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A Window- Milo Imagines the World

Our eight-year-old son got his own library card yesterday and we celebrated it like a holiday.  As he filled out the form, full of pride, he asked me what to do on the signature line.  I explained it is a place to write your name in a fancy way.  The bubble letters that ensued were puffy with enthusiasm.  As my friend later told me- “regular letters could not contain him.” We meandered around the library;

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Maybe You are Looking for a Baby Gift? Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth

This past Saturday, while on call in my office, I saw three newborns.  Each one was a few days old, newly discharged from the hospital.  Each one was warm and tiny and made me long for those first few delirious days when my sons were new: milky, mewing, and soft.   Looking ahead on my schedule, there are another three newborns tomorrow.  Two on Tuesday.  Nursery rounds are full.  I am not suggesting that perhaps people

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The Kids are All Right- The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

I fall hard for stories about scrappy siblings.  Maybe it’s because I grew up in a house with such fantastic brothers. Maybe siblings just make for good stories. All I know is, from The Saturdays to The Five Children and It, to The Boxcar Children to All-of-a-Kind Family, I have always loved books where houses are overstuffed, a jumble of kids are tumbling along the walls, and siblings in a jam help each other out/save

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Invest in a booklight! The Parker Inheritance

A real-life one act play from this past weekend:[Late at night.  I am in bed, reading with a tiny book light so as not to disturb my husband, who is wisely sleeping.  He rolls over]Husband: The book is that good?Me: Hmmmm? (distracted “I’m reading mumble”- he is well acquainted)Husband:  The book.  It’s really good?Me:  So good!  If I had this book when I was 10 or 11, I would have been up past midnight reading

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Happy Thanksgiving- Apple Cake: a Gratitude

It is a good week to be grateful.  It is a good week to think about dessert.  Therefore, Apple Cake: a Gratitude.  This book is delightfully simple.  The text could easily be a lullaby and when you read it, a soft smile creeps into your voice. Dawn Casey uses sweet couplets to describe a girl and her dog gathering ingredients to make an apple cake.  As she goes, she thanks each source for its contribution

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How I Spent Election Night: I’m Just No Good at Rhyming

There is a lot of stress tonight. That is my understatement of the day. So I spent it in utter silliness, reading ridiculous poetry with my kids. I’m Just No Good at Rhyming (and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups) by Chris Harris and illustrated by Lane Smith is perfect for reading aloud on a night when all one needs is levity and laughter. I’m talking real laughter. Like, the kids are snorting

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A Little Hope- The Lifters

How are you all doing? Truly- is everybody ok? It all feels like a lot right now. Honestly, every time we get to the end of the day, I am astonished that we made it, successfully, to the end of the day. The pressures of the pandemic, hybrid school, the impending election and increasing feeling that everything in the world is just. . .off. It feels unsettling, to put it lightly. Not to mention all

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Quarantine Cooking- Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao

On March 16, my county went into a forced hibernation. School buildings closed, indoor dining (the only winter dining we have in Syracuse) closed. Groceries stores went into overdrive. The libraries closed. Shelves were bare. We were bartering toilet paper for flour and yeast. I could go on, but why? I think you were doing your own bartering as well. The point is, the libraries closed. This was a very big deal, and would have

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Happy birthday to me!

Hi, I’m Jaclyn.I have been thinking about starting this website for years, writing and rewriting entries in my head, wanting it to be perfect before I launched it.  My intent was to have it up and running this winter, perhaps early spring, and then the world turned upside down. I am a pediatrician in Upstate New York.  My patients do not like wearing masks, are not the best at covering a cough or a sneeze,

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