Karen Nespoli Drop Everything And Read Day is a special reading celebration day that was designed to encourage families to make reading together each day a family priority and habit. Families are encouraged to read and enjoy books together for at least 30 minutes. April 12 is also the birthday of the children’s author Beverly Cleary. She received many letters from students who enjoyed D.E.A.R. time at their school. … Read more
April 10th is Encourage a Young Writer Day. This national event gives teachers and parents an opportunity to support young writers to use their ideas to create a story. Most children are natural storytellers. Their imagination and creativity allows them to come up with some of the best stories. Reading cultivates imagination, vocabulary, and basic writing skills. … Read more
I love celebrations, especially those that involve books. International Children’s Book Day is a day to celebrate children’s books which includes picture books and easy-to-read stories written exclusively for children, and fairy tales, lullabies, fables, folk songs, and more. Activities around the world on this day include library scavenger hunts, writing competitions, announcements of book … Read more
Writing coaches help individuals improve their writing skills and achieve their writing goals by providing guidance, feedback, and accountability throughout the writing process. I recently hired a writing coach to help me with a chapter book I am writing. Her knowledge and expertise was extremely helpful and my story is so much stronger thanks to her … Read more
The Women in Publishing Summit (WIP Summit 2025) is an online conference. It is held the first week of March and it features women, who are authors, editors and publishing professionals. It’s a multi-day virtual event. All sessions are held LIVE on Zoom, and the summit covers topics on writing craft, editing, routes to publication, production, marketing, … Read more
It’s an honor to be a nominee for the Outstanding Creator Award. The Outstanding Creator Award is a literary and creative arts contest that recognizes talented, passionate, and imaginative people. I share this honor with my illustrator, Danielle Masssironi, and my narrator, May Webster. I am grateful to Story Monsters for submitting an application on … Read more
Read Across America is a celebration of reading. Read Across America Day, also recognized as Dr. Seuss Day, is an annual event that promotes the joy of reading, especially among children. The celebration takes place every year on March 2nd, marking the birth anniversary of Dr. Seuss. Schools, libraries, and communities nationwide host special reading … Read more
National Procrastination Week is also known as Procrastination Awareness Week and is celebrated this year from March 3rd through the 7th. The focus of the week is to educate people about procrastination and strategies to manage it. Procrastinate means to put off doing something until a future time. When people sit down to write they can … Read more
I was invited to be on a radio show recently. Naturally, I was very excited because being invited is a big deal. To say things did not go as planned would be an understatement. I was as disappointed as a Kansas City Chiefs fan. This would have been an excellent opportunity to talk about my … Read more
With Valentine’s Day this week, I thought I would write a love letter to picture book writers. Picture books have always been a part of my life. When I was not reading them to my third grade students, I read them to my daughters and now I am reading picture books to my grandchildren. Is … Read more
