Reading as a Lifelong Lifeline by Jane Kise

Say out loud, “Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking.” That’s the full name of Astrid Lindgren’s classic character. Or, “Villa Villakulla”—the house where she lives. Isn’t it fun? I’m reading Pippi to my mother this month. Why a children’s book? Mom was an elementary librarian. She so instilled a love of reading and of […]

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Top Ten Books to Read Aloud that Span the Ages by Jane Kise

I’m a read-aloud fanatic—and our children were, too, choosing to keep bedtime reading going at least three nights a week until they entered high school. One summer, though choosing the right books got really tricky.   Imagine heading to a cabin with your own children, ages 4 and 6, and their big cousin, age 12. […]

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Tillie Pierce: A Book That Can Make Students Hunger for History by Jane Kise

I’ve been a Civil War buff for over 40 years—ever since reading Altsheler’s Guns of Bull Run and visiting the battlefield with my parents. So I admit I was just a tad envious when I learned that my writing buddy Tanya Anderson was turning an amazing, true story into Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the […]

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The Birchbark House, Birchbark Books, and the Power of Narrative by Jane A. G. Kise

Tucked into a side street near Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis is Birchbark Books, an independent store owned by 2012 National Book Award Winner Louise Erdrich and her sister Heide Erdrich. With its globe lights from an old school house, the original flooring rescued from five layers of linoleum and plywood, the loft and […]

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