Author: Lvanderveensmith
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What I Wish I Had Learned
There are lessons that everyone learns early in life. Some of us are taught things that we shouldn’t ever have to learn. Death and dying, bullying, cruelty, pain, and harm. I don’t need to expound on those. Then there is the teaching that is positive and beneficial for an individual, the family, the community, and…
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Do You Have Any Idea How Much You Don’t Know?
A passage in Trevor Noah’s book Born a Crime spoke to me. There is truth here. It also got me thinking about what we know, what we think we know, and what we don’t even know that we don’t know! “In Germany, no child finishes high school without learning about the Holocaust. Not just the facts…
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Storytellers or Oracles
I love learning new things and about new things. A few days ago I was watching the CBS Morning Show and was fascinated by a story about a new sound system from Dolby called Dolby Atmos. On CBS Morning Show’s web site, the spot is entitled “New Sound Technology Enhances 3D Movie Experience.” My…
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Encouraging That Irresistible Sound
There is one sound that is the BEST sound in the world. It is universal. No matter where you are, no matter how far you travel, you will never hear a sound that produces more happiness. No one can be a Grumpy Gus in the presence of the pure unbridled joy of a child laughing…
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Come On, Girl, I’ll Catch You!
Those of you who follow my blog know that I hit a rough patch last week. I received a lot of support and quite a few comments from fellow suffers. Their messages were both encouraging me and reflected that they were encouraged by me. Some assumed that one particular incident or disappointment caused the…
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A Truly Inspiring Woman
Back when I was in high school (more years ago than I can even believe!), I met a young woman just a few years older than I am. We met through mutual friends in Young Life – a nondenominational Christian group for high schoolers. Her name was Joni Eareckson. By the time I met Joni…
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Heartbroken
My heart is broken. I can feel all of the little pieces of it in the pit of my stomach. I can feel it in the effort it takes to breath. I can feel it and I want to stop feeling it now. I’ve felt it so many times, and it never gets any easier.…
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Striving Thriving
Sometimes as I am reading a book, there will be a passage I read that really speaks truth to me beyond the pages of the book. It can be in a novel, a children’s picture book, a memoir, or another work of nonfiction. It may or may not be integral to the theme and purpose…
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Touching the Future
“I developed the Great Teacher theory late in my freshman year. It was a cornerstone of the theory that great teachers had great personalities and that the greatest teachers had outrageous personalities. I did not like decorum or rectitude in a classroom; I preferred a highly oxygenated atmosphere, a climate of intemperance, rhetoric, and feverish…
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Girl, I have a book for you…
We all have role models in our lives. As I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I was presented with many role models in my daily life. I knew what a proper woman did. I saw all of the moms on my street who stayed at home and took care of their…
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REALLY???
I have a new page on my site. Check it out please. I said my blog wouldn’t be political. And the main blog page here will not be. It will continue to be reflections about books, education, health, words, etc. However, there are days I must take Jon Stewart’s advice, “The best defense against…
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! Amy Krouse Rosenthal – I Wish You More !
I was saddened today when I saw a post on my Facebook feed that referred to one of my very favorite children’s authors as the “dying author.” Amy Krouse Rosenthal has written some of the most wonderful picture books I have ever read. Every chance I got, I included Chopsticks or Spoon or Little…
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Be the Change
No matter who you are. No matter your race, religion, ethnicity, nationality. No matter if you are male or female. No matter if if you are young or old or somewhere in the middle, far right or far left or somewhere in the middle. No matter if you are heterosexual or part of the LGBTQ…
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Today’s Lesson: Educate Yourself
This is the time for everyone to take a deep breath. It is time to actually think, research, listen, and reason. When I started this blog, I said it wouldn’t be political. And it isn’t. My campaign in this post is for more of what I have worked for all of my life. We need…
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Found Family Book Recommendations (or you can choose your family!)
There is a lovely feeling that comes from generations of a family who have remained close both in relationship and proximity, who share the same stories, the same memories. In the community where I taught, this was often in evidence with families where siblings lived next door to each other, down the street from their parents, just…
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The Gift Chip Bestowed on Me
Reading aloud is an art. It is more than merely saying words aloud. It is breathing life into the pages of whatever you are reading. When done well, the voice brings emotion, meaning, character, and life to the words on the page. When done together with those you love, it brings connection, joy, and belonging. …
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‘Elephant and Piggie’ Author Mo Willems on the Importance of Teaching Kids to Fail
This is a repost of a blog from another writer that I thought worth sharing. Hope you enjoy it. Follow the link to the original. ———————————————————————- Over the past eight years, when I wasn’t reading Pamela Colloff or Ariel Levy, I was probably reading Mo Willems. The children’s book author made the world giggle with Don’t Let t……
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Picture Books for the Child in All of Us
I absolutely love picture books. I love the silly ones and the sweet ones. I love the rhyming ones and the ones that make up words. I love the illustrations and the messages. But the kinds of picture books I love most are the ones that make children laugh, the ones that introduce them…
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Unconditional
Have you ever experienced unconditional love? unconditional acceptance? My guess is that if you have even one person in your life who loves you that way, you are beyond lucky. To know that you can be totally yourself and still be accepted and loved would be something that could give a sense of safety and…
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Keep the Story Going
This is a piece I wrote for Nerdy Book Club. Not new, but still true. If you are anything like me, you have fond memories of having a child curled up in your lap as you shared a story. It might have been your own child or your grandchild. Remember how they often had…
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Jumping into the current – or just get started already!
Well, I have thought about doing this for a very long time, but thinking about it didn’t make it happen. (Now there’s a big surprise, huh?) There has to be a place and a time to start. This is it. Welcome to my blog. I have many ideas that I want to share, explore,…
A Word Aptly Spoken 