Kirby Larson Interview

Just this month I had the distinct honor of interviewing Kirby Larson, author of Hattie Big Sky and Two Bobbies:  A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival, as well as some other fiction and picture books.  If you haven’t read Hattie Big Sky, be sure to at least read my review so that [...]

Read Aloud Thursday

Do you or your children like wordless picture books?  I’ll admit that I don’t usually “get” them.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading them with an adult (well, mostly) mind instead of a child-like mind.  One of our books this week was a wordless picture book, and it really delighted my girls, especially Lulu (age [...]

The Gift of Psalms

The Word of Promise the Gift of Pslams is more than just a book of devotions; it is a book of devotions “from fifty of the best loved Psalms” and a “dramatic audio theater presentation” of some of those Psalms.  It is the latter part of this package that is the most appealing to me.  [...]

What’s on My Nightstand for March

Unfortunately, it looks like Les Miserables is still going to have a prominent place on my nightstand for the month of March.  I truly, truly, truly wanted to get it read for the Classics Bookclub at the beginning of March, but it’s just not happening.  I’m enjoying it, but life has gotten in the way [...]

Memory Monday::Colossians 3:1-17

Mondays are hectic here at the House of Hope.  In addition to recovering from a usually hectic weekend (our Sundays are really not all that restful, to tell the truth), we also have to be out of the house early for Community Bible Study leadership meeting.  However, our best laid plans were sidetracked this morning [...]

Kirby Larson interview next week!

This is just a happy little reminder that my interview with Kirby Larson will be published here at Hope Is the Word one week from today on February 27!  You have plenty of time to read Hattie Big Sky before then if you haven’t already.

The Love Letters by Madeleine L’Engle

Synopsis (Warning:  Spoilers!): Madeleine L’Engle’s The Love Letters is the story of Charlotte Clement Napier, wife of Dr. Patrick Napier, who flees her marriage and life in New York to go to Portugal to be with her mother-in-law, Violet, who is a brilliant concert harpsichordist, austere, demanding, and Charlotte’s only remaining “point of reference.”  While [...]

Read Aloud Thursday

Is it possible to check out too many books from the library?  Yes, I think it is, and I believe we did that this week.  I have been working on a few author/illustrator spotlight posts for Hope Is the Word, so I checked out all of those I could get my hands on.  In addition [...]

Author/Illustrator Spotlight::Lois Ehlert

We picked up Lois Ehlert’s Waiting for Wings at the library a few weeks ago, and after reading it to my girls, I realized two things:  first, I want us to grow a butterfly garden this year; and second, this was not the first of her books we’ve enjoyed over the past few years, and [...]

Kid’s Pick–All Things Laura Ingalls Wilder

I joke and say that Lulu is the world’s youngest living expert on Laura Ingalls Wilder, but I’m really only half-way kidding.  Way back before Christmas, we began checking out audiobooks of LIW’s books from the library.  We decided that a few of these audiobooks (along with a few others) would be a joy to [...]