There was once a boy who lived 15 years without ever tasting an apple. Oh, he knew what apples were. They were everywhere. Apples on billboards and bumperstickers, t-shirts and magazine covers. The lady on the car commercial was holding an apple. The hero of his favorite movie had a thing for apple pie. But the boy had never seen an apple in real life, much less tasted one himself. The boy’s parents ate apples in secret, and the boy knew it, but in public the boy’s parents pretended that apples didn’t exist. The boy wanted desperately to know more about how apples grew and what they tasted like, but he was afraid to ask. The boy looked to the internet […]
The King’s Messenger
This week’s #favoritething is a delightful story written by someone who has since become a dear friend. The King’s Messenger, by Carolyn Clare Givens is a middle-grade chapter book that reads as a kind of parable. This medieval tale will captivate children and parents alike. (You know it’s a good book when a 10-year-old boy devours it in one sitting–as does his momma.) Smuggins waits daily in the presence of his beloved King. As a messenger, he stands at the ready, observing everything the King does, awaiting his turn to be called to serve. Years of waiting and watching shape him, preparing him for the day rumors of unrest reach the throne room and he is finally called upon for an important and dangerous mission. Is […]