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Kids’ Picks, January 10

Jennifer — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:00:44 +0000

My 7-year-old is detoxing from his computer/Wii binging that I allowed during our Christmas break from school. Yes, he read (mostly Calvin and Hobbes), but I’ve weaned him off unlimited electronics time, and I’m back to encouraging “real” books for him that meet his school reading requirement, and I’m gently nudging my 13-year-old to choose reading over all those other things vying for her attention.

I love sharing what they are reading in my Kids’ Picks posts over at my personal blog Snapshot, and I’ll hope that you’ll join us in 2012 as well. On the second Tuesday of each month, we share what our kids are enjoying. These are books that they’d recommend. Books they couldn’t put down. It’s not necessary something on your homeschool curriculum or something that they had to read in school (although it’s very cool when then “have to” books intersect with the “want to” books).

By the way, that’s sort of what the Cybils go for — literary merit and kid appeal — so if you haven’t checked out the finalists, it’s a good place to start if you are looking for recommendations for your kids.

Please link directly to your blog post, and include your children’s ages for ease in visiting.

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Kids’ Picks, December 13

Jennifer — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:00:03 +0000

It’s that time again. Perhaps the suggestions of books that your kids have enjoyed reading will fall on the right ears — people looking for holiday gifts for their own children or nieces and nephews or grandkids. I know that books are definitely going under my tree!

I linked up my own post below, and I definitely have some surprises in this month’s post. Amanda is reading something that was a big stretch for her, and Kyle — well, I actually had to ground him from his favorite books.

What about you? What book has your child loved this month? What book would they tell their friends about — if talking about lovely books is still cool, which unfortunately now that Amanda is in 8th grade, it’s not something she talks about with her friends. She has a few bookish ones, and I love them for that.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Please link directly to your blog post, and include your children’s ages for ease in visiting:

Kids’ Picks – November 8

Jennifer — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:00:39 +0000

While I’ve been enjoying my work as a Round I panelist in the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction category, my kids haven’t been reading along with me as much as I had hoped. Most of the titles are too old for 2nd grader Kyle, and my 8th grader Amanda, while interested in some of the titles at the upper end of the 8 – 12 age range of the category, doesn’t have too much free time for reading.

However, they have been reading, and I’m glad to share over at my blog, and I always love reading what your kids are reading.

Please link up or share in the comments. Recommendations from kids are the best.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Please link directly to your blog post, and include your children’s ages for ease in visiting:

Kids’ Picks — October 11

Jennifer — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:00:35 +0000

It’s time to share what books your kids are picking. I think that we can all attest to some of the gems we’ve found in this monthly feature, so please share freely about books that your kids have read and enjoyed this month.

Write a blog post and link it up. If you don’t have a blog, join in within the comment section below. Then take some time and visit around.

We’re here the 2nd Tuesday of each month (barring administrative error which isn’t unheard of, ahem). You can also join in What’s on Your Nightstand the 4th Tuesday of each month.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Please link directly to your blog post, and include your children’s ages for ease in visiting:

Kids’ Picks, September 13

Jennifer — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:00:49 +0000

With school back in session, my middle-school daughter’s reading has slacked off a bit, but my son has been inspired by his 2nd grade teachers, and a more regular schedule (i.e. not so much time vegging at home with the TV and computer), his brain has kicked into gear.

I can’t wait to share what they’ve enjoyed, and I’d really like to hear — as always — what your own children are recommending. Please write up a post on your own blog and link up. For non-bloggers, please participate by visiting around and leaving a comment below.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Please link directly to your blog post, and include your children’s ages for ease in visiting:

Kids’ Picks, August 9

Jennifer — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 04:00:28 +0000

I am so happy to report that my kids’ reading has been pretty consistent this summer. For Kyle (age 7), he finally reached the point where he actually wanted to read. When we were at the library last week, he was so happy to find nine Geronimo Stilton books, 6 of which he hadn’t read, when in other visits he was bummed because there were none. His assessment of why there were so many books on the shelf?

Some kids just don’t know the magnificence of reading.

Dramatic much?

Yes, the colorfully typed and cheesy adventurous mouse has definitely been his go-to series for the summer. I told him that with the summer reading program winding down at our library, people probably just aren’t visiting as much. But whatever the reason, he stocked up, and knowing that means he’s more likely to pick up a book (instead of reveling in screen time, which his actions would reveal is even more “magnificent” than reading) makes me very very happy.

What about you? Have your kids discovered a new series or author this summer that has them happily sticking their nose in a book? Maybe they’ve experimented with audiobooks or ereaders. We want to hear about it! We invite bloggers to link up your posts on the 2nd Tuesday of each month and tell us what your kids have been reading. Non-bloggers can let us know what your kids recommend in the comment section, and we invite everyone to visit around. These posts are always full of great ideas!

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Please link directly to your blog post, and include your children’s ages for ease in visiting:

Kids’ Picks (Better late than never)

Jennifer — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:00:32 +0000

It’s summer. Summer — as in a chance to sleep in late(ish) every once in a while, the opportunity to have days here and there with no schedule or appointments. Unfortunately summer seeped into my brain, and I completely forgot about Kids’ Picks! I remembered on Thursday afternoon, and we decided that we’d just post it a week late. I’m so sorry if you were more on the ball than I was, or if you were waiting and wondering.

So — here it is! If you published something on your site last week, go ahead and link it up. If you were just wondering what was going on, it’s not too late to write one up now. We really want to know what your kids have enjoyed during their summer reading.

If you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave a comment telling us what your children have enjoyed.

Next week is our What’s on Your Nightstand carnival (the 4th Tuesday of each month), and I promise that Kids’ Picks will be back on August 9th, and the 2nd Tuesday of each month.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Link directly to your blog post, and include your children’s ages for ease in visiting:

Kids’ Picks or Cybils Reviews – June

Jennifer — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:00:07 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I am thrilled with the return of Kids’ Picks! You can also continue to link any Cybils reviews that are also supposed to be books high on literary merit and kid-appeal.

We are already a couple of weeks into summer here in Houston (summer vacation that is — summer itself is practically year round). I’ve done well at promoting summer reading, and have shared Amanda’s and Kyle’s picks over at my blog (see below). I’d love for you to leave some comments over there for Kyle, who is a high-level yet low to medium-high interest reader (depending on the hour).

This is a great time for you to share some books your kids love to help us all out. Perhaps you’d like to craft it more like a “Nightstand” post and have your kids share some books they’d like to read this summer. That always works too.

To make it easier to surf around, please include your children’s ages when you link up.

Non-bloggers we want to hear from you too! Tell us in the comments what books your kids are picking.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.