Lanette's Lazy Lemon Butter Shrimp Pasta
Such a lazy treat - Lazy Lemon Butter Shrimp Pasta. Want a dinner that tastes like you put in way more effort than you actually did? This is it! Juicy shrimp, buttery lemon sauce, and pasta come together for a ridiculously delicious meal with hardly any fuss. In fact, the shrimp cooks so fast, you might have dinner ready before the pasta water even boils! Easy, fresh, and just a little fancy — without the work.
Get the recipe here.
Lanette's Lazy Pepperoni Tortellini Alfredo
Dump this in and bake it … it’s THAT kind of lazy. Cheesy tortellini, Alfredo, mozzarella and pepperoni — basically pizza and pasta had a baby, and you barely have to do a thing.
Get the recipe here.
Lanette's Lazy Meatball Soup
Perfect for our chilly fall nights - this will warm you right up in the laziest of ways. With just 5 ingredients and 29 minutes, you can whip up this quick and easy soup - perfect for those weeknights when you want something warm and comforting without a lot of work. And it just might become a new family favorite!
Get the recipe here.
Lanette's Lazy BBQ Chicken & Rice
If dinner needs to be easy tonight, this recipe is right up your alley — all the BBQ chicken and sides you love, but cooked together in ONE pot. Less mess, fewer dishes, and most of the ingredients are probably already hanging out in your kitchen!
Get the recipe here.
Lanette's Lazy Lemon Garlic Chicken
If you need an easy dinner idea, this Lemon Garlic Chicken is delicious! A quick lemon, garlic and herb marinade makes the chicken juicy and full of flavor. Grill it, cook it in a skillet, or bake it with baby potatoes and broccoli for an easy one-pan meal. Less cleanup, too!
Get the recipe here.
Big Stories, Little Book Lovers
Once Upon A Book Club is a story time dream come true for little book lovers and the grown-ups who cheer them on. Each month, one specially chosen kids book - handpicked by the Madison Reading Project - takes center stage, turning reading into a fun, shared adventure. With a mission to spark a love of books early on, Madison Reading Project helps make reading feel exciting, cozy, and full of possibility, one story at a time. It’s not just a book club - it’s the beginning of a lifelong love of reading. It's part of our focus on family at Magic 98.
OCTOBER 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author: Maryann Jacob Macias | Illustrator: Alea Marley | Publisher: Dial Books
Teo's Tutu. Téo loves to dance, whether it's the cumbia with Papí, the bhangra with Amma, or ballet class with Miss Lila. He also loves the way his tutu makes him feel, inside and out. But when it comes time to decide which outfit to wear in the big dance recital--a sparkly tutu or shimmering silver pants - Téo wonders if being his most authentic self on stage will put him too much in the spotlight.
SEPTEMBER 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author: Natalia Sylvester | Illustrator: Uuana Medina | Publisher: Dial Books
A Maleta Full of Treasures. It’s been three years since Abuela’s last visit, and Dulce revels in every tiny detail—from Abuela’s maletas full of candies in crinkly wrappers and gifts from primos to the sweet, earthy smell of Peru that floats out of Abuela’s room and down the hall. But Abuela’s visit can’t last forever, and all too soon she’s packing her suitcases again. Then Dulce has an idea: maybe there are things she can gather for her cousins and send with Abuela to remind them of the U.S. relatives they’ve never met. And despite having to say goodbye, Abuela has one more surprise for Dulce—something to help her remember that home isn’t just a place, but the deep-rooted love they share no matter the distance.
AUGUST 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author: Rob Sanders | Illustrators: Hannah Abbo | Publisher: Beaning Books
An icebreaker and friend-maker, We Are a Class is an inclusive, aspirational story to be read aloud responsively, collectively, or as spoken-word performance. In rhyming verse, We Are a Class is a pledge, a commitment, a promise among the members of a single class and every class.
Perfect for the first day, the 100th day, the final day, and any day of school.
JULY 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author: Andtwan Eady | Illustrators: Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey | Publisher: Penguin Random House
The Last Stand is an award-winning children's picture book about family, community, and the legacy of Black farmers in the American South. It follows a young boy who helps his grandfather (Papa) run the last remaining farm stand at their local farmer's market.
Every Saturday, the boy and his Papa harvest peppers, plums, pumpkins, and eggs, delivering them in sweetgrass baskets made by Granny. When Papa becomes too tired to work, the boy takes the initiative, hitching a red wagon to his bike to keep the stand open for their loyal customers.
JUNE 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author/Illustrator: Michael Hall | Publisher: Green Willow Books
Funny, insightful, and colorful, Red: A Crayon's Story is about being true to your inner self and following your own path despite obstacles that may come your way. Red will appeal to fans of Lois Ehlert, Eric Carle, and The Day the Crayons Quit, and makes a great gift for readers of any age!
Red has a bright red label, but he is, in fact, blue. His teacher tries to help him be red (let's draw strawberries!), his mother tries to help him be red by sending him out on a playdate with a yellow classmate (go draw a nice orange!), and the scissors try to help him be red by snipping his label so that he has room to breathe. But Red is miserable. He just can't be red, no matter how hard he tries!
Finally, a brand-new friend offers a brand-new perspective, and Red discovers what readers have known all along. He's blue!
MAY 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author/Illustrator: Mo Willems | Publisher: Union Square Kids
Will the Pigeon Graduate? The Pigeon had better graduate! He did the work! He paid attention to the little details! He overcame some BIG obstacles! The Pigeon's got this . . . Or does he? Grab your caps, don your gowns, and raise your hands for The Pigeon's biggest adventure yet in this uplifting, hilarious, and inspirational graduation picture book from three-time Caldecott honoree Mo Willems. It's a PhD* in fun!
Purchase this book for MRP or yourself
APRIL 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author/Illustrator: Michaela Goade | Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Berry Song. On an island at the edge of a wide, wild sea, a girl and her grandmother gather gifts from the earth. Salmon from the stream, herring eggs from the ocean, and in the forest, a world of berries. Salmonberry, Cloudberry, Blueberry, Nagoonberry. Huckleberry, Snowberry, Strawberry, Crowberry. Through the seasons, they sing to the land as the land sings to them. Brimming with joy and gratitude, in every step of their journey, they forge a deeper kinship with both the earth and the generations that came before, joining in the song that connects us all.
Purchase this book for MRP or yourself
MARCH 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Authors: Lea Lyon and Alexandria LeFaye | Illustrator: Jessica Gibson | Publisher: HarperCollins
She's Ready to Fly. As a young girl, Sylvia wanted nothing more than to take ballet lessons. When that wasn’t possible, she used her community’s bookmobile to find books to teach herself how to dance. She even started teaching her friends! Eventually, she opened her own studio and credited her professional successes to the bookmobile.
Purchase this book for MRP or yourself
FEBRUARY 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Grandma's Purse. This is a sweet representation of the magic of Grandmas. In this story, Grandma Mimi’s special purse is full of all the best things and makes everything more fun - you never know what you will find inside! The vibrant and fun illustrations and joyful story make this a special one to share with someone you love. Don’t miss some of our other favorites by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, including Becoming Vanessa and Just Like Me.
Purchase this book for MRP or yourself
JANUARY 2026 FEATURED BOOK
Author: Angela H. Dale | Illustrator: Lala Watkins | Publisher: Cameron Kids
Bus Stop. “In the spirit of The Snowy Day, a group of kids from A to Z arrive at the bus stop only to discover that the bus is a no-show ... snow day!
It's time for school, and all the neighborhood kids, from Antoine to Mahmoud to Zoey, gather one by one in the frosty dawn to wait for the school bus. But something more thrilling arrives first. Snowflakes fall, transforming the bus stop into a winter wonderland - and an official snow day. No school!”
Back-To-School Reset Mom Really Needs
There’s a very specific sound that happens in a house on the first morning of school.
An alarm goes off.
Then someone says, “I can’t find my shoes.”
Someone else is yelling, “WHO TOOK MY CHARGER?”
And at 7:14, your child casually mentions they need a poster board, three empty toilet-paper rolls and a permission slip that apparently came home two weeks ago.
Welcome back, Mom.
After a summer of late nights, sleeping in, swimming until dinner and eating whenever somebody happens to be hungry, getting everyone back into a school routine can feel less like a transition and more like a military operation.
But here's the good news:
You don't have to get your entire life together before the first day of school.
You just need to make the mornings a little easier. And honestly, the best place to start is the night before. Put the backpacks by the door. Find the shoes. Fill the water bottles. Pick out clothes. Check the calendar so you're not discovering at 6:52 in the morning that tomorrow is picture day. Even five minutes of preparation can save you from 25 minutes of morning chaos. And when it comes to mornings, I've decided the goal shouldn't be exciting.
The goal should be boring.
Everyone knows what they're supposed to do. Clothes on. Breakfast. Teeth brushed. Backpack. Shoes. Out the door. No major decisions. No scavenger hunts. No one standing in the kitchen holding a single shoe and asking where the other one is.
Boring sounds pretty wonderful right about now. It also helps to start nudging bedtime and wake-up times back before school actually starts. If summer has turned your kids into tiny night owls, don't expect everyone to suddenly fall asleep at 8:30 the night before school. That is less of a bedtime routine and more of a hostage negotiation.
And remember that your kids are adjusting, too. They may be excited about seeing friends and still be nervous about a new teacher, a new classroom or where they're going to sit at lunch. Sometimes “I don't want to go to school” isn't really about school. It's about something that feels big to them. So instead of immediately saying, “You'll be fine,” try asking, “What's the part you're thinking about the most?” Then listen. You might be surprised by what comes out.
And Mom, here's the part to really remember:
You don't have to do all of this perfectly.
The lunch doesn't need to look like Pinterest. The house doesn't need to be perfectly organized. You will forget something. Your child will forget something. There will probably be a morning when somebody leaves the house wearing two different socks. They're going to be okay. The goal isn't a perfect school year. It's creating a little more rhythm, a little less chaos and helping your kids gradually take some of the responsibility off your shoulders. Because you know what happens when you do that? You get to stop being the family's full-time reminder app. And maybe that's the real back-to-school miracle.
So here's to fresh notebooks, new teachers, early alarms, forgotten permission slips and lunches that somehow come home completely untouched. Here's to kids getting a little more independent. And here's to Mom standing in the kitchen with her coffee, looking at those backpacks by the door and wondering how everyone got so big so fast.
You've got this. And if you don't?
Well, there's always coffee … and good music.
❤️ ~ Magic 98 Crew
Mom Fail: Jodi from Middleton
Jodi from Middleton taught her daughter some new online skills - only to discover those skills being put to use during Mom’s work Zoom.
Lanette's Lazy Gemelli with Sausage & Asparagus
You may not be going out to eat quite as much these days, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up those restaurant-worthy pasta dinners. Lanette’s Lazy Gemelli with Sausage and Asparagus brings together zesty Italian sausage, fresh asparagus and a creamy white wine sauce - and the best part is, you can easily swap things out to make it your own.
Get the recipe here.
Mom Fail: Diya from Madison
Kiya from Madison cooked her daughters play food in the oven by accident - proof that motherhood is basically one long game of “What’s that smell?”