Stories Behind the Christmas Carols
Who Wrote Away in a Manger? The Luther Myth, Explained
Who wrote Away in a Manger? Nobody knows for certain. Here is the real, documented history of the carol, and how Martin Luther's name became attached to it.
Articles
Stories to read aloud, festivals explained for children, and practical how-tos for the planner on your desk.
Every article, newest first
Christmas Mysteries to Solve
Short Mysteries to Solve: Try The Snow Globe
Short mysteries to solve: try The Snow Globe, an original clue-by-clue mystery. Pause before the answer, then see how the evidence rules out every other suspect.
Christmas Hymns Word Search Large Print
Gifts for Seniors with Low Vision: What to Look For
Gifts for seniors with low vision, sorted by what has changed, with real large-print point sizes and a Christmas word search and carol book built around them.
Diwali Coloring Book
Diwali Books for Kids by Age: What to Read and Do
Find Diwali books for kids by age, from toddler board books and read-aloud picture books to Rama stories, nonfiction and coloring activities.
Large Print Christmas Word Search: The Snowy Village Story
Christmas Puzzles for Adults: Three to Solve Right Here
Try three Christmas puzzles for adults: a hidden-message word search, a four-clue logic grid and a festive suspect mystery, with answers and explanations.
9x9 Grid for Goal Setting
How to Break Down a Goal into Steps You Can Actually Start
How to break down a goal into steps: define the outcome, find up to eight supporting areas, test each action with six questions, then start five to eight.
Diwali Coloring Book
Diwali Symbols and Meanings: A Simple Guide for Families
Diwali symbols and meanings for families: the diya, rangoli, Lakshmi's footprints, the toran, the sky lantern and mithai, each explained simply.
9x9 Grid for Goal Setting
9x9 Grid for Goal Setting: The Blank Layout and How to Fill It
How to use a 9x9 grid for goal setting: where the main goal, eight supporting goals and 64 actions go, with a blank layout and a worked example.
Large Print Cat Lover's Word Search
What Is a Group of Cats Called? Clowder, Kindle and Clutter
What is a group of cats called? Clowder is the dictionary answer. We checked the famous 1486 list and a modern dictionary to see which cat words hold up.
U.S. National Parks Stamp & Visit Log
National Park Passport Stamps: Where to Find Them
National park passport stamps are free ink cancellations that record a park's name and the date. Where the tradition began, and where to find them.
Large Print Word Fill-Ins: A Cozy Collection of Criss-Cross Puzzles
How to Do Fill In Puzzles: The Crossword Without Clues
How to do fill in puzzles step by step: count word lengths, find a starting entry, use crossing letters and check each placement as the grid fills.
Large Print Cryptograms: A Little Book of Wisdom & Cheer
Easy Cryptograms for Beginners: Start with a Saying
Easy cryptograms for beginners give you free letters, short words and the spaces left in. Learn the moves, then watch one proverb crack in four steps.
Copy & Compose: Handwriting Through the Classics
What Is Copywork? Ben Franklin's Copy-Then-Compose Habit
What is copywork? Copying fine sentences by hand to learn how good writing works. Here is the exercise Ben Franklin used, and how to begin it with a child.
Cozy Main Street Seek & Find
Seek and Find for Adults: How to Look at a Busy Picture
Seek and find for adults is a lesson in looking. Eight habits for finding what hides in a busy picture, starting with a Bruegel painting from 1559.
Code Breakers
Secret Codes for Kids: Three Pencil Codes to Teach Tonight
Secret codes for kids you can teach tonight with a pencil: a shift cipher, the pigpen code and a binary picture, plus how to crack a code without the key.
Rest and Recover
Gifts for Someone Recovering from Surgery, Hour by Hour
Gifts for someone recovering from surgery, chosen by the hours of a slow day at home: the long morning, the afternoon, the evening and the small hours.
Large Print Word Search: The Gardener's Edition
Gifts for Elderly Gardeners: Keep the Garden Within Reach
Practical gifts for elderly gardeners, from easier-to-use garden gear and raised planters to large-print books and thoughtful help in the garden.
Large Print Dog Lover's Word Search
Dog Breed Name Origins: From a Tax Collector to a Butterfly
Dog breed name origins, told as stories: the tax collector behind the Doberman, the badger in Dachshund, the butterfly in Papillon, and more.
The Home Maintenance Record Book
A Home Maintenance Log Book: Your House's Service History
A home maintenance log book gives your house what a cared-for car has: a service history of repairs, appliances, paint colors and who to call.
Large Print Final Affairs Organizer: What My Family Needs to Know
A Final Affairs Organizer: The Document That Isn't a Will
A final affairs organizer is the document that isn't a will but families often need first: where your papers are, whom to call, and what you wish.
Large Print Cozy Mystery Word Search: The Wren Hollow Mystery
Cozy Mystery Word Search: One Puzzle, One Clue, Large Print
A cozy mystery word search hides a line of story in every grid, so the whole gentle mystery unfolds one puzzle at a time, in big, easy-to-read letters.
The Pennyfold Deduction Club
How to Solve Logic Grid Puzzles Without Guessing
How to solve logic grid puzzles step by step: mark the grid, read either-or and order clues exactly, follow a worked example, and never guess.
Large Print Cryptograms: The Village Detective's Casebook
How to Solve Cryptograms: Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 Method
How to solve cryptograms the way Edgar Allan Poe did: one-letter words, THE, apostrophes, double letters, and why letter counts fail on short puzzles.
The Twelve Cases of Christmas
Christmas Mystery Books for Adults: A Snowbound Classic
Christmas mystery books for adults, starting with the 1937 snowbound classic that came back as a bestseller in 2014, plus four more to read by the fire.
Large Print Christmas Word Search: The Snowy Village Story
Christmas Activities for Seniors: A Four-Week Countdown
Christmas activities for seniors, one small thing a week: cards and a letter to Santa, the ornaments' stories, a family recipe, then songs and lights.
Diwali Coloring Book
Diwali Activities for Kids: Five Nights, One Small Thing Each
Diwali activities for kids for each of the five nights: a painted diya, a paper lantern, a doorstep rangoli, a mountain of sweets and a card.
The Life I'm Building: 2027 Goal Planner
Wheel of Life Assessment: The Wheel That Wouldn't Roll
A wheel of life assessment takes ten minutes: score eight areas of your life, join the dots, see where the shape bumps, then turn the biggest gap into one goal.
The Night Before Christmas
The Night Before Christmas Poem: Full Text & Who Wrote It
Read the night before Christmas poem online in full, then see who wrote it, how it first appeared in 1823, and why its authorship is still disputed.
The Life I'm Building: 2027 Goal Planner
The Ikigai Diagram Isn't Japanese: What Ikigai Really Means
The ikigai diagram wasn't drawn in Japan; a blogger built it in 2014. What ikigai actually means, and four honest lists to find your own.
Diwali Coloring Book
Rangoli for Kids: 7 Common Mistakes and Easy Fixes
Rangoli for kids made simple: seven common first-time mistakes, an easy 3-by-3 dot flower, step-by-step diagrams, and practical fixes for Diwali.
The Life I'm Building: 2027 Goal Planner
Ohtani 9x9 Grid Goal-Setting: How the 64-Action Chart Works
See how the Ohtani 9x9 grid works: one main goal, eight supporting goals and 64 actions, plus how to adapt the chart for your own goals.
Coloring
Markers That Don't Bleed Through Paper for Coloring Books
Looking for markers that don't bleed through paper? See which marker types are least likely to soak through coloring-book pages and how to test them first.
The Life I'm Building: Undated Goal Planner
How to Use a Planner: A 15-Minute Sunday Evening Routine
How to use a planner so it lasts past February: one Sunday evening, fifteen minutes, minute by minute, and how to restart after a missed week.
The Trader I'm Becoming
How to Keep a Trading Journal: The Pilot and Surgeon Method
How to keep a trading journal by hand, the way pilots and surgeons keep records: a plan row before each trade, a result row after, and a weekly review.
Ganesha Coloring Book, Ages 8-12
Ganpati Murti Styles: The 1892 Pune Story Behind Them
Ganpati murti styles multiplied after 1892, when Pune set Bappa up in public. Here is that story, then the styles, from the Maratha pagdi to Pillaiyar.
Ganesha Coloring Book, Ages 4-8
Ganesh Chaturthi Story for Kids, Told Through Their Questions
The Ganesh Chaturthi story for kids, told the way children ask for it: why Bappa has an elephant head, why he rides a mouse, and why he has to leave.
Diwali Coloring Book
Diwali Story for Kids: Rama's Return, Told by Lamplight
A Diwali story for kids told by lamplight: Rama's journey home in six short chapters, the lesson lines to say aloud, and why families light the lamps.
The Life I'm Building: Undated Goal Planner
Dated vs Undated Planner: Which One Will You Actually Use?
Dated vs undated planner: what a missed week looks like in each, the honest pros and cons, and how to choose the one you will actually keep using.
Coloring
Benefits of Coloring for Kids: The Myth and the Evidence
The benefits of coloring for kids get lost under a 1947 myth about busywork. What the evidence shows, and a better way to color.