We all want to make lasting memories with our kids, especially at this time of year.

We want them to remember freshly-baked cookies, the fragrance of a freshly cut Christmas tree, the crackling warmth of a fire, the melody of your family’s favorite carols… The list goes on until suddenly we have a to-do list longer than the trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Christmas is naturally a time for memory-making. But it’s also a time that invites us to slow down and savor the season as we wait in joyful hope for the birth of our Lord.

So this year, I want to invite you to take some of the pressure off of yourself to create grand traditions and make big, flashy memories. Because memory-making doesn’t have to be big or complicated to stay with you and your kids as they grow and eventually leave home. To prove it, today on the show, Audrey and I asked a few of our Read-Aloud Revival team members to share their favorite memories of growing up and from raising their own kids.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why holiday traditions don’t even have to happen every year to make lasting memories
• The way a small, unexpected moment of joy or feeling seen by you can stay with a child for life
• Why food is one of the best tools for making memories –– and it doesn’t have to be complicated or even homemade!

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/small-is-memorable

Today, I am over the moon to welcome one of my very favorite guests back to the show. She’s been on the show and visited us in RAR Premium several times over the years and I always love our conversations.

You know her as the author of some of your kids’ favorite books, like the Mercy Watson series, The Tale of Despereaux, and Because of Winn-Dixie. That’s right, Kate DiCamillo is back!

She’s here to tell us all about the brand-new, absolutely gorgeous 20th anniversary edition of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I don’t know about you, but I have a weakness for collector’s editions and friends and I know I’m going to be putting this one on my keepers shelf and I think you will too.

In our chat, we talk about writing to serve the story, not to please others, the real-life gift that inspired The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and lots more!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The stories from teachers and parents about Edward Tulane that capture the power of read-alouds
• How literature is made by the synergy of the writer, the reader, and the story
• Why there’s only one wrong way to be a writer

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/kate-dicamillo

There is a type of children’s book that we haven’t talked much about here in twelve years of Read-Aloud Revival. But it’s one that almost anyone who has spent time with babies knows well: board books.

Board books are how so many of our kids meet stories and books for the first time. They’re often the first books babies and littles are able to really get their hands (and mouths!) on, and experience touching the pictures and turning the pages for themselves.

So today, we’re going to do a bit of a deep dive on board books, and I couldn’t think of a better person to join me for this than bestselling author and illustrator Tabitha Paige. Tabitha is a speech language pathologist as well as a creator of absolutely stunning board books, and in this episode she shares all about what they can do for our littlest readers as well as what to look for when choosing board books.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How board books create positive experiences that make kids want to come back to books again and again
• Why realistic illustrations are an important tool for building vocabulary
• The way the multi-sensory experience of physically interacting with a board book enhances learning

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/tabitha-paige