good reading

My sister recommended this book. It's written for older kids, and I didn't attempt to read it to S since we haven't quite gotten through Charlotte's Web or Pippi Longstocking yet. I think we tried both of those books a little too soon, because S lost interest about half-way through. We'll give it another shot in six months or so.

Anyway, this book reminds me a bit of Half Magic and The Enchanted Castle and The Moffats and all of the books in that genre which I adored when growing up. It's not a magic book, by which I mean it's a real-life book with no magic occurring in the story. But it's told in that perfect tone that I remember loving as a kid. Not a lot of sentimentality, lots of action, a loving family, and plenty of intrigue. So it's magic in a different way, I guess. A rare fine.

Speaking of reading, we're spending lots of time these days at two websites for kids. I've written them on little slips of paper that S carries all over the place because she likes to type them into the computer by herself. Onemorestory.com is a subscription site that reads books to kids. This is especially great when I'm trying to cook dinner or need to finish a project and desperately need a distraction that will entertain the kiddo for a little while. We don't have a TV, and I feel like this is more engaging for her anyway. I love how the stories are read, with music and engaging narration. The pages even retain the look of a real book. We also recently learned about starfall.com, which is a learn-to-read site. S loves playing with the various activities and "reading" the mini-books. She's got all the individual letter sounds down and is almost ready to start combining them into words, which I think may come with a little more practice.