Bloggers Rock: Fairies & Academicians

It's true! Bloggers rock. I am continually amazed at the vast amount of talent displayed daily across the blogosphere, particularly from moms. So this week we'll be doing crafts from some of my favorite bloggers, and instead of featuring books, I'm going to introduce you to some kids lit bloggers you may not be familiar with.

These adorable Flower Fairies were inspired by one of my favorite craft bloggers: Pink and Green Mama. Marylea has so many amazing ideas! She's a former elementary school teacher and a mom of two girls, and her projects are fun, creative, and easy to do. Her site itself is well organized and easy to search. I highly recommend checking her out!

I adapted her tutorial a bit to fit the materials I had on hand, but I love the way they turned out. E insists they are flower princesses, since they don't have wings. (Although this didn't stop her from making them fly.) 

My little ladies did a great job threading the beads and flower petals through the pipe cleaners. I had fun designing their faces, and the girls loved playing with them afterward. It was the perfect after-school craft for a drizzly afternoon!

Trevor Cairney @ Literacy, Families & Learning

Here's a blog you're probably not familiar with. I discovered Trevor Cairney while searching for reviews on the "My Baby Can Read" videos. He is Master of New College and Adjunct Professor of Education at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, as well as a husband, father, and grandfather. According to Cairney, "I've spent most of my adult life as a teacher, academic, researcher and university administrator. My PhD was in Cognitive Psychology (and linguistics) and explored how children comprehend texts; but my research and writing has been much broader than this."

Cairney's blog "aims to provide practical, timely and sound support and advice for parents, teachers and teachers in training." This timely advice has helped me more than once find ways to support my girls in their journey toward literacy. His posts cover a variety of topics in his field and highlight some of the best children's literature he comes across (many of which are by Australian authors). I appreciate Cairney's insight into the inner workings of children's minds, his thoughtful recommendations, and his willingness to answer any questions I might have. I highly recommend adding him to your blog roll!