It’s back-to-school time.  Get your kids ready to face the challenges of a new school year with these back-to-school read aloud books. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes.  A mouse named Chrysanthemum loves her name until she is teased about it on her first day of kindergarten.  A great conversation starter about names and the value [...]

    In his Sunday New York Times column on July 4th, Nicholas D. Kristof presented his list of the best kids books, including the following. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Freddy the Pig (series) by Walter R. Brooks Alex Rider (series) by Anthony [...]

There has been a lot of “bucket” talk in our house of late.  Most of it is me, yelling: “Leave her bucket alone!” or “Get away from his bucket!” or “Worry about your own bucket!” I am sure author Tom Rath did not write How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids to give me something else [...]

    Earlier this week, my daughter and I embarked on a trip around the world (and back in time) with Jack and his sister Annie from Mary Pope Osborne’s book series The Magic Tree House.  This is one of the best book series for kids who are just starting to read chapter books. In The [...]

    The 60th annual Christopher Awards were presented on April 16th as a salute to media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.”  The following books won this year’s Christopher Awards in the “Books for Young People” category. Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers (Young Adult)  Story of 18 year old who [...]