Hi Reader!

This last month was a whirlwind. Finishing out my Kickstarter campaign, moving forward with printing all the goodies, and dealing with all of my family being sick, one at a time! I feel like this month has thrown me all out of my working groove and I need a little restart.

I have a special sneak peak of something I have been working on this month as well: a family storytime challenge. I have written a long version of this for my blog with lots of quotes and research about reading and storytime for families, but before I launch it I wanted to ask my newsletter subscribers for some feedback.

Here’s the quick newsletter version:

Transform Your Family Time:
The 30 Minutes for 30 Days Challenge!

I have a challenge for you that will transform your bedtime struggles, build quality connections with your children, and prepare your children for lifelong success—all in only 30 minutes a day.

Interested? Imagine the stresses of the day melting away, your children gathered closely around you, listening as you transport them to faraway lands and courageous adventures. How? Through family story time.

I know you want to connect with your children in peaceful and meaningful ways, no matter your circumstances, I have a system that can work for any family. It’s not hard. All it takes is 30 minutes a day. The last 30 minutes, so it’s easy to fit into any schedule!

Take the 30 Minutes for 30 Days Challenge and see what the habit of family story time can do for your family!

At its most basic, you pick a book, sit down together, and read out loud. I do have some tips to help you get going though.

Here’s our family’s structure:

STEP 1: Bath time / Showers

STEP 2: Comfy PJs.

STEP 3: Bedtime Snacks (while reading)

STEP 4: Let child pick a book

STEP 5: Sit together and read.

Pro tip: Wiggling welcome! Let kids quietly color or puzzle while listening.

Ready to join the challenge? Join me for the 30 minutes for 30 days challenge! Whether you’re reading picture books to toddlers or chapter books to teens, you’re creating memories that’ll last a lifetime. Who’s in?

Updates:

My Kickstarter to fund the publishing of my book is finished, and so I’ve been working on getting all the books, stickers, and bookmarks ready to print and ship to my backers. If you didn’t get a chance to preorder the book through Kickstarter, I still have preorders open on my website.​

Other things I’ve been doing:

• ​How to Design a Picture Book Cover​
• ​Children’s Book Publishing Guide​
• ​How I Funded My Self-Published Book​
• ​Illustrating a Picture Book: From Dummy to Finished Book​
• ​How to Design a Book Cover​

Books:

Picture Book

​Nate the Great​

Written by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Illustrated by Marc Simont

Nate the Great has a new case! His friend Annie has lost a picture. She wants Nate to help her find it. Nate the Great must get all the facts, ask the right questions, and narrow the list of suspects so he can solve the mystery.

My Take: Great introduction to mystery books for kids, complete with red-herrings and a twist ending. This book is funny and clever. Also, it might make you want to eat some pancakes.

Middle Grade:

​The War That Saved My Life​

Written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

My Take: This book isn’t afraid to tackle tough subjects such as neglect and war and fostering children. You will fall in love with Ada and feel the deep losses and triumphs as she faces her own inner wars while WWII is raging around her. The woman she is fostered by, Susan, is a lesbian whose partner has died, but this is not explicit and might be overlooked by some children. Susan is estranged from her own family because of her life’s choices, and she is very alone in the world until Ada and her brother come into her life. I think it is handled in a way that does not cast judgement or approval on her lifestyle, and treats her with grace and dignity.

Adult:

​A Voice in the Wind​

Written by Francine Rivers

The first book in the beloved Mark of the Lion series, A Voice in the Wind brings readers back to the first century and introduces them to a character they will never forget―Hadassah.

While wealthy Roman citizens indulge their every whim, Jews and barbarians are bought and sold as slaves and gladiators in the bloodthirsty arena. Amid the depravity around her, a young Jewish slave girl becomes a light in the darkness. Even as she’s torn by her love for a handsome aristocrat, Hadassah clings to her faith in the living God for deliverance from the forces of a decadent empire.

My Take: This was a re-read for me. The first section of the book is hard to get through with war, genocide, enslavement, and the horrors of those things in graphic descriptions. Once the main characters arrive in Rome, the book hits its stride. Hadassah has to choose whether to speak of her faith to the people she is a slave to, or keep her faith to herself and live with the fear of death if discovered. A great peak into the Ancient Roman world, with a lot of modern day applications in whether we are willing to speak up at witnesses in our society or keep silent.

Also, I highly recommend reading the 2nd book of the series as well. It is so powerful and my favorite of the 3 book series.

Until next time,

Charlotte Glaze