iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 25/08/2026

Season #2 of our Podcast launches next week. We needed time to prepare for this semester and imagine brave new hyperbole to throw at you! In the meantime, Friends of Desoto will surely appreciate today's library coloring sheet! @greatesttrek.com @benjaminahr.mobi #kidLit #inJokes #DS9

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 23/08/2026

A lot of people think their country is the best, but, if we’re being objective, the new puppy is at best an ok Dane. #dogsofbluesky #puppy #parentlife #dog

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 20/08/2026

Some #forkToTable from my little’s #learningGarden. Homegrown basil, tomatoes, zucchini. The polenta and pasta were not, in fact, homegrown. 😂 #toddlerLife #girlDad #parenting #vegetarian

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 19/08/2026

Beyond thrilled to announce that, against all odds this late in the year, I have found a landing spot and will be teaching as Dr. Gill for the first time!

Gandalf the White stares at the camera announcing “I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide.”

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Greg Pincus @gregpincus.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I ran into this online snd thought about how our childhood reading stays with us #kidlitchat

A tshirt with Liwly Worm in a Scarry apple car saying “you got a fast car. I got a plan to get us out if here.”

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 19/08/2026

This absolute banger of a picture book. Genuinely terrifying. #kidlitchat

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 19/08/2026

I’ve read LOTR more times than I should probably admit. But depending on the age cutoff: Dracula, Blatty’s Exorcist, and Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. A little later, King’s IT. Perhaps a little unexpectedly, Buber’s I and Thou—but these were later, into high school. #kidlitchat

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 18/08/2026

Can you name the #picturebook from these three images? Note: they’re not from the book itself—that’d be a giveaway—they’re just descriptive of it! #kidlit #booksky

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 18/08/2026

Along with cyclospora and salmonella, we’re apparently no longer checking the expiration date on fortune cookies, either.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 18/08/2026

please know I didn’t want to do this but *clears throat* 🎶 THERE ARE SOME THAT CAN PICK UP RECYCLINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 🚛🗑️ #parenting #earworm #yourewelcome #toddlerlife

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 17/08/2026

Y'know Robert Lawson, who illustrated Ferdinand among other greats? He won a Caldecott in 1941, for a book that looks to demonstrate how his ancestors made America a proud nation by...fighting for the Confederacy? Listen Here: apple.co/463masC #EduSky #BookSky #KidLit #CivilWar #PictureBook

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 17/08/2026

“Your child will never have to go to therapy… for the same reasons you do.“ —my therapist. #kidlit #parenting #fairytales #booksky #girldad

A nightstand with a potted plant beside it contains three books stacked atop one another: a compendium of Victorian fairy tales; the Princeton UP Grimm Bros fairy tales; Maria Tater’s compilation of Classic Fairy Tales for Norton. A truly bad edition of the LOTR can be seen behind it—the small pleather bound ones—and Peter Straub’s Ghost Story as well.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 12/08/2026

Toddling the Stacks—come for the ASMR of an elderly mastiff snores, stay for the gentle sounds of puppy ears flapping in the breeze. Bonus litcrit for careful listeners! #dogsofbluesky #puppy #podcast

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 12/08/2026

THE KING WHO BANNED THE DARK offers an accessible and appropriately light-hearted look into propaganda, populist politics, and resistance when a young King, afraid of the dark, decides to just get rid of it. Buy it, sure, but request it at your local library too. It’s a #mustRead. #kidlit #edusky

A king, eating at a table, is advised by his staff that he can’t ban the dark outright without public support. He has to make the people think it’s their idea first.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 11/08/2026

Take a look at these pages from Clare Newberry’s 1940 Caldecott Honor winning April’s Kittens. I’d hang this in my little’s room as an art print any day! Miles above the Robert Lawson book that won that year (that episode drops Thursday). #kidlitart #kidlit #booksky #cats #kittens #art

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Greg Pincus @gregpincus.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Hey there, you #kidlit creator or lover or fan or friend - why not join a bunch of us for #kidlitchat here on Bluesky today at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific? We'll be happy to see you. Someone will offer you dessert. It's a good time, I tell ya! See you soon....

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 07/08/2026

#Picturebooks teach valuable lessons. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, for instance, can prepare you if your child ever asks you to “be pride rock” during imaginative play, the way mine just did. 😂 #girldad #dadjokes #dadlife #parenting

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 07/08/2026

in 2011, a cadre of truly great #picturebook authors signed a manifesto aimed squarely at exploding the form. We explored that moment this week through the lens of modernism and BJ Novak’s inaugural text, the chillingly named BOOK WITH NO PICTURES. #kidlit #edusky #booksky apple.co/3Tp8QMl

apple.co

BJ Novak's The Book with No Pictures | Children's Literature Criticism: Manifestos, Modernism, and the Works that Change Us

Podcast Episode · Toddling the Stacks—A Children’s Literature Podcast · August 3 · 28m

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 06/08/2026

It’s been a second but today’s haul of bedtime contraband was too egregious not to share. 4 titles in one bed! Rarely is the question asked: is our children reading? #kidlit #raisingreaders #dadlife #picturebook @sandraboynton.bsky.social

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 05/08/2026

@aishasaeed.bsky.social and @anooshasyed.com created BILAL COOKS DAL, one of my little’s favorite #picturebooks about a boy who learns about patience cooking chana dal with his dad. Though 3, she’s no slouch in the kitchen, so tonight we made it! #devoured #kidlit #cookingwithkids #parenting

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 05/08/2026

As far as I know, no one ever read to me as a kid. Reading became a way for me to stay safe and out of the way in elementary school, and I constantly pushed myself to read harder, more adult books. It wasn’t until I had a kid that I found PBs, and they were magical 1/ #kidlitchat

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alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

i don't like to police genre, but it's not dark academia unless somebody gets squished in one of these bad boys

those rolling stacks you'll find in any big state school library

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Matterist Books @matteristbooks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The kids are all right. Let them read.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 03/08/2026

Strange to say, but yesterday I finished a book I wasn’t professionally obligated to read. That hasn’t happened since before the pandemic. I’m excited and ready for so many more!

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 03/08/2026

New Episode Alert! Is @bjnovak.bsky.social 's The Book with No Pictures the Ulysses of #picturebooks? Eh. But amidst the turmoil of PBdom in the early 10s, the book represents a modernist-style experiment with form, language, and humor. Listen for more! #kidlit #edusky #booksky apple.co/3Tp8QMl

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 02/08/2026

Another #SundayFunday learning #garden haul! Our little picked most of the stuff going into the plot, decided where everything was going to go, and planted it all (with help). She even helped make the raised bed! Sadly no tomatoes have survived long enough to photograph. #parenting #girldad

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 01/08/2026

Always two there are. Say hello to Tessa, Toddling The Stack’s newest intern! We just adopted her! She’s the youngest pup we’ve ever had, so lots of learning ahead for her and us. Our EM, Greta, already adores her though! #dogsOfBluesky #puppy #adoptDontShop #babyDog

A large black puppy with a white splash on her chest sits on green grass wearing a pink collar.

A large black puppy sits next to a much larger English Mastiff on green grass.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 31/07/2026

If you ever feel bad about not finishing a project, just remember that Microsoft has been making Word since 1983.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 30/07/2026

If there’s an upside to this data center debacle, it’s that our download stats and website traffic have never been better! Maybe some of my insecurities and uncertainty, especially in fields within which I’m an expert, will rub off on the next models! 🧐 #assimilated

static.klipy.com

Chicago PD: It's Gone Viral

ALT: Chicago PD: It's Gone Viral

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Betsy Bird @fuse8.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

What does a very first cookbook for tiny chefs entail? Why not ask twice-nominated chef Sohui Kim who, paired with a toy company, comes up with wooden food recipes in board book form? #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2026/07/30/t...

afuse8production.slj.com

The Most Delicious Inedible Food on the Market: We Talk with Chef Sohui Kim About the Toy Kitchen Cookbook - A Fuse #8 Production

What does a very first cookbook for tiny chefs entail? Why not ask a twice-nominated chef who, paired with a toy company, comes up with wooden food recipes in board book form?

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 30/07/2026

Took a bit, but finally secured via interlibrary loan! Chatted with the children‘s librarian for a while about the fantastic illustrations. Very effective at making bees feel less alien and—mirabile dictu—more natural. #kidlit #savethebees #parenting #raisingreaders

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 29/07/2026

An elderly rabbit implores a baby bun to stay quiet as two cats approach. Moments later, the bun has said goodnight to her, to the world, even to air itself. Welcome to everyone’s favorite bedtime story. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... #kidlit #picturebook #edusky #parenting #raisingreaders

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Three things I'd encourage every teacher to consider doing going into a new school year #EduSky ⓵ Build a routine to capture what is good. ⓶ Lean into your sense of curiosity ⓷ Invest in 2-3 adults around you thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/three-thin...

thebrokencopier.substack.com

Three Things I Would Encourage Every Teacher To Do Going Into This School Year

No matter what you teach or how long you've taught

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 29/07/2026

#liveFootage of me starting off the day. If you’re starting yours off, too, why not queue our pod up before the commute? www.ToddlingTheStacks.com or your pod app! (Image from the fun logic game Cat Crimes, which can easily be modded to play with your #toddler!) #parentingHack #dadLife #commute

A picture of a game piece printed with a cute, tan-on-brown cat biting its own big fluffy tail. The word “Sassy” appears in a distressingly comic sansy type font below it.

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Greg Pincus @gregpincus.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

It’s #kidlitchat day! We shall gather here on Bluesky at 9pm Easter/6pm Pacific for an hour of #kidlit chatting. It shall be glorious!* (*or at least pretty darn fun). See you then!

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 28/07/2026

AGGIE AND THE GHOST, my little’s current fave, features a cheese obsessed ghost, and a more aspirational goal for one’s afterlife I can hardly imagine. QRP with cheese so that this spectre can haunt all of Bluesky. #kidlit #cheese #ghosts #booksky

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 27/07/2026

Today featured a quick jaunt to the bike park and nature walk—complete with our regular scavenger hunt for oak trees—followed by finishing up our rain stick craft! Giving this kid the upbringing I never had has been life’s greatest gift. #SundayFunday #dadLife #girlDad #artsAndCrafts #parenting

A brightly colored papier mache rain stick sits atop a wood table. The photo is poorly composed and features a lot of unnecessary junk.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 25/07/2026

Just got back from the pool with my kid, where we witnessed someone using adult swim as a chance to quietly read in the water. Some folks are just out there playing chess with life. #reading #booksky #summer

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Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

You can kill a French vampire with a baguette. It's a painstaking process but it works.

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Traci Van Wagoner @tracivw.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I hope you have a beary happy weekend full of blueberries and other fun summer yummies! #kidlitart #bear #blueberries #paintplay #cuteanimals

Art of a cute brown and tan bear from the side and close up. The bear has a blue tongue from eating the blueberries all around filling the background against a textured blue background.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 24/07/2026

Knowing the provenance of the editions we read has probably never been more important. Our latest episode looks at a classic PB butchered by editors into something unreadable to show just why editions matter. www.ToddlingTheStacks.com to listen/subscribe! #edusky #booksky #kidlit

toddlingthestacks.com

Toddling the Stacks

A children's literature podcast designed to help you make sense of the impossibly large body of books out there.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 24/07/2026

#libraryhaul Not a big fan of celebs expanding their portfolios in PB land, but @bjnovak.bsky.social's The Book With No Pictures is a freaking riot. My 3yo is probably still laughing about it, and she's been asleep for an hour. BOO-BOO BUTT. #kidlit #toddlerlife #raisingreaders #parenting

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 23/07/2026

We play by the Cobra Kai rules when it comes to coloring around here. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy. Not in my dojo, kid. Not in my dojo. Jk I love the way her understanding of color is growing every day! #nailedit #dadlife #toddlerlife #dadjokes #artsandcrafts #coloring

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Dan Santat @dansantat.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

It’s weird but after one year DON’T TRUST FISH has finally made it on to the NY Times list at #5. Three cheers to my partner in crime @unshavedmouse.bsky.social for writing a classic of a manuscript that I had the wonderful honor of illustrating. I’m just along for the glorious ride ❤️

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 23/07/2026

Having blocked out my youth, I’m reading basically my first YA novel to support my niece, whose school assigned it for incoming first years. It’s @jandynelson.bsky.social’s THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE and it’s SO GOOD. I’d happily teach it alongside Werther, Normal People, Great Expectations, &c. #kidlit

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Stephanie Ruble @stephanieruble.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Libraries and librarians are awesome.

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Toddling The Stacks @toddlingthestacks.com · 22/07/2026

At the tender age of 86, Lois Lenski’s The Little Train still has a lot to offer young readers—if modern editors would just leave it be. Find out more in this week’s episode, What‘s Black and White and Red All Over? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... #bookreview #booksky #kidlit #edusky

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