Greatest Hits: Most Popular Posts on Sacraparental Would you like a quick tour? Here are some good posts to start with! Just click on the picture. Collections and Series Sacraparental is full of eclectic series, some ongoing and occasional, some more regular or structured. You can use the search box on the right, or […]
St Paul’s Church in Auckland is famous for the impossibly cuuuuute nativity videos they produce each year, starring their kids. This year they have also released this compelling short film for adults, reminding us that Jesus was a Palestinian. There are several parts where my eyes widened. Watch for the shepherd (who has an accounting degree) talking about […]
You probably need this book, either for yourself, or for a dear friend. The hilarious, empathetic and sweary Emily Writes has followed up her first essay collection Rants in the Dark with a second collection, Is It Bedtime Yet? This time, with typical generosity, and an eye to telling more people’s stories than just […]
I admit to being a bit of an AirBnB evangelist, because it has made such a difference to our family finances. I want you to have more money! We’ve been letting out our house in Wellington, New Zealand with AirBnB for as long as we’ve owned it, whenever we’re not in it ourselves. We’ve had […]
I keep reading this baseless crap about how boys won’t read stories about girls, so we should just stop writing and publishing them. It’s nonsense. Worse, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because how will boys read about girls if everyone’s been warned not to offer them those books? I recently wrote a round-up of 12 notable New […]
Have you ever noticed that all the animals in the popular children’s lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo are male? Every single one. It’s not an isolated example. Looking at almost 6,000 children’s books published between 1900 and 2000, the study, led by Janice McCabe, a professor of sociology at Florida State University, found that males are central characters […]
We’re still swimming in sexism Here’s a quick exercise for you: grab a pen and paper, or open a document on a device. Briefly note down the ten or so kids’ television shows that you see or hear most of when you are around kids. You could include kids’ movies as well if you like. What shows […]
‘If they’re not being assessed and tested, how will you know if they’re learning?’ ‘What do they do all day?’ Today I’m not meaning to go into why ‘testing’ can be counter-productive to learning (but if that catches your eye, please do read Jolisa Gracewood’s bleak report of US testing terror and read or listen to […]
A very warm welcome to Jessica, who wrote this stunning speech about feminism for her school speech competition. I am looking forward to hearing more from this extraordinary person. Ko Mataatua te Waka Ko Maungapohatu Te Maunga Ko Waikaremoana te Moana Ko Whakatane toku Awa Ko Tuhoe-Potiki te Iwi Ko Ruatahuna te Rohe Ko Ngati […]
Sure, kids don’t belong everywhere. They’re not a symphony orchestra’s target audience (except when they are). The tense whispers of snooker commentators suggest that toddlers wouldn’t be welcome at tournament finals. But babies and children are legally entitled to be all sorts of places that aren’t always built with them in mind, including, say, courthouses […]