The Inventor's Desk

Say It PROUD: Self-Awareness, Ren's Three Words, and Books 10, 12, and 20

California's first social-emotional sub-strand is Self-Awareness, and CASEL puts it first too. Three books carry a child from a whisper to a promise.

The Why Phase Is a Skill: Curiosity and Initiative in California's Approaches to Learning

California's 2024 preschool foundations open the Approaches to Learning domain with Curiosity and Interest and Initiative. Books 1 and 3 are built on nothing else.

OOPS! ALMOST!: Persistence, the Way California Now Writes It Into Preschool

California's new Approaches to Learning domain has a foundation called Persisting Despite Difficulties. Book 7 turns it into a game with a battle cry.

Breathe First, Talk Second: The Behavior Script Inside Book 13

Guidance and challenging behavior is NAEYC's most-read topic. Book 13 hands a toddler the three-step script that early childhood educators keep asking for.

A Book Plus a Grown-Up Beats a Tablet Alone: Screen Time, Co-Viewing, and the Free Read-Aloud Audio

The NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center position statement on technology draws one line that still holds: passive screen use alone is out, interactive use with an adult can help. Here is how to use our fr...

Name the Feeling First: What California's Preschool Foundations Ask, and How Bao Does It

California's 2024 preschool foundations put emotional knowledge in the first strand of social-emotional development. Book 4 is built around one question that does exactly that work.

Show and Tell Is a Readiness Skill Worth Practicing: Kindergarten Transition and Books 17 and 20

NAEYC devoted its Spring 2026 magazine issue to the preschool-to-kindergarten transition, and California now offers transitional kindergarten to every four-year-old. Book 17 is about the one skill ...

Reading Aloud at Bedtime: What More Than 20 Years With Inventors Taught Me About Curiosity

A patent attorney on the surprising overlap between bedtime story habits and adult inventor habits.

Andrea Beaty's Questioneers vs. Kit's Little Sparks: Which Age Is Right?

How the two series fit together. Short answer: Kit's Little Sparks is the prequel age. The Questioneers are the next chapter.

A 50-Book Library That Grows With One Child From Age 2 to Age 12

Four age-tiered series, one inventor's journey. Here is the full map of the Kit's Little Sparks universe.