I can never choose a favorite Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quote, but this one ranks high on the list,

and it’s appeared a few times in Parent Pages over the past 23 years.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

I bought this notecard when visiting The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia many years ago.

•  “There are two ways of exerting one’s strengths, one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”  Booker T. Washington

•  “Anger is the only thing to put off till tomorrow.” Slovakian Proverb

•  “Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope––a slight change, and all patterns alter.” Sharon Salzberg

•  “While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die––whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or out glorious uniqueness.”  Gilda Radner

•  “Life consists of what a man is thinking of all day long.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson•  “You have brains in your head, and feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”  Dr. Seuss

•  “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Nelson Mandela

The pop-up pictures are hilarious from the first picture of grandma on a motor bike swallowing a fly to swallowing a cow while riding on a hay wagon on back of a tractor.  Then, of course, come the X-rays  and the operation.  In the end, the old woman decides to eat only fruits and veggies!

Get this book, it will delight parents, teachers, baby sitters, and older siblings who read it to the little ones.

And speaking of busy.  The author of this amazing book, Linda Lodding must be reeling from the busy schedule she finds herself in as she promotes the book around the country.  And she took the time to write me and thank me for our review. You can learn more about her and the marvelous illustrator Suzanne Beaky.

Find out more about the book at news@FlashlightPress.com and download all kinds of fun pages to go along with the book. You can also watch a quick trailer about Ernestine.

I definitely see this book being given away in one of our upcoming contests.  Stay tuned.

You can read more

If you haven’t tried it, you’ll be amazed at how fun this simple activity is for kids.  What you’ll need:  A glass or plastic jar with a tight fitting lid, 3 or 4 marbles, washed, 1 -3 cups heavy whipping cream or double cream, and a pinch of salt.   Place the marbles, whipping cream and salt in the glass jar.  Screw the lid on tight.  Now the fun begins––kids get to shake, shake, shake.  That’s all there is to it.  When butter solidifies, remove the marbles and spread on bread.  Kids will marvel at what they’ve accomplished!   In the next few days, I’ll be sharing some recipes for flavored butter such as, Maple Honey, Cinnamon,  and Orange Marmalade.

What does a monster chew?  Booo-Ble Gum.

What does a ghost use when he plays guitar?  Sheet music.

What should you use to fix a hole in your pants on Halloween? A Pumpkin Patch.

I have lots of favorites from this latest book such as, Housebroken,  Forth Place, and Yesees and Noees.  But my very, very favorite is an homage to the title, Every Thing On It.  Such a simple idea––a hot dog with everything on it from a bee in a bonnet to a porch swing––only Silverstein could think of such an outlandish idea.  And if you need a little something extra to read about for Halloween, check out The One Who Invented Trick or Treat.

Shel Silverstein, he’s made millions of children (and adults) laugh.  He was a one-of-a-kind!

Now it was time to turn up the heat. The first caramel made a smudge on the bottom of the pot as it began to melt.  Soon the caramels globed together and then they started sticking to the spoon. We had to hurry, now.  I looked at the empty bag of caramels.  ”Where are the sticks?” I asked the boys.  ”There have to be sticks.”  I smoothed the bag out and looked at the contents––50 caramels––no mention of sticks.  This was going to be a disaster.  ”Kaleb, run into Coen’s room and grab his tinker toys.”  Kaleb ran, I stirred, Coen (he’s 3) looked on. We dumped the tinker toys onto the counter.   The first tinker toy was too long.   The second tinker toy was too short, but the third, just right!  We stuck it in the apple, swirled the apple in the caramel, and placed it on the sugar-coated waxed paper.  The apples looked very festive in their red, yellow and green sticks and the apples tasted great with their tart crispness mingling with the sweet buttery caramel.  Oh yeah, this is divergent thinking at its best, but I’m still a little aggravated with Kraft.  When did they stop putting the sticks in the bag of caramels?  And what if we didn’t have tinker toys?  Oh my!

Over the years we’ve learned that if we stick something on the windows it tricks them into thinking it’s solid so they better change course.

This year we placed a bunch of post-it notes way up high.  My husband did, actually, because I’m not tall enough.  When my three-year-old grandson was visiting this week, I explained about the post-it-notes or so I thought I did.  We talked about reflections and how the birds bonked their head if they hit the window — on and on for a while as he wisely took all of the information in.  I thought the subject had been fully covered and was fully understood until I heard a little voice,  “Grandma, what do the notes say?”

Research shows that events that evoke strong emotions are more likely to be remembered.  This is probably because when emotions are roused, hormones are released by the brain.  The hormones act as a kind of fixative.   File through some of your memories and you’ll find that the highs and lows are what come to mind.  You felt some emotion when those memories were cast. As teachers and parents we know that talking though fears helps kids process.  Drawing and coloring pictures also help children make sense of what they’ve seen or heard.

Thankfully, devastating events such as 9/11, hurricane Katrina, or forest fires happen infrequently, but kids also witness or see on TV images of domestic violence, car accidents, and an array of other unsettling, seemingly daily events.  I found a statement on a blog that might be helpful when kids come to you with their troubles.  The statement is from Mr. Rogers.  He said “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.” Leave it to Mr. Rogers to remember those wise words from his mother and to share them with all of us.