
Make a new friend by picking up a book and getting to know it.
Books are just old friends waiting to be discovered.
Carmela Dutra is an American author. She excels as both a writer and illustrator.

Make a new friend by picking up a book and getting to know it.
Books are just old friends waiting to be discovered.
Carmela Dutra is an American author. She excels as both a writer and illustrator.

Play is the work of children. It’s very serious stuff.
Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent.
Bob Keeshan (1927-2004) was an American television producer and actor. He will be forever remembered as the creative inspiration behind the long-running children’s television program, “Captain Kangaroo,” which ran from 1955-1984.
Vacant lot’s dirt piles
Imagination’s new heights—
Scaling new mountains

Stomach’s emptiness
Texting mother for some lunch—
Tree-fort food service

Calendar’s big day!
School year finally begins—
Parents celebrate

Teen’s summer wallet
Idleness experienced—
Running short of cash

Thinking career change
Job singing summertime blues—
Shifting tides come home

Summer heating up
Mercury scaling new heights—
Dog days, welcome back


What is really important in education is not that the child learns this and that, but that the mind is matured, that energy is aroused.
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, and poet. He was believed to be the one of the earliest existentialist philosophers.
Today invites pause
Recalling yesterday’s strength—
Tomorrow brightens

Weighing life’s balance
Filling heart with confidence—
From every high road

More precious moments
Found in life’s smallest details—
Each child’s uniqueness


It’s a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.
A characteristic of the normal child is that he doesn’t act that way very often.
Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) was an American writer and humorist. He became well-known for his witty and insightful reflections about life.

Children have neither past nor future–they rejoice in the present.
The child must teach the man.
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was an American poet. His Quaker background entrusted him to advocate for the abolition of slavery in the United States.

There is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother to a son that transcends all other affections of the heart.
There is an emanation from the heart in genuine hospitality which cannot be described, but is immediately felt and puts the stranger at once at his ease.
American Washington Irving (1783-1859) ranks as one of his country’s most renowned authors. His amazing short stories of “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleeping Hollow” remain all-time classics. Ironically, his final resting place is at the Sleeping Hollow Cemetery in New York state.

Disney’s 1942 animated feature film, “Bambi” features a timeless story which relates to adults and children in human-like ways. Here are a couple of quotes from the film.
I’m always with you. Even when you can’t see me. I’m here. (Bambi’s mother speaking to him)
If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say nothing at all. (Thumper, the rabbit)