NEWS AND UPDATES

07/20/10

Dear Sparrow Tree Square Readers,

This month marks the publication date of Sparrow Tree Square's fiftieth issue. It also marks the four-year anniversary of Sparrow Tree Square's launch. It's hard for me to believe how much time has flown by since I first posted "The American Revolution" back in July 2006, and even harder for me to grasp the appreciation and support the magazine has gained in that time. It makes me happier than I can express that families and educators around the country and around the world have liked and found use for Sparrow Tree Square in their homes and classrooms.

Sparrow Tree Square has seen a few small changes here and there during the past four years, but with fifty issues published now seems like the right time to make some fairly large changes. I'm excited to announce that, over the next few months, I'll be working on some exciting new features that will hopefully make Sparrow Tree Square an even better resource for using literature. The magazine archive will soon be reorganized by theme, and each theme group will be accompanied by lesson plans and exploration packets that will make incorporating literature into your home, classroom, or homeschool easier than ever.

I'm also happy to announce that my mother, Michelle Friel, will be joining Sparrow Tree Square as an editor. I know her expertise as both a homeschool instructor and a classroom teacher will be invaluable in creating the new resources for Sparrow Tree Square.

One last change that will be coming to Sparrow Tree Square is a little bittersweet. Starting from now, new issues of Sparrow Tree Square will no longer be published on a monthly basis. I will still continue to create new issues and add them to the website, but not on a regular schedule. Moving away from the monthly format will give me more time to devote to the new projects I announced above, and will allow me to focus on my schoolwork as a sophomore at Sweet Briar College.

To quote one of my favorite picture books, Robert McCloskey's Time of Wonder, changes can make you feel "a little bit sad about the place you are leaving, a little bit glad about the place you are going." I'm certainly a little sad to leave behind the format of Sparrow Tree Square that has worked so well for four years, but more than a little glad to embark on the new projects I have planned. I hope that you feel the same, and will stick with Sparrow Tree Square during this transition time.

Sincerely,
Megan Friel, editor of Sparrow Tree Square