Many of you will already know that I am a huge fan of The Chronicles of Narnia. Today, I want to introduce my fellow Narnia lovers to a new book that jumped right off the shelf as soon as I saw it.

Giant is a middle-grade novel by debut author Judith McQuoid where we meet Davy, a fictional working class boy from East Belfast, Ireland who is sent to work in the wealthy Lewis household in 1908. There, he forges a friendship with Jacks–as C.S. Lewis was known to his friends and family–over books, stories, and building worlds of imagination and adventure.

Giant is a must-read for Narnia fans that adds a whole new depth of experience to C.S. Lewis’s world and will help you read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in a fresh way. And today, I’m chatting with the author about what inspired her to write the book, how much of the story is fictionalized, and how the process of writing the book shaped her identity. And you’re going to love her Irish accent!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The way her dad’s love of Narnia and Lewis’s Belfast heritage inspired Judith to write this story
• How Judith started with a “skeleton” draft and added layers of detail and depth with revisions
• The faith that carried Judith through the ups and downs of creating Giant

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

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

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/judith-mcquoid

Order Flora and the Jazzers by Astrid Sheckels!

Astrid Sheckels continues the wit and whimsy of childhood through her marvelous and magnificent illustrations and storytelling.

You might recognize her from the Hector Fox and Friends series or Sea Dog and Sea Dog Rescue, and she created the gorgeous cover and interior illustrations for Beyond Mulberry Glen by Millie Florence.

Today we’re chatting about her new book, Flora and the Jazzers, which Kirkus called “sumptuously illustrated” in their starred review and I couldn’t agree more. This jazz-age Cinderella story starring a ferret named Flora and set in a 1920s New York hotel is going to blow you away, I just know it.

Astrid is a New Englander who loves to paint animals in clothes, so clearly she is a woman after my own heart, and I just know you’ll fall in love with her too.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How childhood family read-alouds instilled a love for stories in Astrid
• The way one of Astrid’s earliest childhood drawings became the inspiration for Flora
• Why a sketchbook is an ideal tool for budding creatives

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

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

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/astrid-sheckels

Order Flora and the Jazzers by Astrid Sheckels!

Peace. It sounds lovely, right? It’s what so many of us want more than anything else in our homeschools. We long for peace, even if it often feels unattainable.

But what does peace actually look like in the midst of a real, chaotic homeschool day?

Last month in Circle with Sarah–my mentoring program for homeschool moms inside RAR Premium–we had a retreat. And our theme? Maintaining Peace in Your Homeschool.

Over four sessions, we walked through practical tips for letting go of guilt and holding onto peace when your day doesn’t go as planned–which we all know is basically every hour of every day, right?

Today, I’m sharing the first session of the retreat, called “What Do We Mean by Peace?”

I hope you find encouragement for maintaining peace within the everyday rhythms of homeschooling and that you get a better picture of the peace that’s available to you right here, right now, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in.

And if you want to check out the rest of the retreat, all of the sessions are available now as part of RAR Premium (Join us right here!).

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The real definition of peace (hint: it’s not always calm and quiet!)
• Our primary responsibility as moms and homeschoolers
• How our fears cause us to lose hold of peace

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

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

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/peace

Order Flora and the Jazzers by Astrid Sheckels!