Author: Luisa LaFleur

Two books that tackle the topic of self-discovery from a Native American point of view. They are geared to older children and pre-teens and the lessons they impart are valuable and timeless.

These books use mice as a metaphor for bravery and demonstrate strategies for children to put aside their fears and shyness.

Pretty Peace, an interactive children’s book, gives children an easy way to begin exploring the possibilities inherent in positive visualization.

“What’s up with My Family?” tackles eight issues that often confound teenagers with regard to how their parents and siblings behave.

By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review Published: February 17, 2010 Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000 by Eric Wight (author and illustrator) Reading level: Ages 7-10 Paperback: 86 pages Publisher: Simon and Schuster (forthcoming) Source of book: author What to expect: Overcoming adversity, importance of teamwork Remember when you were a kid and your parents were mean? Or unfair? Or the world seemed like it was going to end because you didn’t get your way? I remember plenty of those episodes – and just when things seem to be at their bleakest, a ray of hope breaks through…

By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review Published: February 15, 2010 I’ve written before about the spate of new books that are bilingual and aim to tell a story as well as teach another language. For the most part, these have been in Spanish. Recently, I received a few new books that tell fables from a Native American perspective. These have been interesting for me to read as they open up a whole new world of literature and they’ve been interesting for my kids as well because of their vivid and fantastic stories. Here’s a brief rundown of three of…

What I take from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and what I try to subtly convey to my kids when I read it, is that giving is good and important.

I think all parents have a moment when we wonder what happened to the little baby we used to cradle in our arms? I know I’ve had many of these and my kids are still preschoolers. Yet, time flies and those little defenseless babies now have minds of their own, with their own wants and needs–and boy do they let me know exactly what it is they want/need. But not all kids are the same and sometimes it takes work to figure them out and to reconnect with them. Two new books give us just such a chance–one book does so in form and the other in function.

By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review Published: October 7, 2009 Environmental awareness is on the rise and kids are taking notice. In school and on TV the calls to “reduce, reuse and recycle” are growing and there’s an increasingly large body of literature that purports to teach kids and parents how to save the planet.

By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review Published: August 25, 2009 Mark Karlins, the author of “Starring Lorenzo, and Einstein, Too” graciously answered a few questions about his books and about his process. His answers were intriguing and inspiring. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!