March On With Mentor Texts Extension
- rateyourstoryweb
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
By Lynne Marie
I never actually fully realized the importance of the name of this challenge (MARCH ON with Mentor Texts) until I sat down to write this post.
During our challenge month, I planned a farewell trip for my Nephew-in-law (and Niece and Great Niece and Great Nephew) to Disney World; Spent over two weeks on a Transatlantic Cruise to Spain (I’m also a Travel Agent); caught the Norovirus; helped care for my elderly father; said goodbye and celebrated my Nephew’s life; packed and moved back to Florida; attended my daughter’s Rollins College (the College of Mr. Rogers) graduation and moved her back home; moved her into the Disney Dorms for the Disney College Program; started unpacking (it’s a work in progress) and MORE!
As you can imagine, I got thrown for several loops. I experienced a feeling much like when you are pulled underwater by an undertow and you try to reach the surface, but everything is upside down and you instead hit your head on the ocean floor. I hardly had time to catch my breath or heal or make sense of the world, nevermind stay on the path. But here I am – I picked myself up, dusted myself off and am marching on.
This is pretty much the first day that I took a deep breath and said, I’m going to get back on the path. I can do this. One of my favorite quotes came to mind: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! While the vegetarian in me half cringes, the rest of me really gets it. Focus on small tasks one by one and you can knock out your to-do list, achieve your goal, get back on track or even create a salable story!
So today, finally, I am posting the complete list of posts from our March On With Mentor Texts 2026 Event. I am going to give everyone two weeks (to June 10th) to catch up on reading and comments and then I will select our winners of our fabulous prizes. The posts are great – and worth reading, so please share them and please support the talented authors in any way you can (buy books, recommend books, share books, mention books, etc.). And with the state of our industry at the moment, these authors would appreciate your time and attention! And you’ll see that there are so many books out there that are not crud (many of you know what I am talking about)!
Below I have listed the posts and broken them down into weeks (4 ½) in an effort to give you a way to approach them with more “bite-sized” pieces and earn your winner badge. I do hope you’ll take advantage of this extension. Thanks for understanding.
March On!
Lynne Marie
Registration
February 18 - Register Anytime!
Week One
March 1 - Fair Weather Fairytales with Lynne Marie
March 2 - Making Big Concepts Kid-Relatable with Judy Cooper
March 3 - Crafting Curriculum Connections with Alison McGauley
March 4 - Character Challenges with Beth Anderson
March 5 - Cultural Picture Books with Namrata Agarwal
March 6 - Jumping Right In With Mel Rosenberg
March 7 - Humor in PBs with Anna Siqueira
Week Two
March 8 - Page Turn Power with Danna Smith
March 9 - Inviting Engagement with Jeannette Fazzari Jones
March 10 - Writing the Unexpected with Selene Castrovilla
March 11 -
Heart and History in PBs with Jolene Guittierrez
March 12 - Metafiction in Mentor Texts by Evelyn Bookless
March 13 - Boosting Bold Backmatter with Lauren Kerstein
March 14 - Magic in Mentor Texts with Lynne Marie
Week Three
March 15 - Fresh Perspectives with Leah Schanke
March 16 - Board Books with Claire Freeland
March 17 - Discussing Luck with Donna Marx
March 18 - Surprising Rhyme with Laura Lavoie
March 19 - Origin Stories for Beloved Objects with Nancy Churnin
March 20 - Climate Fiction for Young Readers with Blair Northen Williamson
March 21 - Magic that Makes Us Feel with Danielle Render Turmaud
Week Four
March 22 - Page Turning Secrets with Mary Boone
March 23 - The Value of Strong Verbs by Alayne K. Christian
March 24 - Squirrels, Porcupines and Bears, Oh My! With Erin Dealey
March 25 - Finding Voice in NF with Lydia Lukidis
March 26 - Diving Into the Details with Lisa Rogers
March 27 - Exploring the Whys of Board Books with Robin Currie
March 28 - Growing Global with Helen H. Wu
Week Five
March 29 - The Culture of a Name with Maria Wen Adcock
March 30 - Gifting with a Giggle by Kari Gonzalez
March 31 - Look to the Librarians with Lynne Marie
WOW, LYNNE MARIE! The list of ALL you've been going through . . . WOW! THANK YOU for the reminder that life is doable (CRAZINESS AND ALL!) if we take things one day at a time, one step at a time, and one bite at a time. HOPING ALL THE CRAZINESS calms for you soon. KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON---one day at a time, one step at a time, one bite at a time!