Charlotte’s Blog
In This Family, We Don’t Judge
If you get my newsletter, you would have read a version of this post about a month ago. I've expanded it here, because the issue of judging others is so important to our salvation. The Uncondemning Monk During his life, the Uncondemning Monk was a terrible, horrible,...
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Dairy-free Paska Cheese
Paska cheese is a traditional Russian dessert that is made with lots of farmer's cheese, butter, and eggs. It's eaten with a sweet, rich bread that is (usually) called kulich. Kulich is sometimes called paska, and paska sometimes has other names, too. But whatever you...
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The Lucky Egg: A story about Orthodox Easter
When Catherine’s Pascha came out in 2015, I thought it was the only picture book there was that showed the celebration of Easter in the Orthodox Church. Guess what? I was wrong! In 2013, A-to-Z Publishing released The Lucky Egg. Written by Anna Prokos and illustrated...
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Hearing loss isn’t silence, at church or anywhere
Guest post by Lola J. Lee Beno Beep. Beep. I search through my purse for that pack of #675 hearing aid batteries which I had recently bought at Target. Beep. Beep. I remove my right hearing aid to replace the battery. I do not have to worry about the left hearing aid...
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Time Outside of Time
When I wrote Catherine’s Pascha, the first thing I wanted was to tell the story of Pascha from the point of view of a child. I wanted a book that celebrates the things about Pascha that give children joy. But I wanted more than that. I wanted the book to celebrate the...
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A Glutton for Time
I still remember a conversation I had when I was in college, some forty years ago. While we were waiting for the professor to show up, we were talking about what we were going to do with our lives after college. And most of us were conscientious over-achievers. And...
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Write to Me: A story of a librarian in World War II
I’ll ask you to forgive me for not writing the review that Write to Me deserves. Cynthia Grady has written a beautiful, powerful story about a librarian. And it’s all the more powerful because it’s true. Clara Breed was a librarian in San Diego in 1942, when the U.S....
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Lift Your Light a Little Higher: The True Story of Stephen Bishop and Mammoth Cave
Lift Your Light a Little Higher is a brief biography of Stephen Bishop. It was written by Heather Henson, and illustrated by Bryan Collier (who is one of my favorite illustrators). There’s just enough information in the story to make you want to know more. The...
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Patriarch Tarasios and the Restoration of Icons
Today is the Sunday of Orthodoxy. It’s the day we celebrate the restoration of icons at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787. It’s also the feastday of St. Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople, who called that council. Tarasios was a native of Constantinople. His...
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Pascha at the Duckpond: A Picture Book about Lent
I didn’t find Pascha at the Duckpond until after Pascha last year. But I’m so glad I found it! If your child already knows and loves Mother Melania’s Fearless and Friends series, they’ll recognize Fearless the Fire Duck and all the other animals who live near the duck...
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Hidden Figures: Four Black Women Who Were Good at Math
Every library or classroom that has a collection of picture books, or a collection of books about women in science, or about blacks in science, should have a copy of Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race. It’s an important book. It’s a...
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The Giant Cookie Test
One of the most effective tools in my parenting toolbox is the Giant Cookie Test. Let me tell you about it. When my kids were really small, I assumed that if they didn’t do what I told them to do, they were being disobedient. And I would get angry with them because of...
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