#StoryTimeLiveWire

Earlier this month my co-worker, Amazing Miz L, and I started talking about Twitter. I can't recall what sparked the conversation, but it moved onto an exciting new idea - live tweeting our storytime! People live tweet conferences and other events in their lives, why not storytime?

If you are familiar with Twitter, you know that hashtags can be key in following conferences, locations, humor, campaigns, etc. #StoryTimeLive was already taken, so we needed another unique tag. We put our heads together (and dug through the thesaurus) and decided to go with #StoryTimeLiveWire.

It's been an exciting new adventure! While one of us leads storytime, the other live tweets. It's a fun new way to share what we're doing with others as well as connect with authors, illustrators, and musicians. I'm looking forward to continuing this hashtag adventure. Want to join the fun? Start live tweeting your storytime with #StoryTimeLiveWire!

Review: The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden: Grow Tons of Organic Vegetables in Tiny Spaces and Containers by Karen Newcomb

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden is a best-selling book that has been revised and reprinted. I have not read any previous printings of The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden, so I cannot compare the 2015 printing with other printings. Newcomb's introduction covers the background of her book and the new addition of heirloom seed varieties.

As a beginner gardening, I gleaned some very helpful information about gardening from this book. I've had an interest in small space and container gardening and The Postage Stamp Garden offers a variety of plants to grown and garden sizes. The first couple chapters share information about soil mixtures, when/how to plant, and watering the garden. Newcomb added illustrations, diagrams, and graphs to help illustrate the text, but the book is word heavy vs. picture heavy. (Don't let that deter you, reader!) The largest chapter focuses on the vegetables and herbs that work the best (and not so best) in a postage stamp garden. It's not just a list of plants in that chapter. The plants listed include information on planing, crop stretching, varieties, harvesting, storage, growing tips, and typical problems. The book ends with chapters and appendixes on companion planting, pests, compost, and seed sources. It's quite an in depth book about a little garden.

I think gardeners of any age or ability will enjoy this title. It's a faster read than I thought it would be. I also appreciated the soft tones in the printed version of this book. The paper is cream instead of white and the text is brown and dark green instead of black. It's natural and calming style book. Thank you, Blogging for Books for this review copy! I cannot wait to try a postage stamp garden this summer.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Title: The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden
Author: Karen Newcomb
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
ISBN:  9781607746836

Storytime: Boots

Boots are a fun winter storytime theme to explore! Many little ones (and adult) wear boots when they go out in the wintertime. At storytime, I wore my dress boots, but I noticed many of my little friends wore their winter boots in the story room. Ironically, we talked about boots, but none of the boot books I used were actual books with winter boots. Oh, well! There will be more storytimes to come!

OPENING Snowbie POEM:
"Do Robots Wear Red Rubber Boots?" from
Rainbow Shoes by Tiffany Stone, illustrated by Stefan Czernecki


BOOKS:
Ooh La La Polka-Dot Boots by Ellen Olson-Brown, illustrated by Christiane Engel
Ollie the Stomper by Olivier Dunre
Ladybug Girl: Do You Like These Boots? by Jacky Davis and David Soma

SONGS:
Walkin' Shoes by Miss Carole from MacaroniSoup

Review: The Soup Club Cookbook

The Soup Club Cookbook: Feed Your Friends, Feed Your Family, Feed Yourself by Courtney Allison, Tina Carr, Caroline Laskow, and Julie Peacock


Two years ago, Soup Night: Recipes for Creating Community Around a Pot of Soup by Maggie Stuckey was published (Storey Publishing, LLC - 2013). I fell in love with that soup community builder. I shared it the friends with the intention of we should do that someday.

When I saw The Soup Club Cookbook by Courtney Allison, Tina Carr, Caroline Laskow, and Julie Peacock (Clarkson Potter, 2015), I knew I wanted to read it! It had to be similar to Soup Night with a new twist. And it is! Both books are about creating a community around soup (and other amazing dishes, sides, and drinks). While Soup Night revolves around one night of soup with bring-your-own-bowl fun, Soup Club is about continued fun throughout the year, or years.

Soup Club came from a small idea to share soup with friends. And quickly, a rotation was created between four friends and their families. The authors share the ins-and-outs of creating the soup club, then they share their soup (and other) recipes. Each recipe features a personal note which gives a little history of how the soup was brought to the group. Along the way, there are tips and treats to pair with the dishes. It's definitely a book that will make your mouth water.

Not all the recipes will suit your tastes, but the authors encourage cooks to adjust the recipes as they see fit. The recipes are made in large batches, because this book was intended to share soup with a group. It can be shared in batches to each club member or by make a large pot and hosting a soup night!

I cannot wait to share this book and the soup club idea with friends. I'm so happy that Courtney, Tina, Caroline, and Julie were discovered and created this cookbook together. Thank you, ladies!

Thank you, Blogging for Books for this review copy! I heartily enjoyed this delicious cookbook.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Additional information about The Soup Club Cookbook is available from Random House.