Hello!!
And welcome to my corner of the world wide internet! This blog has been born out of my frustrations as a mom of an early reader. All too soon we'd progressed past the safe world of Syd Hoff and the many board books with their sweet rhyming stories, and I found myself desperately reading children's book after children's book looking for anything that might be subject matter appropriate for my almost 4 year old, but still have a reading level that would challenge her. I quickly discovered that asking friends led to uncomfortable silences, or the occasional hurt feeling as someone thought I was bragging or insinuating my child was more intelligent than hers. Unfortunately, teachers weren't much better -- usually referring us over and over to "Magic Treehouse" or "Junie B Jones." Over the past two years since that time, I've read an ABUNDANCE of children's books. I am now intimately acquainted with "Flat Stanley," the American Girls and I are old buddies, and Jack and Annie are my best friends. As my daughter continues to out pace her learning curve, and I find myself continuing to come up empty on suggestions for good books I thought it was about time someone start putting together an easy list of children's books for those of us desperate to find them.
As far as qualifications go, I am a high school English teacher for the gifted and talented. I have a degree in English Literature, as well as one in History, and have been certified to teach Advanced Placement courses. All of that isn't really important, though. What IS important is that I've been "pre-reading" books for a precocious child for several years already. I've learned through doing -- and I'm hoping my lessons will be helpful to you. Remember, though, these are merely MY opinions. Books are like candy - no two people will ever have the same favorites. To help out, I'll try to give a brief synopsis of sorts, followed by my assessment of the book. If you're not looking for the same things in books as I am, feel free to use the synopsis as a starting point to decide which books you'd like to pre-read for your child. I'll be posting about books as I get a free moment, so check back often. You may occasionally find me posting multiple books at a time -- or I may go a few days without posting any. If you happen to be a publisher who would like to send me books to review, feel free to email me and I'd love to help out!
