We’re all booklovers here, right?
I know that some of you moms don’t have the time to read that you wish you did, and perhaps you use this site to help you find great books for your kids, while simply adding to your never-finished To Be Read list.
At any rate, we all want our children to enjoy reading, right?
Did you know that even in children who are early book-lovers, their interest level often falls off once they begin doing more assigned reading in school? They begin to see reading as something that is required, and that changes their level of interest.
Courtesy of Mother-Talk (which is a great resource for books and products in itself), I have recently discovered a new website: Read Kiddo Read. The site is an effort spear-headed by bestselling author James Patterson, designed to put the right books into the hands of parents (who can get them into the hands of their children), to convince them that reading is indeed fun and interesting.
The books are divided by age (from birth up to 10 and up). I clicked on “great pageturners” from ages 8 and up, and saw several books that my ten-year-old daughter had recently enjoyed, including the Lightning Thief and The City of Ember. When you click on each title, you will find a detailed review. At the bottom of the page you will see further recommendations — with a list of several other book titles. In The City of Ember review, there were ten books listed. Several of them are in the series that follows that first book, which my daughter already knew she wanted to read, and one of the books listed was a book that she’s already read, but the other half are books that were new to me and her — both of us being fairly aware!
To me this is what makes this site stand out. The books listed are not only fantasy along the same lines of City of Ember, but some non-fiction books as well. If your child enjoys non-fiction, perhaps you could go the reverse route and click on some of these very popular titles and whet their appetite for that title with some of the non-fiction titles recommended here.
In addition to initial divisions by age, the books are divided by category: real-world fiction, action/adventure/mystery, fantasy and other worlds, and just the facts.
Spend some time browsing Read Kiddo Read and then visit your favorite online bookseller, or library, or store and put some of these great books in your children’s hands.
Managing Editor Jennifer Donovan is a contributing editor at 5 Minutes for Mom. She blogs at Snapshot about daily life with her tween daughter and preschool son.
I am a newly published author residing in Central New York. My children’s book, “Butternuts for Rexford” has achieved some regional success. It is a tale about a squirrel who has an odd fear of heights. The book has been evaluated and praised by many professionals for addressing issues such as: everyday fears, personal challenges, friendship and how to handle bullying. It is for ages 6-12, 48 pages, perfect bound, 5900 words.
I would like to send a copy to your organization for review and if you like the book send a couple copies for a giveaway. I submitted copies to the Syracuse Post Standard for a local giveaway and requests came in from Vt, Ma, Al, Conn, Pa and Me. Thank you for your consideration.