The Gaithersburg Book Festival is a celebration of the written word and its power to enrich the human experience. Our mission is to foster an interest in reading, writing and literary conversation. Since its inception in 2010, the Festival has quickly become one of the nation’s top literary events, attracting hundreds of award-winning and best-selling [...]
Back Yard Science: 17 Year Cicadas
If you happen to be blessedly unfamiliar with the 17 year cicadas, let me enlighten you. They are a species of cicada (yes, those big googly-eyed bugs that make that only exist in order to make that annoying sound so you know it’s hot all summer long) that has evolved to emerge from the ground in force on a 17 year cycle. Unfortunately for us, that doesn’t mean they only come once every 17 years. Each brood comes every seventeen years, but there are overlapping swarms of these things.
Lower Carb Italian Sausage Casserole
OR how to salvage your eMeals recipe after a well-known, popular grocery delivery service brings you such badly damaged zucchini that you can’t make grilled stuffed zucchini boats after all. (Yes, we have huge, giant, first world problems. It weighs heavily on us.) This was not Plan A, but it was delicious and we’ll be [...]
There is nothing wrong with you!
Perhaps you saw or heard some of the furor surrounding the statement given by A&F CEO Mike Jeffries regarding why they don’t make their clothing in larger sizes. A great many people seem to be of the opinion that the biggest indictment against this statement is that it reflects a desire to make women feel [...]
I needed a quick, easy, and food coloring-free frosting recipe for a birthday playdate, and this one really came through! It works up fast in the microwave, and, as a bonus, you dirty exactly one bowl and a set of mixer beaters. (Which my guys wouldn’t lick. Because they are WEIRDOS.) To turn these into [...]
Give us what we want, what we really, really want!
Some dads I know have confided (not very confidentially) that they think the expectations for Mother’s Day are confusing, hard, and guaranteed to make sure they are always wrong. And a whole lot of moms of my acquaintance have confided (fairly confidentially, as the “insult to injury” part of the program is the need to [...]
Here it comes- the stomach bug is making its way around your kid’s school, and the school nurse just called to ask you to pick your child up. There’s only one thing you can do. Well, two things. You can either keep your sense of humor, or go under for the third time. Brace for [...]
Today I was on the mom side of the “your kid is sick” call from the school for the very first time. It made me remember how the time between when they called your mom and she came to get you was an eternity, no matter how long it actually took. We are fortunate enough [...]
Jack and the Beanstalk (plus lesson resources)
Jack and the Beanstalk simply couldn’t be a more perfect foil for hands on storytelling. First of all, Good Ol’ Jack doesn’t listen to his mother and mass chaos ensues. If you can’t make that work for you, then you just aren’t trying very hard. Secondly, he grows a giant beanstalk that turns out to [...]
The Storyteller Discussion Questions
Below are six discussion questions for the Storyteller. You may answer them all, or you may pick and choose the ones that interest you. I would recommend reading the story first before beginning to answer the questions. To answer the questions, you must click on “You are Next…Click Here to Enter”. (If you do not [...]
Kid’s Garden (plus lesson resources)
Margaret Atwood said: “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” Well, we’ve certainly got that down. This starting new plants thing goes like gangbusters around here. The “getting them to maturity and harvesting a crop” part is touch and go. We have a big yard and easily have [...]
I love signing up for group giveaways so you guys will have the opportunity to enter to win great stuff! To help keep things organized, they are located on a sub-domain and you can always find the latest ones here. In the future I may tag them by category, but for now it should be [...]
Welcome to the Books on First Virtual Book Club! This is a virtual book club. A new discussion post goes live on the first of every month! You can choose whether to buy yourself a copy of the book or go to the library and check it out, or borrow it from a friend- then [...]
Welcome to the Books on First Virtual Book Club! This is a virtual book club. A new discussion post goes live on the first of every month! You can choose whether to buy yourself a copy of the book or go to the library and check it out, or borrow it from a friend- then [...]
The Gaithersburg Book Festival is a celebration of the written word and its power to enrich the human experience. Our mission is to foster an interest in reading, writing and literary conversation. Since its inception in 2010, the Festival has quickly become one of the nation’s top literary events, attracting hundreds of award-winning and best-selling [...]
If you happen to be blessedly unfamiliar with the 17 year cicadas, let me enlighten you. They are a species of cicada (yes, those big googly-eyed bugs that make that only exist in order to make that annoying sound so you know it’s hot all summer long) that has evolved to emerge from the ground in force on a 17 year cycle. Unfortunately for us, that doesn’t mean they only come once every 17 years. Each brood comes every seventeen years, but there are overlapping swarms of these things.
OR how to salvage your eMeals recipe after a well-known, popular grocery delivery service brings you such badly damaged zucchini that you can’t make grilled stuffed zucchini boats after all. (Yes, we have huge, giant, first world problems. It weighs heavily on us.) This was not Plan A, but it was delicious and we’ll be [...]
Perhaps you saw or heard some of the furor surrounding the statement given by A&F CEO Mike Jeffries regarding why they don’t make their clothing in larger sizes. A great many people seem to be of the opinion that the biggest indictment against this statement is that it reflects a desire to make women feel [...]
I needed a quick, easy, and food coloring-free frosting recipe for a birthday playdate, and this one really came through! It works up fast in the microwave, and, as a bonus, you dirty exactly one bowl and a set of mixer beaters. (Which my guys wouldn’t lick. Because they are WEIRDOS.) To turn these into [...]
Some dads I know have confided (not very confidentially) that they think the expectations for Mother’s Day are confusing, hard, and guaranteed to make sure they are always wrong. And a whole lot of moms of my acquaintance have confided (fairly confidentially, as the “insult to injury” part of the program is the need to [...]
Here it comes- the stomach bug is making its way around your kid’s school, and the school nurse just called to ask you to pick your child up. There’s only one thing you can do. Well, two things. You can either keep your sense of humor, or go under for the third time. Brace for [...]
After you all helped me compile a list of awesome girls in books every kid should read, I asked you about your favorite boys in children’s literature. A bunch of Joy Makin’ Mamas and Papas, the odd English Teacher or two, and some dudes who just love books weighed in to create this (very long) list, and thereby expand my summer reading list by quite a bit! Thank you all so much for your help. Without further ado, here are your favorite boys in literature!
Today I was on the mom side of the “your kid is sick” call from the school for the very first time. It made me remember how the time between when they called your mom and she came to get you was an eternity, no matter how long it actually took. We are fortunate enough [...]
Jack and the Beanstalk simply couldn’t be a more perfect foil for hands on storytelling. First of all, Good Ol’ Jack doesn’t listen to his mother and mass chaos ensues. If you can’t make that work for you, then you just aren’t trying very hard. Secondly, he grows a giant beanstalk that turns out to [...]
If you enjoyed our review of Make Way for Ducklings, you will no doubt enjoy this live stream, courtesy of the Coralville Public Library. Mrs. Mallard has apparently decided that the library is an excellent nesting spot! Free desktop streaming application by Ustream