Hilltown Families 
"Just look to the trees, the lure of leaves, where autumn’s paintbox hangs on every deciduous limb." It sounds beautiful and that is fall in Western Mass. Such visual exquisiteness is...
The first day of school is a huge leap for many young children. The world of school is different than the world of home. Excitement, anxiety, curiosity, fear, and uncertainty are...
Summer is a great time for leisurely reading for mom and dad on the beach or in the hammock, but don't forget about the kids! Picture books communicate so many themes...
Summer reading starts here for young adults. There is nothing as enriching as a well crafted graphic novel with its well paced storyboarding, illustrations and storytelling. They are a fantastic source...
In a nod to National Poetry Month and to kids that love things that go go go, Cheli features a new book filled with humorous rhymes and fantastically bizarre cars. Read...
This month in "Open Sesame: Kid Lit Musings and Review," Cheli shares seven new children's picture books that feature birds... a perfect theme of titles to usher in spring!
If you're raising kids in western Massachusetts, "Night Night Valley," a sweet children's book based in and around the Pioneer Valley, is a must-read for your little ones at bedtime...
This month in "Open Sesame: Kid Lit Musings & Reviews," Cheli shares five new kids' books that bring history alive in honor of Black History Month. Courageous individuals, unsung heroes,...
As the Year of the Water Snake slithers away, the Lucky Chinese Year of the Wood Horse comes galloping in... In searching for books to coincide with the marking of the...
Four new picture books capture a bit of that snowflake magic - the quiet, the impermanence, the beauty, the thrill. This month in "Open Sesame: Kit Lit Musings & Reviews,"...
This month in "Open Sesame: Kid Lit Musings & Reviews," Cheli shares a new title on gratitude and thanks that serves up universal principles from across cultural and religious traditions... ...
Coming down the tracks and headed straight into the hands of young enthusiasts, are three new picture books about trains. If you have little engineers in your life, the ones who...
This month in "Open Sesame: Kid Lit Musings & Reviews," Hilltown Families Contributing Writer, Cheli Mennella, shares a pair of picture book she comes back to again and again when the...
Cheli shares five books she currently has at her bedside - a wild assortment of fiction and nonfiction, with a handful of kids’ books thrown in the mix! All have...
This month in "Open Sesame: Kid Lit Musings & Reviews," Hilltown Families Contributing Writer, Cheli Mennella, reviews 5 new picture books featuring watery landscapes... refreshing titles for cooling down this summer!
A Dozen Quick Picks for Middle Grade Summer Reading It’s summer! The perfect time to get away with a great book. Whether relaxing at the beach or the park, chilling in...
Blessed are the Peacemakers Now more than ever it seems imperative that we engage and embody and choose peace. From events that hit close to home like the Newtown tragedy and...
New Book Portrays History’s Bad Girls with a Modern Twist Delilah. Cleopatra. Anne Bonney. Catherine the Great. Mata Hari. Bonnie Parker. Just a few of history’s bad girls. Or are they?...
In honor of Black History Month I want to share an extraordinary book about an extraordinary human being: Carver, a life in poems (Front Street, 2001) is an intimate portrait of...
Three Favorite Folktales It’s National Folktale Month! And I’m digging into the vaults to share three of my favorites, all starring leading ladies. For me, folktales are food for the soul....
Keats’ The Little Drummer Boy Hits All The Right Beats Okay, I’ll admit it – I have a real soft spot for the song, “The Little Drummer Boy.” Some of you...
Chickadee New Book Continues the Story of An Ojibwe Family It is 1866. Chickadee and his twin brother, Makoons, have been together every day since they were born. Eight years old...
Kids love the spook and scare of Halloween! Here are ten picture books that prickle the spine, rattle the funny bone and charm the...
“A Hymn to the Barn” Charlotte’s Web Turns 60! The animals of Zuckerman’s barn have something to celebrate. On October 15, the book which launched them into the world, E.B. White’s...
Got Excavators? These Two Books Do I went through most of my life blissfully unaware of the divine differences between front loaders and backhoes, and couldn’t pick an excavator out of...
Take Me Out To The Ball Game: New Baseball Books for Kids In this boy-dominated batch of new baseball books, there are picture books and middle grade novels, action packed stories...
Giant Talent A Tribute to Two Remarkable Children’s Books Creators The month of May marked the loss of two creative giants in the field of children’s literature – Maurice Sendak and...
A Trio of New Picture Books Just In Time For Spring Every year I am surprised when the fields and forests finally turn green. Just when I think it will be...
A Boy Called Dickens Imagining the Boyhood of A Legendary Author This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Though Dickens never published an account of his...