Summer is right around the corner. My kids will be finishing classes this next month, and soon my days will be filled with snack preparation, swimming supervision, and soaking up sunshine. If you are looking at the summer months and are wondering how to spend them with your kids, I have some free resources for you with lots of fun ideas for keeping your family laughing together all summer long!
Kids thrive best when given freedom within structure. To help you out, I am giving away my printable list that I use with my own school-aged kids during the summer. This Summer To-Do List gives the kids tasks to do every day before they are allowed to play on screens or with their friends. It helps them get their chores done, along with some educational activities, so the summer doesn’t turn into one long party. With my list, the kids work on reading, memorization, and an activity book (whatever works for your child), they journal, and they exercise. Even if you don’t use my printable, it can give you a jumping off point for your own daily list for your kids!
I also have a Summer Fun Bingo printable to help your family keep track of fun activities you can do! See if you can make a blackout before school starts again!
Here’s a preview of some of the activities:
- Make Chalk Drawings
- Roast S’mores
- Feed the ducks
- Visit a Zoo or Aquarium
- Have a picnic
- … and more!
May Events:
I have a lot of events this next month where you can meet me in person, and I’d love to see you there!
May 10, 2025 @ Best of Books (Storytime and Signing)
11 AM
1313 E Danforth Rd.
Edmond, OK 73034
May 13, 2025 @ SCBWI Tulsa Connect (Self-Publishing Presentation)
6:30 PM
Memorial Baptist Church Fellowship Hall
2906 S Yale Ave
Tulsa, OK 74114
May 15, 2025 @ Tulsa Toy Depot (Storytime and Book Signing)
11 AM
10114 S Sheridan Rd
Tulsa, OK 74133
May 22,2025 @ Tulsa Toy Depot (Storytime and Book Signing)
11 AM
10114 S Sheridan Rd
Tulsa, OK 74133
Author/Illustrator Updates
I am spending time working on my next picture book, and I finished the first draft of all my sketches for my next project. I can’t wait to get it finished and show it to you, but for now, here’s one of my rough sketches.
Storytime Sparks:
Libraries are your secret weapon!
If you don’t spend time at your local library, why not? Going to the library with your kids is a parenting secret weapon. At other places, you are always telling your kids “Don’t touch that!” but at a library, not only are they allowed to touch anything, they can also take it home for FREE. I hate always telling my kids “no” at the store. One of the reasons I don’t like taking them shopping is the constant asking to buy things. But taking them to the library? “Can I get this?” turns into an easy “Yes!”
During the summer, most libraries also run a children’s reading challenge. Our local library has prizes and stickers, along with special kid-friendly activities throughout the summer months. It’s all free and a great way to get out of the house, encourage reading, and not have to pay money.
So, the challenge this month is to visit your local library and find out what family activities they are planning for the summer!
We are celebrating Short Story Month in May, and one great thing about picture books: they are short stories! Check some new ones out at your local library and enjoy!
Book Reviews:
Board Book/Picture Book:
Your Farm by Jon Klassen
With a minimal tableau of familiar objects and a gentle rhythm suited for reading aloud, a farm and all its items—a horse and its hay, a truck, a stool, a fence—are assembled, ending with bedtime as the sun goes down. This is a farm for a young child to have whenever they want to go there. One in a trio of board books focusing on safe spaces, comfort, and imagination, Your Farm signals both a departure for Jon Klassen and a story whose peculiar touches of whimsy stamp the book as iconically his.
My Take: One of the new Board Books from Jon Klassen. His others are “Your Island” and “Your Forest”. We checked out Your Island as well, which follows much the same pattern as Your Farm. This is an object naming book, but with Jon Klassen’s signature style. All the objects have eyes, which is especially funny on the fence, and at first read I thought the stool was an alien like in “Rock from the Sky”.
My son is an early reader, and he was the one who read this book to me. He enjoyed it, and we both giggled over the illustrations.
I think Jon Klassen has created a new series perfect for little readers who like to know the names of objects, but also he has written it in such a way as to create the beginnings of a world that can fuel imagination.
Elementary/Middle Grade:
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
Shipwrecked on a remote, wild island, Robot Roz learned from the unwelcoming animal inhabitants and adapted to her surroundings—but can she survive the challenges of the civilized world and find her way home to Brightbill and the island?
From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed sequel to his New York Times bestselling The Wild Robot, about what happens when nature and technology collide.
My Take: The Wild Robot’s adventures continue as she tries to escape from the farm where she is now working and find her way home to her island again. I enjoyed the new human characters that were added to the Wild Robot’s world, but I found that I didn’t enjoy reading this book as much as “The Wild Robot”. The most touching parts are the connection between Roz and her goose son, Brightbill. My children enjoyed this as a read-aloud, and my son asked for the next book, “The Wild Robot Protects”.
Adult:
The Lady’s Mine by Francine Rivers
1875. When Kathryn Walsh arrives in tiny Calvada, a mining town nestled in the Sierra Nevadas, falling in love is the farthest thing from her mind. Banished from Boston by her wealthy stepfather, she has come to claim an inheritance from the uncle she never knew: a defunct newspaper office on a main street overflowing with brothels and saloons, and a seemingly worthless mine. Moved by the oppression of the local miners and their families, Kathryn decides to relaunch her uncle’s newspaper―and then finds herself in the middle of a maelstrom, pitted against Calvada’s most powerful men. But Kathryn intends to continue to say―and publish―whatever she pleases, especially when she knows she’s right.
Matthias Beck, owner of a local saloon and hotel, has a special interest in the new lady in town. He instantly recognizes C. T. Walsh’s same tenacity in the beautiful and outspoken redhead―and knows all too well how dangerous that family trait can be. While Kathryn may be right about Calvada’s problems, her righteousness could also get her killed. But when the handsome hotelier keeps finding himself on the same side of the issues as the opinionated Miss Walsh, Matthias’s restless search for purpose becomes all about answering the call of his heart.
Everyone may be looking to strike it rich in this lawless boomtown, but it’s a love more precious than gold that will ultimately save them all.
My Take: This is a sweet romance set in the Western frontier during the gold rush. I found it an enjoyable and fun read, but lacking in the emotional depth of some of Francine Rivers’ other books. The story was carried by Kathryn’s extreme outspokeness, to the point of danger to her own life. There’s murder, weddings, and natural disasters. At the same time, I felt like there was a lot of unresolved heartache in both of the main characters, and I wish more had been done in that area than in the outer community. Both main characters grew very little in their inner journeys, in my opinion.
Inspirational Thoughts:
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