let's talk books

For Christmas Grace asked for new books - a lot of books.  That's one request I'm happy to oblige.  I was so happy to find Grace engrossed in her new book on Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house (Junie B's Essential Survival Guide to School - not my first choice, but reading none-the-less.)

I love to read.  I want my kids to love reading, too.  Grace is an on the go kind of girl.  Where's the next party?  Who can I play with?  She literally spends much time jumping up and down and dancing through the house.  Reading before bed is our routine and she loves when I will read to her, but I want her to love and be into reading so much that she would choose to do so on her own.  Maybe she would even skip playing to curl up with a good book.  Ahhh... a mom can dream.

Anyways, the point of this post was to talk about books.  Grace's favorite books so far have been the Ivy and Bean series and the Judy Moody series.  Neither of them have enough books to keep us going for very long, though.  Recently Grace discovered the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (I promptly sat down and read the first one to make sure that I approved.)  Jerry laughs at me sitting around reading kids books, but I want to know what she's reading and what I'm up against ;)

My quest has been to find a Christian book series that Grace would love.  I've spent a LOT of time on Christianbook researching children's books and finding a girly type of series that would be a good fit for my eight year old.  The Lily Series was one of my findings that I bought her for Christmas.  It's great except that it's a little hard for her to read on her own.  The other thing I like about this series, are the companion books that go along with the stories, such as The Beauty Book.  There's another book about the body, one about friendship, etc.  (These books are available at our public library - this is a plus, too.)

Another series I found, that I'm planning to buy (not available at the library, that I can find) is the Rachel Yoder Series.  It looks like a really cute series about a little Amish girl.  Here's what it says on Christianbook: "Nine-year-old Rachel Yoder is a delightfully high-spirited Amish girl who finds plenty of trouble amid the rolling hills of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When she's not getting locked in a root cellar, bringing frogs to church, or taking wild buggy rides, she's setting fireflies free and trying out new skateboards in all the wrong places."  I love it.  Well... I think I'll love them!

So, this goes along with my last post of "Raising G-Rated Kids".  And I was also thinking that there might be one or two peeps out there who would benefit from my findings.  What about you?  Any thoughts or ideas on this subject?  It takes a village, you know!

Next time, let's talk about music!!