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. 

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 . . .

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.

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.

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.

A Joy — Reading To Children

It is so good to have libraries all around. Our local Greenland, NH library has such beautiful and well stocked books for children and teens. AND it's all FREE! 

As I have mentioned earlier, I read to preschoolers at two different schools, and many of my books-to-read come from their school and town libraries AND my own books that have accumulated over the years. Here is a children's favorite, Boffo The Great Motorcycle Race.

What a joy it is to be with them watching their faces as I read stories, especially when I change voices of characters in the readings. Here is a Boffo read I implemented during COVID when I could not be with the children . . . 

PALINDROME PAL

Here is a book I just wrote and is now published with Amazon: Forward backwards THE SAME. The book is available through Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link. 

The illustrations that Karina Taylor provided are thoughtfully beautiful. 

Forty years ago as a 5th grade math teacher, I was fascinated by palindromes and as expected and when presented, so were my students.  

Feel free to pass on a comment after you read the book. Many thanks!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid — Amazing

Ever since my seven-year-old grandson recommended a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, — AND my granddaughter has 14 books in the series — I am on my second book. Wow! How did I miss this in my readings? Above is a picture of author Jeff Kinney's collection that is now 15 years old.

Speaking of author Kinney, check out this great PBS interview where he talks about his Wimpy Kid and the 250 million copies out worldwide that have come in for his work. 

Optical Illusions for Children & Adults

Check out this video that takes you through 11 different optical illusions. Teachers and parents sitting with young people can have lots of fun learning more about optical illusions AND personality traits.

Journey With a School Janitor

Fifty-five year old Richard Goodall has been serving as a janitor at a local school for 23 years. He loves to sing and make people happy. He had the opportunity to be on stage at America's Got Talent TV show on May 28. As of June 14, his YouTube performance below has over 13.4M views! His story, wrapped around a popular song, moves everyone when he sings. 

Such a Great Read Aloud Book For Children . . . and Adults

I read to preschool classes twice a week, and for the first time in six years, a class requested — almost demanded — one morning that I read for a second time Pretty Ugly. I easily understood why. This is a must-read book for children AND adults. It has such a clever story and is so beautifully illustrated.

As many of you know, David Sedaris is pretty darn funny and clever, and the illustrations by Ian Falconer are so terrific. Here is a neat interview with David via Seth Meyers.

Laugh at Yourself

Some great advice from the weekly JAM (Just A Minute to read). If you have not done so already, go to the JAM website when you have a chance.

Here are two quotes from the January 26, 2024 JAM – "Laugh at Yourself":

"It is so important to not take yourself too seriously. Laughing at yourself shows humility and brings us closer together."

"When you can laugh at yourself it displays a softened ego. It shows that you do not think you are better than others. Learn to laugh at yourself."

Can Children Appreciate Classical Music?

Of course they can. Here are some fabulous resources.

The book, The Carnival of the Animals is a beautiful rendition of the classical piece with the same name as the book. The book I received from Amazon is precious and is accompanied by a CD with a reading of the story and the classical piece by composer Camille Saint-Saens.

The book, Wild Symphony written by the popular author, Dan Brown, is beautifully illustrated and comes with an app that plays classical-like music that is composed by Dan Brown. It is spectacular.

Benjamin Zander helps us appreciate classical music, AND what makes his talk so inviting is how he weaves in classical music and children.

Why Great Leaders Take Humor Seriously

Whether you are a teacher, a principal, a president of a board of directors, a corporate CEO, or . . . you will get a perfect understanding of why great leaders take humor seriously by watching this powerful TED Talk. In just 10 minutes, you will learn and laugh. 

This is the TED intro to the August 2021 video: "There's a mistaken belief in today's working world that leaders need to be serious all the time to be taken seriously. The research tells a  different story. Based on the course they teach at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, behavioral scientist Jennifer Aaker and corporate strategist Naomi Bagdonas delve into the surprising power of humor: why it's a secret weapon to build bonds, power, creativity and resilience -- and how we can all have more of it."

Here are two other humor resources I have previously posted on this blog:

"The Importance of Using Humor in Our Work & Lives" (April 9, 2021) and "Humor in Our Work as Educators and Leaders" (August 31, 2019).

Alternative Math: 2 + 2 = 22 ?

 

WSJ - May 18, 2021

I happened upon this Wall Street Journal article the other day: "California Leftists Try to Cancel Math Class" by Williamson M. Evers. You might read the article after viewing the video. . . 

Simultaneously, I happened upon this YouTube video, Alternative Math, that has over 10 million views. See what you make of the article and the video.