If you’re a Civil War buff, you’ll remember that, 150 years ago, under the direction of Thomas Fitch Rowland (owner of Continental Works located on the East River in Brooklyn) and John Ericsson (designer of the Union Civil War Ironclad USS Monitor), skilled craftsmen laid the ship’s keel on October 25, 1861 and worked feverishly… [Read More]
The John Ericsson Society Celebrating The 150th Anniversary Of The Monitor Being Launched!
January 11, 2012 By
Where’s My T-R-U-C-K? – Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
December 22, 2011 By
Where’s My T-R-U-C-K? by Karen Beaumont; illustrated by David Catrow; Dial Books for Young Readers, 2011. 32 pages; $16.99; reading level: ages 4-7. When Tommy loses his (don’t say the word or you’ll set him off!) t-r-u-c-k, the whole family’s day goes haywire. Tommy refuses help from Mom, Dad, sister, brother, and Grandma: “I… [Read More]
Mr. Mosquito Put on His Tuxedo – Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
December 22, 2011 By
Mr. Mosquito Put on His Tuxedo by Barbara Olenyik Morrow; illustrated by Ponder Goembel; Holiday House, 2009. $16.95; reading level: ages 6-9. When Mr. Mosquito puts on his tuxedo, arrives at a ball hosted by Queen Bee, and greets the other guests (gnats, lice, and fleas to name a few) he never suspects his particular… [Read More]
Postscript to Just Fine the Way They Are
December 22, 2011 By
You might think that, when a book is published, the story it tells is finished. Not true! In the final illustration for the picture book Just Fine the Way They Are, Richard Walz reaches into a mythical future to imagine what a post-automobile era might look like. He envisions a jet-pack like invention – a… [Read More]
Book Signing – Wayne County Historical Museum in Richmond, IN – Dec 10th
November 28, 2011 By
Please join Connie for a book signing at the Wayne County Historical Museum in Richmond, Indiana from 2pm-4pm on December 10th, 2011. Pictures from the event…
Book Signing – Indiana History Society’s 9th Annual Holiday Author Fair
November 27, 2011 By
What: Book Signing – Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, Indianapolis, IN Location: Indiana Historical Society’s Holiday Author Fair 9th Annual Holiday Author Fair December 3, 2011 – 12:00pm – 4:00 p.m. Connie will be one of the more than 60 authors featured at the Holiday Author Fair. She will also be a guest… [Read More]
The Brave New World of Book Reviews
November 14, 2011 By
Many times I’ve compared this new world of websites, social media, blogging and internet radio to the Wild West! One new force in the book world is online book reviews, many of which are written by “MommyBloggers,” literature bloggers and online publications. I want to thank the many folks who are reading and reviewing Just… [Read More]
“Loud Voices”
November 14, 2011 By
Lucretia Jones could not have had an easy time raising her daughter Edith. She was a woman of average intelligence and superficial interests suddenly confronted by a child whose brilliance was apparent from the get-go. She probably tried valiantly to maintain her maternal authority and, if her daughter’s claim that pleasing her mother and pleasing… [Read More]
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes – Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
November 10, 2011 By
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox; illustrated by Helen Oxenbury; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. 32 pages; $16.99 hardcover; $11.99 oversized boardbook format; reading level: ages 2-5. Fox’s spare, rhyming text spotlights pairs of babies from around the world, connected by the refrain, “And both of these babies, as everyone knows, had… [Read More]