Tag Archives: children

The Brick is Afoot

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Leave it to LEGO to bring the iconic Baker Street right to your bookshelf! With all your favorite characters, nods to the books, and even some hidden surprises, it’s the perfect set for fans of history’s most famous consulting detective. In collaboration with the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate and exclusive to Barnes & Noble, it also doubles as a book nook! LOVE.

The set retails for $130, and clocks in at 1359 pieces. While it is slated for 18+ builders, I definitely think kids can put it together with some assistance. Mostly, it’s the amount of pieces and some semi-tricky moving elements that caused me to goof up during the various stages of my LEGO journey. Otherwise, it was a very straightforward build experience (which is always top notch when it comes to LEGO).

The instruction booklet has an absolutely wonderful preface that touches on the history of the Holmes books, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the various characters. There’s even a little mystery right off the bat as you tuck a significant object into Watson’s tiny briefcase! And speaking of Minifigures:

Look at Irene Adler! She’s wearing proper little white gloves! But I really started to nerd out when I got to the section that included Holmes’ study:

Recognize the painting over the mantle? It’s Sidney Paget’s illustration of Reichenbach Falls from The Final Problem! There’s also the Dancing Man code, and “RACHE” from A Study in Scarlet. The folks at LEGO really did their homework, and very thoughtfully scattered interesting facts and book connections into the build instructions.

I was also absolutely delighted at one of the final details of the set. A silhouette of Holmes, which mimics the classic book cover.

There are a couple little surprises in this set, but I’m not going to reveal them here. This would be the perfect gift for a current Holmes fan, or pair it with a set of books to inspire the next generation of readers! Five out of five stars!

The Weasels Are Poppin!

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Folks, it was a total story time PARTY! Recently, we had the honor of collaborating with the Princeton Public Library and jaZams to bring the tremendous Betsy Bird and the terrific Andrea Tsurumi to Princeton with their new book Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme.

We all know Betsy Bird – author, librarian, Fuse #8 blogger for School Library Journal. Betsy has served on Newbery, reviewed for Kirkus, and written for Horn Book. She interviewed me way back in 2015, and again in 2022. And folks, I can personally attest that Betsy Bird serves up a mean round of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” for the young ones.

Joining Betsy was the extraordinarily talented Andrea Tsurumi. An author and illustrator, they hail from Philadelphia and have written and illustrated the picture books Accident!, Crab Cake, and I’m On It! as well as collaborated with a number of children’s book authors. I also learned that Andrea will personally draw any animal with a slice of pizza, which is how I scored this amazing serval illustration.

Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme (Union Square Kids, 2025) begins as a nursery rhyme book, but things goes quickly off the rails as a highly bombastic Weasel interrupts absolutely EVERY rhyme, much to the chagrin of the story’s narrator, a harried Secretary Bird. Kids get both the benefit of classic rhymes and the hilarious irreverence of the Weasel. It’s a wonderful and charming read-aloud, and Andrea’s jubilant and evocative illustrations build anticipation for every page turn. Our audience loved it!

Did I mention that Betsy Bird brought her own bird? Yes, she brought a custom Secretary Bird puppet who expertly mingled with kids after the story time.

Andrea also circulated the crowds with their sketch book, showing kids what original sketches look like, and answering questions.

My portion of the program was the craft project, which of course had to be an enthusiastic weasel popping out of a decorated box!

The craft was designed to serve large crowds with limited table space, so we offered a selection of stickers, a 3″ x 3″ x 2″ box, a pop word template and a weasel template printed on card stock. A poster board spring (exactly like the one Katie demonstrates here) attaches to the inside of the box with tape. Quick note: use 22″ strips of cardboard to create the appropriate length spring.

Kids were happy to grab markers and supplies and get to work on their boxes!

Families were also welcome to bring a little literacy love home, and acquire copies of the book for Betsy and Andrea to sign.That portion of the event was sponsored by jaZams, our independent, locally owned, and family run toy store. We love you jaZams!

I would like to thank everyone who made this event possible! To Betsy and Andrea for bringing such a wonderful book to our community. To Marissa Warren, Director of Youth Services at the Princeton Public Library for opening the doors of the Community Room for all to enjoy. And to Joanne Farrugia, owner of JaZams, for providing books for everyone to experience again and again!

From left to right: Joanne Farrugia, Marissa Warren, Andrea Tsurami, Betsy Bird, Dana Sheridan

Images courtesy of the Betsy Bird, Cotsen Children’s Library, and Princeton Public Library. Book cover image provided by Andrea Tsurumi.

The Ultimate Staycation

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Why experience all the fuss and muss of travel when you can have just as much fun at home? And with our super-cozy snail house, you’ll be residing in style and comfort!

We read How to Staycation Like a Snail, written by Naseem Hrab, and illustrated by Kelly Collier (Owlkids, 2024). All of Snail’s friends like to travel, but Snail prefers to have fantastic epic adventures at home. Luckily, his friend Stump agrees and the two embark on the staycation to end all staycations. It gets even more fun when a few new friends drop in (literally)!

You’ll need:

  • 1 small box (we used a 4″ x 4″ x 4″ craft box, but a small tissue box works too)
  • Tag board or poster board
  • A house frames template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
  • Scissors, tape and glue for construction
  • Construction paper and markers for decorating

We’ve made these box snails before (check out our awesome snail race!) and this modified version isn’t too different. Cut a neck out of tag board or poster board, fold one end to create the head, and then add a pair of eye stalks. Attach everything to a small box. The spiral snail shell is also made of poster board. And it’s the door…to your house!

Swing the shell outward, and the cozy interior of your home is revealed. Use construction paper and markers to decorate the interior and put up some artwork. We went for extra cozy with patterned paper, felt carpets, fabric leaf throw rugs, and an easy chair made out of a paper water cup. There’s even a little book to read!

If you’d like to see some of our other tiny house projects, check out this multilingual dollhouse, this dog bone cottage, and this super charming pit.