When I was in Kindergarten, we weren’t all that worried about physical fitness. I do remember we used to sing the song this review’s title comes from (originally from Romper Room, which I doubt very many of you remember, but here’s an Australian version, in case you need an earworm), but that was as far as actual exercise went in our classroom. Fast forward a dozen years or so, to about a decade ago, and now I’m teaching preschool in Cambridge Mass, basically in Harvard’s […]
A delightful little picture book
Princess Pinecone wants to be a warrior and get cool trophies or weapons, but instead she tends to get big fuzzy sweaters. For her birthday this year, what she wants the more than anything is a horse. A big, brave, strong horse. A warrior horse, fit for the warrior princess that she is. Her parents really do try, but instead, she gets a pony. A little round, yellow pony who likes to eat pretty much everything and fart a lot. Princess Pinecone valiantly tries to […]
The Perfect Book For Spring
For some unknown reason, The Secret Garden was an overlooked book in my childhood. My parents mostly read science fiction to me and I was content in my personal reading of girlhood staples like the Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women, and The Baby-Sitters Club. But because I’ve really been enjoying the Misselthwaite webseries based on The Secret Garden, I figured it was finally time to give this classic a read. Mary Lennox is a little girl living in early 20th century India. When […]
This is not the Dickens I was Looking for
I haven’t read any Dickens. Ever. What at first was an oversight had turned over the years into a point of silly pride. Sometimes you just don’t want to read a classic author, you know? I’m sure part of it was that for many years one of the holiday events I worked was based on A Christmas Carol. The story is ubiquitous. Almost everyone knows the story of Scrooge being visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, getting himself scared straight and […]