The local Education Foundation in our town is having a read-a-thon to raise money for the schools.  Both of my children came home yesterday with pledge sheets.  The foundation is trying to get 100% participation, and I have seen signs all over town, so I feel like my children HAVE to do this.  I am a bit disappointed that the schools actually approved this.  Yes, it will get kids reading, but, for money.  Shouldn’t the reward be the reading of the book ?  Shouldn’t we be teaching our children that reading is a full experience on its own.  They shouldn’t have to ask for money just because they read a…

I picked up Maggie & Oliver or A Bone of One’s Own by Valerie Hobbs, illustrated by Jennifer Thermes, in the new book section at our library.  The story takes place in old time Boston.  Maggie is a little girl of 10 who works in the home of a rich lady.  After being too curious, and acting like a 10 year old, she is kicked out of the home, with only a bag of her things, including a heart-shaped locket.  Oliver is a dog who’s owner passed away and no one took him.  Now they are both living on the streets and their paths cross. I did enjoy this book…

http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/03/why-kids-illiteracy-is-more-complicated-than-it-appears/

 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle I read this book as a child and remember loving it.  I saw it in the library and immediately picked it up.  This is one of the books on my ‘to be shared with my children list’  I was so excited to start reading it.  I had a few ‘I remember this’ moments, so it was like reading a new book.  Daughter, Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend, Calvin, are sent to ‘the wrinkle’ or a tesseract to save their father. The book is filled with family drama, science, time travel, friendships, feelings.  It is a deep book.  I loved it.…

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/books/review/four-picture-books-starring-real-life-heroines.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=review&adxnnlx=1331391905-PH7VRXz2HKaX3LiTa/WBEA

Yesterday, March 2nd, was Dr. Suess’ 108 birthday!  My son’s kindergarten class did something special to celebrate. My daughter’s 3rd class did not – as they are preparing for testing next week (always about the test!).  I wonder if there is another author that will always have a day to celebrate.  Was there another author like Dr. Suess – whose work has touched so many children’s and adult’s lives? Last night, my children chose to read Dr. Suess books, The Lorax and Daisy Head Mayzie.  They are both long books.  We couldn’t decide on just one; so I read The Lorax to my son, and my daughter went upstairs to…

After not hearing of Ann Patchett before, and then three times in one week hearing her name, and watching her on The Colbert Report; I decided to dig a little further.  First, I will be getting some grown-up Ann Patchett books out of the library on our library visit tomorrow.  Second, I love what she has to say, and what she is doing in her new bookstore, Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN  (http://www.parnassusbooks.net).  Third, I am going to read as many of the books she recommends on her blog as possible.  (http://www.parnassusbooks.net/blog) – ahh, to dream! I read her blog and realized that, I,  too, am one of the many…

So, since my last post we have had quite the roller coaster.  Finished building a house, moved out of apartment, moved into new house the week before Christmas (everyone warned me not to!), Thanksgiving, Christmas, 12 people for Christmas dinner, 18 family for day after Christmas fun, unpacking, crashed car into stone wall(only thing hurt was the car and wallet), unpacking, broken dining room table, broken heirloom chandelier, got all our stuff out of storage, still unpacking.  Probably not in the right order, but you get the picture.  So, I have not had much time to read books, the end of my day is pretty much head falling on the…

I have been very lax in my entries since September.  So much has happened in our crazy life.  And, fall always seems to be such a crazy time for our family!  And, throw in a major storm that shuts down the entire state and it doesn’t make it easy to keep on schedule.  However, it does make it easy to go to the library. I found http://www.guysread.com/ a few months ago.  Jon Scieszka is a former teacher and a wonderful author (one of my favorites is The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by A. Wolf).  He began his website “to encourage a passion for reading among young boys, with the…