From The Mixed Up Files

Planes, trains, and automobiles. Bikes, scooters, and motorcycles. Boats, snowmobiles, and skateboards. Modes of transportation. Ways to get from one place to another. If we know where we’re going and have a semi-reliable means of transportation, then odds are we will arrive at the intended destination. If we don’t know the way, we can use some form of a map to guide our travels.  (Note: I still laugh forty-some years later at how, through the magic of those high school career aptitude tests, it was revealed that the perfect profession for me was as a cartographer....

In just the past few weeks, multiple kidlit authors have seen their author visits canceled. Talk on the True Story of the First Woman to Bike Around the World: CANCELED According to author Mary Boone’s piece in The Seattle Times, she was scheduled to talk about her book Pedal Pusher: How One Woman’s Bicycle Adventure Helped Change the World at the Tacoma Children’s Museum site on the U.S. Army base Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The book tells the true story of Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, the first woman to bike around the world. However, a few days before the event, Boone was...

Raise your hand if you grew up learning the scientific method. Me too. In fact, for thousands of years, all the way back to Aristotle in Ancient Greece (and possibly earlier), the scientific method has been the way science is done. And it still is. Sort of. When the Next...

Planes, trains, and automobiles. Bikes, scooters, and motorcycles. Boats, snowmobiles, and skateboards. Modes of transportation. Ways to get from one place to another. If we know where we’re going and have a semi-reliable means of transportation, then odds are we will arrive at the intended destination. If we don’t know the...

Today, we’re excited to host Max Brallier, author of a stupendous amount of books, including the wildly popular Last Kids on Earth middle grade series. The highly-anticipated tenth installment, The Last Kids on Earth and the Destructor’s Lair, is out now, and we had the chance to talk with Max...

Middle grade readers often have strong opinions. In earlier From the Classroom articles we shared how to Build Reflective Readers and reasons why we Don’t Pigeon-Hole Middle Grade Readers. This time I’d like to share a sure-fire way to get kids interested in new books: “If you like…” posters and...

Happy Autumn! When you get tired of raking leaves, escape with one of these new releases coming out during the month of November. Lots of adventure and mystery. Chris Makes a Friend  by Alex Gino. 240 pp. (November 4, 2025) Chris does not want to be spending the summer with...

Why we love podcasts about kids books? Podcasts are the perfect way to consume quality material while running errands, cleaning, driving, getting ready for work, etc. We build connections, learn, are entertained, expand our thoughts and opinions, and get inspired to be and do better. With so many great hosts...