May your holidays have at least one moment of child-like wonder or laughter. #Uplift

Overheard at home: Kid 1: I don't like the day after Christmas. Kid 2: Why not? Kid 1: Because then I have to wait a whole nother year before Christmas!

Holiday PB Countdown: The Littlest Solstice Tree, @lisavperron.bsky.social, Ahya Kim, @beamingbooksmn.bsky.social. #PictureBooks #ChildrensBooks #Solstice #winter. 📚

At this point, I’m less amazed by A Christmas Carol’s visitation of three magical ghosts who can travel in time than the miracle of a rich man actually feeling convicted, and repenting so fully, he becomes a paragon for generosity and community.

“Oh I only used AI for placeholders or idea starters” does not make it better! If you are using it for any part of the creative process then you’re no longer doing the process!

In a world that asks us to move faster, I create art inviting us to slow down. My work is rooted in nature, hope & healing, meant to bring calm, connection & quiet joy into your home. If you believe beauty matters, if nature feels like home, if you’re craving a little more peace in your life…

"Rob was a good person who put great art into the world, who made a positive difference in more lives than any of us can imagine. The world is a better place thanks to his activism and the way he chose to use all of his privilege and influence."-- Wil Wheaton

#birdoftheday #heronsandegrets

Overheard my kids playing: "You're so dumb because you only use AI. You don't know how to think." My work here is done.

Looking for new books for your kids? Here's some great new Indigenous authored books recommended by children's librarian Tracy Kampa! (She's got great taste!) www.kaxe.org/show/what-we...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:

Minnesota cities as Muppets: Stillwater:

This book of ours- was chosen by @childmindbestbooks as the best kid's books about #MentalHealth 2025. @teresamtzjun @beamingbooks @joycesweeny @naomi.j.krueger article @ their site & anafiction.com #librarians #writingcommunity #educators #childrensbookbloggers @hownowbooking @bookbreak4schools

The worst question: "Have I heard of any of the books you've edited?" How should I know? Must I list them all? 😅

Tis the season ❄️ Love this one by Pascal Campion.

Costco pumpkin pie I bought last week is thawing in the fridge tonight. This will either be the best Thanksgiving hack or the worst. We shall find out tomorrow.

Oh no I just saw a picture of the art supply suitcase go by so it must be time for my yearly psa: don't buy that. I've been given it many times in my life and it was usable once: in 1989. "But I don't know what to get my artist friends/talented cousins for the holidays!" I will help.

“Warmhearted quatrains...applaud Thanksgiving’s many attributes in” THANKSGIVING IS A BLESSING and TWO-LIST THANKSGIVING “highlights the blending of cultures as a Korean American family comes together for Thanksgiving” both from @beamingbooksmn.bsky.social www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

What are your favorite Thanksgiving-inspired foods to eat around this time of year, but not necessarily for the meal? Have any fun appetizer, breakfast, or creative leftover recipes?

Also: what someone is eating or not eating isn’t any of your business.

“What is Reading Rainbow?” 📚🌈 Library joy was featured as a Jeopardy! clue, alongside LeVar Burton and PBS 🤯🥹 💙 @jeopardyofficial.bsky.social 💚 @pbs.org

Missouri court strikes down book ban law that pushed libraries to remove hundreds of titles | KCUR buff.ly/nsfzZLm

A lot of people didn’t like the Washington Post journalist who was tortured and dismembered with a bone saw for writing critically about the man sitting next to me

With apologies for acting like a journalist I figured I would give an update on the raid in St Paul. I should be clear i haven’t seen anything labeled ICE. Fbi, dea, etc

Sidewalk poetry and ginkgo leaves in Saint Paul

Love this piece of local art history! www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...

A good read for #WorldKindnessDay www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...

Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot. n.pr/3JKj19D

Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...

Halloween is the best holiday because it's all about people giving neighbors and strangers treats for free and telling kids how awesome they are.

Happy Reformation Day! The church is always reforming. Asking questions, holding leaders to account, and learning what the Bible says for ordinary people NOW is part of this. Hopefully we can do that w/o all the violence that the original Reformation led to. 🙃 www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o8o...

Happy Halloween! #TrickOrTreat #HappyHalloween #NatureArt

"We know what happens when private equity gets involved with businesses not expected to generate high growth or returns, as well as what happens when there's too little market competition in any given sector." B&T is gone. And now--guess who?--Amazon, famous friend of libraries, is making a play. 📚

I know a lot of people (cough Millennials) feel like they need to START a thing, START a food bank, build a little free food pantry. My friends, my loves, my dears. Don't start. JOIN. These exist. They have community ties! They have some funding! Accountability! Regulations!

I love Halloween. It's such a great cultural tradition, where neighbors give generously so kids can have a fun time, creativity is celebrated, and even adults can express themselves in costumes. I could do without the mountain of candy at home, but it's worth it for the joy of community!

Supper was laid out for them; leek, carrot, mushroom, and gravy turnovers garnished with beetroot and scallions, spring salad, onion bread, and apples crystallized in honey.

The destruction of part of the White House to make way for a glitzy ballroom, paid for by corporate overlords, while ordinary Americans are wondering how they're going to pay for groceries in November is just... so depressing.

I want more people to care that SNAP benefits are being cut off on November 1. 40% of SNAP beneficiaries are children. This is callous and vile.

This is where I want to be... (Brambly Hedge illustration by Jill Barklem)

Take your friends along to the larder. I want two small cheddar cheeses flavoured with thyme, two large meadow cheeses with hazelnuts and carrots, and one of the extra large meadow cheeses with celery bits.

Purple lavender in full flower in the garden.

So ALA and Children's Institute are the same weekend in the Chicago area next June. How are #kidlit folks handling that?

Happy Ada Lovelace Day to all who celebrate! This year I choose to remember one of the first recognized female astronomers, Elisabeth Hevelius. (1647-1693). This published Polish woman began her systematic study of the stars with her husband, but continued & published after his death.

I mean yeah, you had the important numbers memorized, the rest were written down. Or you could, you know, use the phone book? 😜

How to celebrate Banned Books Week: Read up on your local candidates for school board (and learn how to read between the lines--scarier candidates in my district basically speak in code); vote for the ones who will protect the freedom to read; encourage your friends & neighbors to do the same.

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

My painting NORTHERN SUMMER SKY

I’m just going to say it: I think two horses would have been easier to draw. The Met Museum, info below.

here's my take: I think humans are really fucking good. inherently. I think we are amazingly kind and giving. and everything about the world we live in is an attempt to stop us from being that. I think our societies step in to stop us from being good. I think our culture punishes us. but we ARE good

I always pay attention to what stories People Magazine and other consumer media outlets cover. That's how you can tell that something has broken through the usual political and news bubbles. This horrific Chicago story has broken through. people.com/ice-agents-o...