Hello, friends,

One of my weird superpowers is reading fast. (This is probably due to not owning a television when I was a kid and spending all my days and nights reading.)

My goal for Imagination Soup and this newsletter is to make your life easier — to free up your time.

I hope that the resources and book recommendations support your efforts in growing your children and students as readers and writers.

Thanks for reading and sharing!

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Free Download: Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt

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In this free word scavenger hunt download, kids will search for words that start with each letter of the alphabet. They can find the words in the books they’re reading and on book covers!

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Children’s Books with Learning Disabilities (Ages 4 – 8)

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It’s Neurodiversity Awareness Month! For children with learning disabilities, seeing yourself in a story is affirming. For other children, reading these stories is empathy-building. I highly recommend these 35 books for all ages!​

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Children’s Books with Autistic Characters (Ages 4 – 12)

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Autistic characters star in these 26 excellent picture books, chapter books, and middle grade books.

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New Chapter Books (Ages 6 to 9)

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If you’re a parent, librarian, or teacher of growing readers ages 6 to 9, I have new, sweet, funny, and playful chapter books that you’ll want to know about.

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Growth Mindset Picture Books

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What books can you read to help your children become more resilient and persevere? Start conversations with these growth mindset books!​

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Author Interview with Veera Hiranandani

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Veera Hiranandani is one of my favorite middle grade authors. Her books often include children of mixed faiths and are always about complicated humans, kindness, and culture. I interviewed Veera about how she researches her books and the reasons for writing about the topics she writes about.

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Interview with Teacher Author Matt Eicheldinger

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Superstar storytelling teacher Matt Eicheldinger is well-known for his inspiring Instagram stories filled with life lessons from the classroom. I was thrilled to interview Matt over email about his career, new book, and advice for growing writers and parents of reluctant readers.

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Have a great day!

Melissa

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P.S. I’m hearing from parents that their kids are loving the Reading Journal for Kids! Thanks for the emails!!