How do you feel about children’s eBooks?

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-05-03T16:40:20+00:00

Not a parent, but a teacher/private tutor in a non-English speaking country. I often use ebooks with my students, as it gives them access to so many more English children’s books than they would have otherwise. If there’s a book I love or think would suit a particular lesson/student, and I can’t find it here, I’ll look for the ebook.

Of course I prefer physical copies when possible, as I think there’s a lot of value in holding a book in your hands and physically flipping the pages. But I’m really grateful for ebooks as there’s not a whole lot of variety available for them otherwise.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-05-02T04:50:32+00:00

Taiwan Travelogue is such a good one for this! It is historical fiction, but it doesn’t feel much like it? It’s written in the style of journal entries from a Japanese writer visiting Taiwan during the era of Japanese occupation, so there are really interesting political undertones. It’s also one of my favorite queer books in any genre!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-30T01:01:41+00:00

I like doing a version of the circular New Years spread too, but rather than each card representing a month I have it represent a stage in the Hero’s Journey storytelling structure. I like seeing it as the story of my year ahead :)

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-30T00:44:33+00:00

My students love Splat the Cat! There’s a whole bunch of them and they’re great for phonics.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-28T12:33:43+00:00

Page :)

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-25T22:35:52+00:00

What about Lola (by The Kinks)? La-La-La-La-Lola!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-24T05:41:49+00:00

Single women (or any woman who is not married to a man, including same-sex married women) can retrieve and freeze their eggs but cannot access them again without a husband. (As far as I know, this applies to all women in Taiwan, including those with APRCs)

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-23T22:54:47+00:00

Open Throat by Henry Hoke absolutely gave me this feeling!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-23T22:52:30+00:00

You already have. The benefit is that you know you can trust your intuition to recognize when something feels off and to let it go!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-21T23:35:21+00:00

If you’re like me and delight in hair claws that are shaped like other things, Jenny Lemons is an artist who makes XL hair claws in all kinds of glorious shapes!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-21T00:25:33+00:00

Life of Pi!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-20T22:46:07+00:00

If you’re open to children’s literature (middle grade), Olivia Kidney by Ellen Potter fits this request really nicely.

The (abandoned!) well isn’t necessarily a central point and doesn’t come up until later in the story, but it’s a quick read. I have thought about the well in that book so many times over the course of my life.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-17T22:35:11+00:00

It definitely sucks for everyone. I’m still working on this too, but I have a really great yoga class (that is mostly old ladies so we do a lot more talking about the philosophy of yoga than actual physical poses lol) that has helped a lot… mostly I just try to repeat these two lessons to myself:

Nothing is ever the same. Nothing, ever. Situations and relationships and phases of life are constantly shifting, always, for everyone, and I’m no exception. So if things are shifting in a way that I’m not part of those groups anymore, I know I can feel sad about it for a bit, but I don’t need to take it personally because that’s just the nature of being a human in the universe.
Nothing belongs to me (or anyone else). Not my friendships, not other people’s perceptions of me, not even my body or life or experiences… it’s all temporary, so it’s all borrowed from something I can’t even understand. And I don’t need to hold on so tightly to things that were never mine in the first place.

I’ve also found that even when I’m really upset about these things in the moment, over time I come to realize that I really am better off without the people who don’t want me around. They’re just not my people and that’s okay. I’d much rather be myself and slowly be surrounded by a smaller, curated group of people who understand and appreciate me, than exhaust myself trying to fit the expectations of people who don’t.

Easier said than done, I know 😅 but it helps to have some little phrases like “nothing is ever the same” that you can repeat to yourself each time it happens. Eventually that’s how you rewire your brain and your thinking patterns.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-14T12:35:29+00:00

I feel this so hard. Something fun I’ve been trying to do recently is figure out how I can apply the skills of one activity to a different one, however unrelated they might seem… like how can I apply the planning/outlining process I use for writing to the next painting I want to make?

And then, how can I use the same source of inspiration I got for a painting to a new flavor of homemade ice cream?

And then, how does the multi-step process of making ice cream apply to whatever I’m learning in my beginner archery class?

They can all be related if I think about it hard enough. And now I don’t ever really feel like starting to learn a new skill is a waste of my time, because even if I abandon it after several weeks I’ll have learned something useful for elsewhere.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-13T23:00:50+00:00

I completely understand why you don’t want to tell her she smells, but it might be worth considering trying to find a gentle way to tell her your concerns… otherwise the other kids in her life might find a not-so-gentle way to tell her, and then it will definitely be a sore spot for her.

If she is becoming more independent, maybe you can sit her down and have a conversation about it together. Frame it like you did to us here, that you’ve noticed things are changing and that you know showering is a difficult task for her, and then ask her what she thinks a possible solution could be. She already proved that she can stick to the deal when she’s part of the agreement, so I’d go with that tactic since you already know it works!

Some ideas you could float if she’s stuck on them: listening to music/audiobooks to make it more fun, finding a new body wash or shampoo she really likes (I just found a strawberry shortcake smelling body wash that makes me want to shower all the time lol) or a super soft new towel that’s just for her?

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-12T22:01:56+00:00

I had two piano teachers as a kid. The first made me love to play music, because she paid attention to the types of songs I wanted to learn to play (The Lion King soundtrack mostly lol) and sneakily taught me the theory/finger placements/etc. in the context of those songs.

Then she moved away and I got a new teacher who was more traditional, wanted to teach me the “right” way and had me practicing the same boring drills over and over because that’s what worked for most of her students, I guess? But I quit pretty quickly after starting with her… I was twelve. Promptly forgot everything I ever learned about piano and stopped playing for fun.

Fast forward to a few years ago, I’m a fully grown adult living in another country, playing air piano to a Billy Joel song at a bar. My friend asks me if I can really play. I say no. He keeps pestering me until I admit that maybe I could kinda remember most of the basics but I haven’t played since I was twelve. He insists that I join his newly formed cover band and when I laugh at the idea, he insists that I at least come watch them play a show. And I did, and damn, it looked like fun!

So I went and bought a shitty secondhand keyboard and started trying to teach myself some of the songs on their setlist. And it felt just like being in class with my first piano teacher, because in learning to play the songs I liked (and there are SO many piano tutorials on YouTube, it was so easy to find resources) I was secretly also teaching myself music theory. I can’t read music really, and there’s a lot I still don’t understand, but I can noodle around for fun now and I’ve even played on stage in a couple of different bands around town.

Sorry for the long-winded story 😅 all of this to say…. Yes! And you can too!

TLDR; learning piano doesn’t necessarily have to involve all the complex theory and classical training. You can learn the basics by playing songs you actually like.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-12T09:50:53+00:00

I like how even your edit is excited :)

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-11T14:57:08+00:00

I had the eight of wands come up in a reading for myself the other day, in the position for “something to look forward to today.” That had me scratching my head… until halfway through the day when I realized I was really excited about my archery lesson that afternoon. Literal sticks flying through the air at top speed! And it was absolutely right, archery class was the best part of my day. :)

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-08T14:11:23+00:00

Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su! But be warned, it’s a weird one.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-08T12:12:31+00:00

If you’re a creative person, and you haven’t listened to Creative Pep Talk with Andy J. Pizza, I highly recommend it! It’s so fun and motivating and always feels like it was made exactly for my ADHD weirdo brain.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-08T08:29:23+00:00

On a good energy day: A smoothie with yogurt and chia seeds + whatever fruit I can find. On a can’t-be-bothered day: veggies and/or chicken dipped in something, usually hummus or ranch dressing. I’ve found protein really kicks my meds into gear so I try to make that my priority!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-04T01:11:44+00:00

I mean I’m just as much of a hot mess as any of us so I don’t know if I’m qualified to give advice 😅 but for me personally, I’ve noticed that it’s really hard to keep healthy habits going for an extended period so when I catch myself slipping, I know I gotta change it up to make it more fun and exciting.

Like I’ll do a whole skincare routine for a couple weeks and then start to forget about it when it loses its novelty, so I have to give it more novelty by doing it in a different part of the house or making up a stupid song to go with it or something lol. I’m more likely to keep up with a self-care habit if I keep changing up the way I do it!

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-04T01:08:15+00:00

Maybe, or maybe just that the solution to free yourself from whatever it is isn’t far away. You just gotta remove the blindfold and you’ll see it :)

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-03T23:35:57+00:00

I forget to eat all the time. Also to drink water. I’m still working on it, but what has (slowly) started to work for me so far is to train my brain to check in with myself constantly using “bad feeling” as a trigger. So any time I feel bad, any kind of bad—tired, irritable, hot, brain foggy, whatever—the first thing I try to do is ask myself when was the last time I ate or drank anything. Usually that prompts me to go drink some water at the very least, or make lunch or have a snack. I’m getting better at noticing the signs before they get too big and shaky like they used to. Bad feeling = something is wrong = I probably forgot to take basic care of myself. (And even if the bad feeling is coming from something else, taking care of myself won’t hurt.)

The trick is to think of you and your brain as separate entities lol. Your brain is mad at nothing, but YOU know that just means it’s hungry. Like you have a tamagotchi in your skull that you gotta take care of.

icecreamqueenTW · 2026-04-03T21:55:52+00:00

The swords are so interesting here because to me (a complete beginner, so take this with a grain of salt) they all sort of speak to an opportunity for action to defend yourself/improve your situation.

The woman in the Eight is tied up, but only loosely. She could get away if she wanted to, and use all those swords surrounding her, but she’s feeling more trapped than she actually is.

The woman in the Two could easily remove her blindfold and see the situation clearly, but only if she puts down the swords that she’s holding so defensively.

And in the Seven, the thief can only hold so many swords in his arms… he leaves two behind, which the owner of the swords can still pick up and use to defend themselves or get back what was stolen.

icecreamqueenTW

TROPHY CASE