For Fathers' Day

Good morning, friends! This morning I have some Fathers' Day (it's coming faster than you think!) recommendations for you. I think the perfect kind of Fathers' Day gift is something he can make or do (or read!) with his children. These are two of my favorite books in our home library and so apropos for the holiday.

Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle

I'll let Mr. Carle tell you in his own words why this beautifully illustrated picture book is so perfect for Dad's Day:

"Dear Friends, In most fish families, after the mother has laid the eggs and the father has fertilized them, the eggs are left on their own. But there are exceptions such as the seahorse, stickleback, tilapia, Kurtus nurseryfish, pipefish, bullhead catfish, and some others. Not only are the eggs cared for by a parent but--surprise--that parent is the father. And this is my story about them. I hope you enjoy my story."

It is presh beyond belief and a must have!

More here:

The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden

I mentioned this book in last year's Fathers' Day post. This is essentially the all-time classic handbook for fun. Complete with instructions on making paper airplanes, recognizing constellations, building treehouses, and on and on! Bye-bye video games, hello adventures with Dad!

More here:



And speaking of dads, have you seen this one on the (national!) news yet? AWESOME.

Happy Weekend!
--anne

Touch the Art books

My favorite subject to teach my second graders was art. (Hands down!) And I don't mean crafts. Don't get me wrong, crafts have their place, but I am talking about art education. We would study the life and style of Henri Matisse, for example, and then create a torn paper collage after the manner of his work. My kids knew their stuff and they loooooved it.

When we were gifted with the Touch the Art series (by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo) I thought I'd died and gone to art heaven. These board books are genius for toddlers and preschoolers. Each book focuses on a particular era/style of art (impressionism, for example). On every page you find a famous work of art, with a snappy little rhyme and something textural to play with (like you really get to make Van Gogh's bed with a little piece of soft red fabric!). So they're as entertaining as any board book, but your children are learning to love art history at the same time. (Bring it on, Humanities 101!)

I love them. My children adore them. And I am crazy about the fact that they love Starry Night as much as I do.

--anne

Learn more and check out the whole series:

For Your Library

There aren't many things we recommend for purchase here at Bloom, but today I'm going to recommend that you purchase Liz Garton Scanlon's book All The World because it is beautiful and I think you will love it.

The illustrations are sweeping and captivating. The words are simple and deep. When I read it, I want to live bigger and brighter, and scale back to more meaningful simplicity.

My kids get wide-eyed with the emotion of the full-spread illustrations.

Although there aren't any named characters and the text isn't a plot as much as it is a poem, I appreciate a book like this that can capture my children's attention and give them some context for more abstract concepts like love, nature, stillness, togetherness, beauty, and the interwoven-ness of humanity.

Colorful Chameleons

Henry has been a bit of a reluctant reader. I've tried go get creative thinking of ways to make reading more engaging and fun for him. One thing we've loved is doing art projects to go along with the books we read. A few weeks ago, Henry had a chameleon fascination; he was curious about how they change color, where they live, what they look like. So over Spring break we read Leo Lionni's "A Color of His Own" about a little chameleon who is trying to make peace with his changeable appearance. We loved it. (Of course we did. Have we ever met a Lionni book we didn't love?)

We also loved doing a little painting project after we read the story.


I traced the outline of a chameleon and made several copies.

We pulled out the finger paint. (Water colors would have been sensational, but the kids insisted on finger paint; it was fun to have a tactile experience, but the fingerpaint mess is formidable!)

And the kids had so much fun painting all kinds of colorful chameleons.

Next up, I think we'll do a torn paper series of Season pictures in the style of Lionni's "A Busy Year." So many fun ways to mingle art & children's literature.

xo,
Em

Friday Forum: How to Raise Boys Who Read

Good morning/afternoon, friends! Sorry for the delay in posting today's Friday Forum - we had a little confusion amongst the Bloom Staff this morning :) But we're really interested in today's topic and hope you'll weigh in.

A few months ago we came across this article about boys and literature. It got our wheels turning and we really want to talk about it.

Here are a few excerpts to help you understand the premise:

Author Thomas Spence points out that boys are increasingly more unfit for the classroom - especially when it comes to reading. Boys consistently score lower than their female counterparts on reading proficiency assessments - and the discrepancy is found in every socio-economic and ethnic segment of the population.

In order to get boys to read, publishing houses have started to "meet the boys where they are" catering to their fascinations with bodily humor offering titles like Captain Underpants and Sir Fartsalot Hunts The Booger.

Some say that at least this kind of literature "gets the kids reading." But I love what the author points out:

One obvious problem with the "SweetFarts" philosophy of education is that it is more suited to producing a generation of barbarians and morons than to raising the sort of men who make good husbands, fathers and professionals. If you keep meeting a boy where he is, he doesn't go very far.

He continues with the observation that the appearance of the boy/girl literacy gap happened to coincide with the surge of video games and recreational internet, noting that boys spend more time "plugged in" than girls do and suggesting that this increased screen time causes their academics to suffer.

He ends with this fascinating conclusion:

I offer a final piece of evidence that is perhaps unanswerable: There is no literacy gap between home-schooled boys and girls. How many of these families, do you suppose, have thrown grossology parties?

What do you think about all this? Grossology as a literature genre? Screen time interfering with academics? (How could it not?? Kids get used to hyper-sensation, technicolor graphics and psychedelic sound effects; even the most gripping of chapter books would pale in comparison to that level of stimulation.) How have you been successful in encouraging your sons to read?

You really should take a minute to read the whole article - it's excellent.

xo,

em and anne

Making Today Meaningful

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! I know sometimes we're just grateful to have a day off to spend with our children, and we go along our merry way without even remembering why we can sleep in and enjoy a play day. I think it's so important to pay tribute to why today is an American holiday by teaching our children and reminding ourselves about the impact Martin Luther King, Jr. made on all of us.

A few simple suggestions on how to make today more meaningful for you and your children:

You can find some fun holiday activities--printable coloring pages and puzzles, art ideas, games, etc.-- here and here.

For your kids, here are some of our favorite Martin Luther King Day reads.

And for you, reading this is a must. I try to read it every year and it moves me every time.

Enjoy your holiday!

-anne and em

Something to Read

My sister has five children. Christmas with five children can get crazy real fast, so she uses this little rhyme to guide her gift giving:

Something to wear, something to read, something you want, and something you need

I think it's brilliant in its practicality, and especially love the something to read bit. I love love love children's literature, and am always on a mission to tell people about the best books. There are too many amazing books out there to let our home libraries fill up with riff raff.

As you're thinking about placing something to read under the tree for each of your children this year, I thought it would be fun to suggest a few of my favorite must haves.


Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester. Oh Wodney, we love you so! This little rat with a speech impediment is precious and heroic. And the story is so clever that we read it over and over in each sitting. Blaine could hardly go to sleep the other night as he lay in bed giggling about the cleverness of the book, which we had read that afternoon!


Eloise by Kay Thompson. Is this a classic in your household yet? If not, it needs to be! Six-year-old Eloise, who lives at the Plaza, is without a doubt one of the greatest characters ever written!


Owen by Kevin Henkes. You absolutely cannot go wrong with Kevin Henkes. This story about little Owen's love for his fuzzy blanky is sweet as honey.


A Child's Day by Ida Pearle. This alphabet book is breathtaking. Ida Pearle's collage illustrations will wow you and I especially love that she uses verbs rather than nouns to illustrate the ABCs. Gorgeous and enjoyable for all ages.


The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Such a fabulous (Newberry winning!) novel. Lots of adventure and endearing characters.


Rules by Cynthia Lord. This is one of my favorite children's novels. About a sister dealing with her brother's autism, it tackles a tough and important subject, but in a way that is still fairly light and humorous.


Holes by Louis Sachar. Such a fabulous novel! The way Sachar weaves this story together is masterful. Maybe you and your kids have seen the movie, but--as is typical--the book is sooo much better!


Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. A great story of a girl who dares to be different and the way she impacts the lives of others. Love love love this book!


The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. A lot of people ask me how to get their uninterested sons to read. It's all about finding a genre or series that they love. Often non-fiction is a good fit, and for fiction, try fantasy or adventure stories like Percy Jackson, the Chronicles of Narnia, or Harry Potter.

This is just a small (SMALL!) list of some of my favorite suggestions. What books are you gifting this year?
xo,
anne

****P.S. Don't forget about our Christmas show-n-tell this coming Friday! Please send us pics of your halls all decked for the holidays to aplacetobloomATgmailDOTcom.****

For your Christmas Story Collection...

Happy December first! There are so many magical things this time of year. We're getting out twinkle lights, turning on merry tunes, telling our children how many sleeps until Santa comes... It's all so much fun.

One of the family traditions we treasure most is sharing Christmas stories with our children. We think it's imperative that we amass a great collection of books to read with our families year after year. After all, what is more cozy and perfect than snuggling up with your littles around the Christmas tree or fireplace and reading together?

So today we're sharing a list of some of our absolute favorites--titles we adore (plus some titles that are on our wish lists!) and know you would love for your collection.

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
"Duh!" you're thinking. We know. But it's such a classic, it must be mentioned!


How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
Again, a total classic. A must-have for everyone's Christmas library.


The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
Ohhh...such a tender story of a broken, sad man and the woman and boy that made him smile again. We loooove this one!


The Friendly Beasts by Tomie dePaola
This is a classic, traditional song (do you know it? it's wonderful!) that you can find retold by several different authors. It's such a delight to sing along!


This is the Season: Beloved of the Year illustrated by Simon Dewey
In all the Santa whirlwind, we look for every way possible to emphasize the birth of Jesus Christ this time of year. This gorgeous book helps.


Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
A darling vintage classic!


Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
Such a cute explanation for why our snowmen look droopy the next morning! You will love!


The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia Scarry
A scratch and sniff classic that our kids adore as much as we did when we were young! So perfect for young children!


The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
A classic tale illustrated by many different artists. This particular illustrator is Lisbeth Zwerger. This is such a tender story--a classic in our families.


The Twelve Days of Christmas by Robert Sabuda
Robert Sabuda amazes with his pop-ups yet again!


Christmas Around the World by Chuck Fischer
Speaking of pop up books, here is the latest on our wish list. It has great reviews and we can't wait to get our hands on it!


And speaking of Christmas around the world, the following two stories are told by Tomie dePaola (how much do we love him?!). It's so wonderful (and important!) to teach our children about different Christmas traditions around the world and these are two of our favorite aids...

The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola


The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola


The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
A short (and HILARIOUS!) novel for the grade school set. Read it aloud as a family. You will love it!

And you, dear friends. What would you add to the list?

Teach Your Child to Read--Beginning Reader Books

Today I am finishing up my series on teaching your child to read. If you are just tuning in, you can catch the first three posts here, here, and here. (And, get excited, because there is still a post coming entitled 'Everything your child should know before he enters Kindergarten,' with tips from a real life Kindergarten teacher!)

I've had a few friends ask for suggestions on the best books to use with beginning readers. I'll share my favorite two resources today, but feel free to chime in with any of yours.

1. Starfall. I already mentioned Starfall as a great website for kids to learn reading skills. I know a lot of you have started using Starfall for the learning games and are loving it. But have you started printing our their free books yet? They are all here, in order from easiest to hardest. I just print them out, cut, and staple the pages together, making a card stock cover. Awesome. (And free.)

2. Bob Books. All gajillion (I've seriously lost count) of my nieces and nephews have read and loved these. There are several different box sets available, again, beginning with the easiest and advancing from there. Blaine can't wait to get his first box. I've heard sometimes you can score them at Costco. For now, I think I'm going to go with Amazon. Check them out here.

Teach Your Child to Read--Informal Lesson Ideas

This summer I've been sharing a series of posts about teaching your children how to read. You can see the first two posts here and here.

Today's post isn't rocket science, but it's a reminder of the various media we can use to work on reading and writing skills with our children in a very informal way.

We supplement our more formal lessons with:

Magnetic Letters
If you don't have a set or two of these, run on out to the dollar store to buy some. They provide endless fun and learning. Blaine and I like to sit on the floor by the fridge and Blaine dictates what he wants me to spell. I make words and he sounds them out. My favorite is when he puts 14 letters up together and asks, 'What does that spell?' And then I attempt to sound out his ridiculous nonsense word.

Pencil/Chalk/Marker to Paper/Chalkboard/Whiteboard
We just picked up a whiteboard at a yard sale and couldn't be more happy about the fun and engaged learning it's providing. We pulled it out yesterday morning and practiced letters and reading for at least an hour. I like to write letters one at a time and ask the boys to shout out what it is as fast as they can. We also work a lot on 'chunking.' For example, yesterday's chunk was 'et' so we read 'bet, let, met, get, jet,' and so on. What I love most about activities like this is that the toddler in the room can play along and scribble to his heart's content. Now my next wish is to take chalkboard paint to a wall in the playroom. (Have any of you out there done that? I'm dying to!)

Getting even more tactile...
Some children (like my Blaine) have the cognitive skills but lack the early dexterity to make letters with a pencil, which can be very frustrating to them. If your child has a hard time holding a writing implement, try something different, like molding letters out of play dough, letting them finger paint the letters, or--if you can handle the mess--spreading whipped cream or shaving cream on a surface and allowing them to write letters in it with their fingers.

Obviously there are a ton of fun ways to fit informal reading instruction in a day. Be sure to mix it up and make it fun!

--anne

Teach Your Child to Read--Hooked on Phonics

Like I said, the only thing we don't love about Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is that it's mostly black and white-- a little bit text-bookish. If you have a child who wants more bells and whistles, let me suggest:

Hooked on Phonics

I have several friends who have used Hooked on Phonics in their homeschooling, and they have raved about it. Here's what's great about it--it's a solid program (with a great reputation). A strong phonemic understanding is so critical to becoming a confident reader. And it's colorful and fun. For example, the pre-K kit comes with a storybook, flashcards, interactive CDs, progress posters with stickers, and so on.

If this seems more your style, check it out here:

Teach Your Child To Read--100 Easy Lessons

I am constantly in conversations with other moms about reading. When to teach our children to read, how to teach our children to read, etc... Over the next few weeks, I'll post about several ideas and resources that can help you teach your children to read. You can decide upon the right combination of methods for your individual child.

As far as when to teach your child to read, it really depends on the child. Personally, I wouldn't push a young child. Let their interest guide. But when you've got a child constantly asking "does 'car' start with a 'c' or a 'k?'" or attempting to sound out words in their story books, jump on the opportunity to begin teaching them slightly more formally.

Today's method:

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, and Elaine Bruner

My sister swears by this book. She has taught three children to read with it, and they have each become highly successful readers. Basically, the book contains one hundred 15-20 minute lessons, complete with all the prompts you need for helping your child through the exercises.

What I love most about the book: The lessons are all there for me. All I have to do is sit down with Blaine, go through the prescribed activities, and we're done. Zero prep.

The only drawback I've found: The lessons are written in black, white, and red. Some days Blaine wants something a little more exciting or stimulating. So, on those days, we do something different.

Overall, I love to recommend this book to people. Blaine enjoys it, it's easy for me to use, and--most importantly--it works!

Summer Reading

As a second grade teacher, I didn't issue much homework. (I don't believe in much homework for the younger grades.) But every night, without fail, my students were to read for at least twenty minutes. I'm sure any of you with children in school are quite familiar with the routine! But then summer comes, and between pool parties and popsicles and family camping trips, it can be really easy to let that good habit slip. And what a shame for summer to become a time of plateau (or worse!). Today I have a few simple ideas to make summer reading fun and memorable. (And don't click away just yet if your children are tiny. These apply at all stages of literacy.)

1. TIME--Make sure reading happens every single day. Set a specific time if that helps.

2. TO, WITH, and BY-- In all of my literacy education, the real buzz phrase was Balanced Literacy. One aspect of that means that there should be reading to, with, and by. In other words, every day you should read aloud to your child (even with older children--choose some fun family chapter books), aloud with your child (this is called shared reading, and is most important for emerging readers), and your child should also read by himself. (Even if you don't have an independent reader yet, try to help your young child learn how fun it can be to sit alone with a book and tell himself the story using the pictures.)3. CHART PROGRESS--Obviously there are a zillion ways to do this. A sticker chart, a paper chain, a simple list, etc. My favorite way is to make a looooong caterpillar. Each book gets written on a circle, and up it goes on the wall. For Blaine's we're using dark green circles for the books I read to him, and light green circles for the books he reads to me. So fun!

4. USE YOUR RESOURCES--Most local libraries have a summer reading program. Sign your kids up! There are usually special activities, prizes, etc. Plus, a trip to the library can really break up a long, hot summer day!

5. CELEBRATE--I'm really big on internal incentives. In other words, the ultimate goal is for our children to love reading and to feel good about themselves as their reading skills improve. But I also understand that little rewards go a long way. Help your children set a goal for their summer reading. Depending on the child, it might be to read a certain number of books or pages, or maybe to advance reading levels or improve comprehension. Celebrate with a family party or special meal out.

As with everything, your excitement will set the tone. The more you love to read and learn, the more your children will.

More summer reading ideas? Pray, tell!

-anne

Mother Goose

One of the reasons I'm so passionate about spreading the word on good children's books, is that there is a lot of junk out there. Sometimes, as a parent, it feel difficult to sift through all the poorly-written, weakly illustrated books, to find the true gems.

Lately I'm on a kick to promote the true children's classics. You know, like Babar and Tom Sawyer. And what is the most basic of all classic children's lit? Nursery Rhymes.

Besides being fun to read and (for me, at least) a sweet trip back to childhood, Mother Goose's best have a lot to offer our young children.

For instance:

*When hearing/reading nursery rhymes (and poetry in general), children learn rhyme, meter and intonation naturally.

*A lot of repetition is important for an emerging reader. Hearing a rhyme or story so often that a child memorizes it is an important step in the learning-to-read process.

*They are full of imaginative and unique characters and stories.

*Find a collection that has great illustrations, and you can add that to the list of benefits. My favorite is pictured above--Mary Engelbreit's Mother Goose: One Hundred Best-Loved Verses. Her illustrations are absolutely charming.

Blaine and I love to cozy up on the couch together and, when I am willing, he loves to listen to all one hundred. It makes me smile to think that these sweet little rhymes connect my childhood to his.

Holiday Reading!

Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! There are so many wonderful children's books about him, and I want to share a few of my favorites with you now so you can find them over the weekend at your favorite shop or library.A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. by David A. Adler
This comes from an excellent series of children's picture books about historical figures. Adler does a wonderful job of telling the true stories of Dr. King's life in a way that is exciting to a young, school-aged child. This is a great one to read aloud to any age and could be read independently by about 3rd grade.



Martin Luther King, Jr. (DK Biography) by Amy Pastan and Primo Levi
This is a chapter book--great for those upper elementary grades. DK (Dorling Kindersley) is a fabulous publisher. As a general rule, when I see the DK in the top left corner, I know I can trust the book. I have this book myself, and it is excellent, so you can trust both DK and me. ;)

And finally, my absolute favorite--Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, illlustrated by Bryan Collier. The illustrations are brilliant, the text ingenious. If you were going to own just one children's book about Dr. King, this--in my humble opinion--should be the one! (More details on the book and whey I'm in love with it here.)

Happy Holiday! Make it meaningful!

To add to your reading nook

When working with our emergent readers, what's the most common strategy we offer them?

'Sound it out!'

Though that is sometimes a helpful strategy, we have to give out children better tools than that! The English language is such that 'sound it out' just doesn't make sense a lot of the time.

At the beginning of the 2nd grade year, I taught the children a new reading strategy each day and then we posted them all in the classroom for a reference. After Reading Workshop time, the students shared examples of how they used their reading strategies to solve problems in their reading that day. It amazed me how well these strategies worked, how well the children understood and applied them in their reading, and how they made the students feel empowered.
Today I get to share a few of those strategies with you. And. AND! Our dear designer, Emily Yates, has designed some snappy new posters for you to print, color (if you desire), and hang in your reading area. How happy is that?! (Thanks, Emily!)

So HERE is your free, printable pdf.

And here are the reading strategies, with a few explanations:

1. Say the beginning sound and read the rest of the sentence

Most of the time they will get the challenging word immediately based on the context of the rest of the sentence.

2.Look and listen for letter patterns

It's all about 'chunking.' Some examples: ick, at, ight--you get the idea. When an emergent reader can recognize a chuck like that, they can read any word with that chunk. No need to sound out light, night, fight, and might individually. Just teach the pattern.

3. Look for key words or picture clues

I think this is the most used strategy! The pictures! Use the pictures!

4. Does it sound right?

5. Does it make sense?

6. Skip it and go on

7. Backtrack--read it again

8. Look for little words in big words

Example: 'winter' has the word 'in' inside it. Little tricks like that make a big difference.

These are obviously not all revolutionary ideas--but using the posters really helps children identify the strategies they are using. I hope they can be of help to you!

-Anne

*** Swetbeets winner below! ***

Why read with your children? (Plus a giveaway!)

I love September. Even though it has been 3 years since I left my 2nd grade classroom, I still get all tingly inside at the thought of freshly sharpened pencils and new glue sticks. Back to school time is such an exciting time of year, and a great time to get back into good routines. No matter what age your children are, one of the most important habits you can form as a family is to read together every day.

Obviously there are myriads of reasons we should read with our children. Today I give you my
top 13 reasons.

Why read with your babe?
(1) Even an infant who can barely sit up can develop an interest in books. It is never too early to get them loving literature!

(2) Reading to your baby can help them improve their attention span from an early age. If you have read to your child since he was a baby, chances are, by the time he is a toddler he will be able to sit on your lap and hear stories for hours on end. He'll also do great at your local library's story time. (Note: I know all children are different and some have naturally better 'sitting still' skills than others! But I think we can often improve that if we start early enough.)

Why read with your toddler or preschooler?
(3) They are sponges! They are so capable of learning and understanding and memorizing and recalling. This is such a critical time to teach children to realize how much books teach and the magical worlds that books open.

(4) Experiencing reading with their parents gives toddlers and preschoolers an understanding of the basic reading skills like which way to hold and open a book, reading left to right, top to bottom, etc. You would be surprised how many kindergarten students are handed a book in an assessment and don't have a grasp on these basic concepts.

(5) Even a 2-year-old can begin to master letter and word recognition. Obviously this is one of the critical beginning steps in learning to read. It's a basic principle of exposure. The more they see it, the more they recognize and understand.

(6)The more stories they hear, the more their imagination is fueled. One of the most rewarding things in my life is hearing my 3-year-old acting out a story we have recently read together.

Why read with your elementary-school-aged child?
(7,8) As you read with your children after school they see that it is important to you and you reinforce the skills being taught in school.

(9) In addition to listening to your child read, you should read to him. This way you are modeling correct pronunciation, pace, expression, etc.

(10) Listening to your children read helps you assess where they are and what they need practice with. No matter how much a teacher works with your child at school, your help is a must!

(11) The most fun benefit--reading together is great for family bonding!!

Why read with your tween or teen?

I know what you're thinking. "Seriously? I'm supposed to read aloud with my teenager?" Yes! Obviously you know your child and whether this would work or not, but I think you might be surprised. Here are some reasons I think you should try:

(12) Again, bonding. When I was going through some awkward and difficult times in my early teens, my mother would come snuggle up to be before bed and we would read together.
This brought me comfort and solidified my relationship with my mother in a time when I wasn't sure who I was or who my friends were.

(13) YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE MARKETING AS JUVENILE LIT!! Even in all bold caps I cannot state this with enough passion! Let me be frank. There are some extremely powerful people in the literary world who are trying to push boundaries on what is appropriate reading material for your teens. A couple of years ago there was a book that won a very distinguished award, and was being sold in the children's section of major bookstores, that contained extremely vulgar language and graphic sexual images. You need to know what your children are reading! Read with them!

A couple of days ago, after a whole summer of traveling, hosting family company, and throwing any sort of routine to the wind, I sat down with my 3-year-old, Blaine, and asked him to choose some books to read. A horrifying thought struck me. "I can't remember the last day that Blaine and I read together." I knew it was time for a fresh start. I hope you will plan a time each day to read with your children. I know your days are full and busy, just like mine, but reading is about as important as it gets. And it's so enjoyable! Revel in the magic together.
--Anne

And now...one of you lucky readers can get a little boost to your children's library. Leave a comment for a chance to win a package of 5 classic hardback picture books. Let us know if you put our button on your blog, and we'll give you a second entry in the giveaway!