Janitor at a Middle School Makes People Cry

Here is a very special video from 2025 America's Got Talent. The singer presents himself in a very humble way and changes all expectations once he begins singing a song. See what you think . . .

"Permission to Feel" Emotional RULER Skills & Guiding Young Ones

I first met author Marc Brackett at a conference when I was heading a toddler through eighth grade school in Brooklyn, NY. What I love about Permission To Feel is that it says so much about adult — parents and educators — caring for children and children responses.

The book's beginning introduction is an acronym RULER — Recognizing Emotions, Understanding Emotions, Labeling Emotions, Expressing Emotions, Regulating Emotions and how it helps the reader understand how to view and process emotions.

When reading Chapters 9 - Emotions at Home and 10 - Emotions at School: From Preschool to College with all of the true-life examples, gives the reader guidance on helping you guide children regarding emotional intelligence for you and them. Marc supplies such good true stories that convince you how good emotional intelligence is for children and adults.

If you have not already read Marc's book, here is a website that gives you more about Marc Brackett and his work.

Guiding Children To Be Kind - Part 2

I bumped into this book on kindness as I was gathering books to read to my two preschool classes that I read to each week. Like my previous blog post, I love this book because of how it reaches out to parents, educators, AND children on being kind. So much of what we do as educators and parents is setting the best examples in our own lives to help children move forward with kindness in their lives.

A big thank you to author and illustrator Todd Parr for his beautiful book on kindness! Check out this YouTube to view him reading and discussing the book with children.

Guiding Children To Be Kind

Being kind is paramount in this day and age. Guiding — modeling for and building — children to be kind to others is so important. By the way, the previous views for my October 10 blog post "Being Kind Helps Others and Oneself" has over 85,000 views!

So, as a follow-up to the last blog post, I found a beautiful children's book on being kind that I read to my preschool classes this week.        I like to be Kind by Aleks Harrison has a similar message as presented in the previous post. It was such a treat to see the children's smiles as I read.

Being Kind Helps Others and Oneself

Simple as it may sound, being kind to one another can be life altering. This is helpful to children when they view adults being kind to others. Also, being kind to others can be powerful to oneself.

Here is a beautiful short piece on being kind from author Steve Garnaas Holmes

Great PALINDROME Resources

A friend sent this "50 PALINDROMES" sheet to me last week, and it is terrific. (If you have trouble viewing this on your computer, try clicking on this link). 

I could have used it when I was teaching my 5th grade math class about palindromes . . . 40 years ago. Also, this 40-year old experience has been captured in my book Forward backwards  THE SAME.

Also, the book SO MANY DYNAMOS! by John Agee is a very popular and amusing book.

GOODMORNING – Reading to Children

The book Goodnight Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown is celebrating its 75th year. It is a book that I have read many many times to children. 

Then, while walking through the children's section at the library, I stumbled upon the book Goodnight iPad, written in 2011 by Ann Droyd (Get it?). Nevertheless, the covers look alike but the contents of each are very different!

                              

The important aspect of these two books is a perspective for parents and educators, understanding the history and future of technology and social media and where they can lead us. One of the best resources for understanding all of this is the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt that has been on the NYTimes top 10 list for the past 72 weeks. 

Stay Connected by Reading to Children

Reading to children does help to be more in control of living with AI — for them AND for parents and educators. Back in June 2023, the Montessori Leadership magazine spring edition published my article "Cosmic Education and the Seven Great Lessons for 2023" to help educators and parents help children. 

On June 25, I presented a Montessori Leadership Forum webcast to educators/parents to hear their take and discuss AI, social media, and the whole new world of technology. Here is a link to the presentation that is 55 minutes long and begins at 3:34. 

WHAT IF . . . Reading to Children

I had an amazing opportunity to talk about the importance of reading to children and read the book I wrote — Forward Backwards THE SAME — at the recent TEDx Portsmouth 2025 event at the Music Hall. I read to an audience with over 900 people. The audience was so engrossed, and the TEDx staff was outstanding in how they presented all 14 individual speakers, moving towards a "What If . . ." theme.

Here is an excellent GRANITE GOODNESS website review by Andy DeMeo presenting all that TED does.

Great Stories to Read to Middle Schoolers

I have always enjoyed reading to children. Here is an article — "The Joy of Reading to Children" — I wrote for "Montessori Life" magazine with the American Montessori Society back in 2017. It can give you some important information and thoughts. 

Also, High Marks - Stories That Make Good Reading compiled by Annette Sloan & Albert Capaccio is a book I have used over the years to read to middle school students. Here is a sample of the stories students enjoy:

"The Lion Roared" by Virginia Eiseman
"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
"How Much Land Does a Man Need" by Leo Tolstoy
"The Necklace" by Guy De Maupassant
"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs

Also, the book includes thoughtful questions at the end of each story.