Curses For Sale (Ravens Pass) by Steven Brezenoff is a fun, easy read for young adults and older children. For me, it was reminiscent of the Goosebump series of my childhood. Scary danger just around the corner but the main characters usually do the right thing, even if it means having to face their fears or let go of something I want. This story follows that pattern–it is one in a series of four books, I believe, though I haven’t read any of the other books yet. I definitely will. You can read them all or you can read just one, you will enjoy the experience, at least with Curses For Sale, you will! This is the story of Jace who loves cars. He gets a little red toy car from a garage sale and it takes on a life of its own. Things start to “happen” and he soon, he and his best friend decide they must know where the car came from and how it became so extraordinary. And an adventure they have… I won’t spoil the fun but rather encourage you to pick up Curses For Sale (Ravens Pass) and I will get the other three in the series and see what else happens… at Raven’s Pass. =) *I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review of this...

      Eep! by Joke van Leeuwen is really one of the best children’s books I’ve read in a long time. It started out with 3 words that just grabbed me, Warren likes birds. He is married to Tina. They seem to live a rather ordinary life, filled with repetition, doing the same old-same old, like most of us. We get into our habits, our comfortable routines. They have as well. Until one day Warren sees a new kind of baby bird, a part human bird. He brings her home and it is love at first site—they decide to keep her. She becomes their daughter in many senses and they just love her to pieces. They name her Birdy but since that isn’t easy for her to pronounce, they change it to Beedy, as she cheeps out things like a bird, rather than speaking fully. Beedy is more bird-like than she is like a human and Warren and Tina struggle to protect her and keep her safe. Tina struggles a little more than Warren and tries to force Beedy into shoes that don’t fit comfortably, both literally and figuratively. So, off Beedy flies… to explore the world, just like a bird. Along the way she meets Lottie, a lonely little girl and a well-meaning fireman–emergency responder. Warren and Tina are very sad when she leaves so they set off to find her, breaking all their normal routines, all their comfort zones. Off they go to find their little Beedy. True to her nature, Beedy flies away from everyone but she also returns, a different kind of migration. All of them end up in Getovertel — get-over-tel— a hotel of sorts where people go to get over things, to get through their issues. And then… You can read the book to find out the rest but it will be worth it. This was really an unexpected treasure of a book for me. I love love love birds and this story just resonated with me. It is written with silliness included, quirky little sketches and digressions—a book after my own heart. Birds, quirkiness and digressions. What more could you want from a children’s book? Here are some random screenshots from...

For one of my 2013 Reading Challenges, Reading Outside the Box, I chose this category: It’s my Birthday! So, have a party! Read a book that was published in either your birth month or birth year! And for my birth year, 1974, one of my favorite authors Shel Silverstein published one of his most popular books, Where the Sidewalk Ends. So, I read it. It was a fun, silly book of poems. The poems are silly and catchy. Some of my favorites are: Sick, a poem about a little girl who swears she is sick with all sorts of ailments as she is trying to get out of going to school but in the end, it is Saturday! And she recovers very quickly indeed–silly girl; Hug O’ War, Because, I absolutely love hugs!; and, Spaghetti, Because it is silly and messy fun; and Lazy Jane, This book is definitely fun and I can see why it is so very popular! I would definitely recommend Where The Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel...

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’ 109th Birthday. And each year it is celebrated all over the United States through the Read Across America program. March 1, 2013 is NEA’s Read Across America Day. Straight from the National Education Association website, here is more about the Read Across America program, What is NEA’s Read Across America? NEA’s Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss. NEA’s Read Across America also provides NEA members, parents, caregivers, and children the resources and activities they need to keep reading on the calendar 365 days a year. In cities and towns across the nation, teachers, teenagers, librarians, politicians, actors, athletes, parents, grandparents, and others develop NEA’s Read Across America activities to bring reading excitement to children of all ages. Governors, mayors, and other elected officials recognize the role reading plays in their communities with proclamations and floor statements. Athletes and actors issue reading challenges to young readers. And teachers and principals seem to be more than happy to dye their hair green or be duct-taped to a wall if it boosts their students’ reading. How and when did NEA’s Read Across America begin? In May 1997, a small reading task force at NEA came up with a big idea. “Let’s create a day to celebrate reading,” the group decided. “We hold pep rallies to get kids excited about football. We assemble to remember that Character Counts. Why don’t we do something to get kids excited about reading? We’ll call it ‘NEA’s Read Across America’ and we’ll celebrate it on Dr. Seuss’s birthday.” And so was born on March 2, 1998, the largest celebration of reading this country has ever seen. Why NEA’s Read Across America? Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school. Who sponsors NEA’s Read Across America? At the national level, the National Education Association sponsors and spearheads the program with support from 40 national nonprofit and association partners. Locally, everyone—from schools...

March is full of reading fun! =) YIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE! March is National Reading Awareness Month, also known as National Reading Month. You are encouraged to read aloud to your children, friends, family, spouses, co-workers, whoever will listen, for at least 15 minutes per day every day this month. How hard can it be, really? This will hopefully become a habit you wish to continue. I encourage everyone to get involved. Click on the picture below for more details on Read Aloud’s 15 MINUTE Movement: March also happens to have a few other reading holidays–Dr. Seuss’ 109th birthday is March 2nd; the National Education Association’s Read Across America event kicks on the 1st of March; World Book Day is March 7th as well as World Read Aloud Day and last but not least, March 25th is Tolkien Reading Day.  So! Start early and begin to find out what everyone around you wants to read and see if those books are at the local library. Maybe check out two copies and commit to reading with them. You can take turns reading aloud. It is fun to read with people out loud, even grown ups with other grown ups. I do it all the time. I think a part of us will always love to be read...

What do you have planned? Will you take the reader’s oath with me? Reader’s Oath Written by Debra Angstead, Missouri-NEA I promise to read Each day and each night. I know it’s the key To growing up right. I’ll read to myself, I’ll read to a crowd. It makes no difference If silent or loud. I’ll read at my desk, At home and at school, On my bean bag or bed, By the fire or pool. Each book that I read Puts smarts in my head, ‘Cause brains grow more thoughts The more they are fed. So I take this oath To make reading my way Of feeding my brain What it needs every day.   Shall we read it aloud? I will, if you will! We can post our oaths...