by Pat McCaw | Sep 12, 2021 | book review, Pat's Chat, picture books
Picture Book Review: Because We All Need to Smile Slow Down – and Breathe Today, I forced my 15 and 17 year-old daughters to listen to me read them a book out loud. (They were trapped in the back seat of the car with nowhere to run). As I paged through The...
by Pat McCaw | Mar 31, 2021 | book review, Pat's Chat, Uncategorized
It’s a Pat’s Chat first! I am thrilled to be joined via the virtual world by author, Maria Andreu. Her recent Young Adult novel, LOVE IN ENGLISH, is a beautiful story that explores language and love. This might be a long post…but how can you hurry through such...
by Pat McCaw | Jun 5, 2020 | book review, Pat's Chat, picture books, Uncategorized
The World is on Fire Coronavirus, Racism, Violence. How do our children find the good within the chaos? Our job as parents, teachers, grandparents, and educators is to help children understaWhand how we got here, and do our best to stop the cycle of hate. I made up a...
by Pat McCaw | Feb 6, 2020 | book review, environment, Pat's Chat, Uncategorized, Writing tips
When a child reads a novel, they want to be entertained and swept away into familiar worlds or magical places. I used to be a kid … long, long ago. As a fourth grader, I craved mystery and detective stories. I voraciously read Nancy Drew mysteries and Stephen...
by Pat McCaw | Apr 20, 2019 | book review, parenting, Pat's Chat
There is no surprise that Meg Medina won the Newberry Medal for her most recent middle grade novel, Merci Suarez Changes Gears. The novel explores school bullying, enlightens the reader to rich Latino culture, touches on socioeconomic stressors the trickle down to...
by Pat McCaw | Jan 24, 2019 | book review, multiple pov, Pat's Chat, Writing tips
I discovered two new favorite Young Adult (YA) novels – SADIE, by Courtney Summers, and SAWKILL GIRLS, by Claire Legrand. Each book held my attention and kept me reading to find answers and solve the mysteries buried in the pages. These novels share a common format...
