I am already agonizing over this blog which I promised myself I would not do before I started…sigh.

Going forward I am just going to write about books as I read them or as they occur to me—not giving selection so much weight. But for the first book—the all important first book, it seems like I should try and choose something meaningful, something to set the right tone, something that will wow you all with my insight and discerning taste. Oh brother! I am not sure I can stand the pressure (and I am not kidding).

This is really ridiculous. I just want you and your kids to read and not fuss too much about it, so I guess I should just write and not worry too much about it either! Okay. Here it goes:


My first book selection is:

The Cricket in Times Square written by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams

Read aloud: ages 6 to 12
Read Independently: ages 9 to 12

Of interest to: girls and boys; animal lovers, NYC enthusiasts, budding music lovers

This is the story of the friendship between a cat (Harry), a worldly, wisecracking mouse, Tucker, and a musically gifted cricket named Chester who is accidentally displaced from his home in a Connecticut meadow to the Times Square subway station. There are human characters in this as well—an engaging family, the Bellini’s, who are proprietors of a newsstand in the station. It is their son, Mario, who finds Chester and it is this that sets the whole tale in motion.

For me, the juice of this story comes not so much from the plot (although that is strong enough to keep everyone interested) but from the dynamics of the friendship between the three animal characters and from the delicious details that Selden generously sprinkles throughout the story. Through his details, he paints so vivid a picture that not only you can see the animals’ drainpipe home and the surrounding station; you can smell and feel its dampness as well. Selden’s imagination turns a matchbox and some Kleenex into a bed anyone would want to sleep in--though it is actually intended for Chester. Just wait until you see what he and Tucker can do to a lunch counter!

Garth Williams’ illustrations bring Selden’s work to life. I chose to include this picture because its fineness and detail exemplify the quality of Williams’ work throughout the book. Look at Harry closely and you will see kindness and intelligence in his eyes. Having no artistic talent myself, I am awed by great illustrators’ abilities.

This is a great book to read aloud and, by the way, don’t worry if the only way you can get your kids to be involved in a book is by reading aloud to them. Try it and just keep doing it. They will come to recognize your commitment to reading and hopefully realize that it is a valuable activity. Besides, spending quiet time together enjoying a good story is fun. Intrepid parents out there can even ask their kids to read a page or two at each session if that feels right.

Another good thing about this book is that if your child enjoys it, there are a number of sequels and even a prequel. My son and I read several and though nothing matched the first, we enjoyed them as well.

My next post is going to be about an audio book. For some of you, it might be easier, more practical, or less scary to begin by listening to a book instead of reading one. I generally don’t do this because I love the printed word and creating voices in my own imagination, but I think it is a wonderful option and am glad there a some many good ones to choose from. In fact, there is one I love so much that I listen to it every year. I believe you will be hooked as well.

Happy Reading.

IF THERE WERE A SUREFIRE WAY TO HELP KIDS BECOME MORE LITERATE, WOULD YOU IGNORE IT? Free voluntary reading, or reading because you want to, is the kind of recreational reading that most mature readers do most every day. In schools, this approach is often called sustained silent reading, or SSR. Although some educators and parents think that students who read for pleasure are "merely enjoying themselves," there's a huge amount of research that supports the importance of free voluntary reading. In fact, research strongly suggests that free reading is the source of our reading prowess and much of our vocabulary and spelling development, as well as our ability to understand sophisticated phrases and write coherent prose. The secret of its effectiveness is simple: children become better readers by reading.
Excerpts from “Free Reading” by Stephen Krashen School Library Journal, 2006.

Simply put, what Mr. Krashen is saying is that reading works to improve reading skills. Shocking, isn’t it? Of course it isn’t. But for some reason many parents feel that there is some secret skill or trick that they (or their school) has failed to give their child which results in lackluster reading performance, reading reluctance, or downright hatred for reading. Not to oversimplify, as I know that there are a multitude of problems that contribute to the dismal statistics on kids and reading, but I do think parents and kids ought to give the simplest solution a try—reading for a little while everyday.

As a library student, booklover, and mother of an 8 year old son, I have decided to start this blog as a way to give parents some insights into books that may appeal to their children. After all, reading a little every day should be pleasurable and half the battle to get children reading deals with savvy book selection. (The importance of parents’ roles in this cannot be overemphasized—see the 2008 Scholastic Reading Report @ http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/readingreport.htm for some sobering statistics).

This blog will be about books—children’s books. I wrote a bit more today so you will understand my perspective and purpose. I am also doing this for myself as a way of remembering the many books I read. If there is a specific book, subject, genre or author you are interested in, please ask. I will do my best to get you some usable information.

Unlike most of my journeys I am not sure where this will end, or even what route it will take, but it is my hope to make books a bit more accessible to kids in the process.