Charlotte’s Blog
The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
For a thousand years, from the fifth century until the late 16th century, the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus was one of the most popular saint stories. It was told, not just among the Orthodox, but among the Monophysites and Nestorians and even among the Muslims. And...
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The Saint Nicholas Day Snow is Available for Pre-Order!
I'm so excited! My new book, The Saint Nicholas Day Snow, is now in the webstore, where it's available for pre-order! (You'll have to forgive the image here. I don't have the high-resolution version available on my blog, so it looks a little fuzzy and pixelated. The...
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How the Trollusk Got His Hat: A Review
When my kids were young, they adored Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter books. And I may have adored them as much as my children did. They had delightful illustrations and charming stories told in Little Critter’s voice and always, always from his point of view. And then I...
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Tuna Sweet Potato Patties
There are days when I didn’t make it to the grocery store and we seem to be out of everything. Maybe there are a few leftovers, but not enough to make a meal. And for all the same reasons that I didn’t get to the store, I don’t have a lot of time to cook. But I’m...
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Hello Goodbye Dog: A Review
If there is such a thing as a perfect picture book, then Hello Goodbye Dog is probably it. I hardly know where to begin! A girl, a dog, and a wheelchair First and most important, Hello Goodbye Dog is about a biracial girl who uses a wheelchair to get around. But the...
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It’s Not Just About the Building
Guest post by Susan Cushman Four years ago, in July of 2013, I was mad at God. And my pastor. And my church. It doesn’t matter why. It only matters that I had allowed my anger to send me away from people I had known for over forty years. I visited other churches and...
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The Boy, A Kitchen, and His Cave: A Review
I had a small icon of St. Euphrosynos the Cook in my kitchen before I knew anything about the saint. In the icon, he’s holding a branch with three apples on it. I knew there had to be a story to go with the icon. And the story is told in The Boy, A Kitchen, and His...
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The Protection of the Theotokos
Today is the feastday of the Protection of the Theotokos. In parts of the Slavic world, it is celebrated almost as if it were one of the twelve great feasts. It commemorates an event that happened in the 9th century, in a year when October 1 fell on a Sunday, as it...
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St. Macrina, Grandmother of Saints and Bridge of Theology
Guest post by Bev. Cooke St. Macrina the Elder: Her family contains so many saints she’s known as the mother and grandmother of saints. She helped raise two of the three Cappadocian fathers. Her namesake granddaughter was one of the pioneers of monasticism in Asia...
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In the Candle’s Glow: A Review
In the Candle's Glow, the new book by Elizabeth Crispina Johnson, is a delight from beginning to end. Just look at the end papers! So many picture books (even my own) have either blank end papers, or end papers in a neutral, could-be-any-book pattern. But the end...
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St. Helena and the Cats of Cyprus
We all know the story of St. Helena and the True Cross. But St. Helena and the cats of Cyprus? That's a story I've only just recently learned! After St. Helena found the True Cross in Jerusalem, she headed back to Constantinople. On the way, she stopped by Cyprus. She...
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Mr. George Baker: A Review
I’ve really struggled, trying to write a review of Mr. George Baker. The problem is that, as soon as I’ve written a paragraph or two, I’ll go back and read what I’ve said, and it sounds totally, absurdly, ridiculously over the top. This is just a picture book, right?...
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