About Childrens Book Club

The Story of How Best-Kids-Books.com Came To Be
*AKA: "teaching children to love reading.*

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved to read. Where she lived, there were many difficult and scary things to face as she went out into the world each day. The only comfort she found was in the safety of her home, where she was protected by her two greatest loves—her family and her books.

As she grew older, she often found refuge in the pages of her beloved books. They were worn, yellowed and felt like home. Within the pages of her favorites, she found the forces of good and evil more easily identifiable. Good was beautiful and pure, while evil was horrible to look upon and utterly bad. In those worlds you chose a side and fought for it, no matter the danger.

When the woman became an adult and went out into the world she found her prince charming and together, they had a beautiful family with many children. Five, to be exact. Of course, the woman read to her children and shared with them her love of books, and they too, over time, each developed a wonderful affinity for the written word.

The eldest child, was a daughter which the woman and her husband named, Elsie Jo. Elsie Jo loved fantasy novels, mysteries and books about animals. She became a voracious reader and over time developed a desire to become an author herself. Diligent in her studies, her vocabulary, spelling and grammar skills came naturally due to her long and steadfast relationship with the written word.

The second child was also a lovely girl with a very sweet disposition and her name was Renae. At first Renae wasn’t so sure that reading was worth the effort, but then she discovered a series of books that tickled her funny bone so well that reading became a joy. She and her funny friend, Junie B. Jones had many hilarious adventures together and Ranae enjoyed visiting with her when things were not so fun at her new school. Soon she adjusted and made real friends who told her about an incredible movie called Harry Potter. She’s seen the books around, but the movie sounded amazing, so Ranae rushed home after school to ask her Mother if she could put it on their Netflix queue.

Ranae's hopes were soon a bit frustrated, however, when her mother reminded her of the family rule. "If a movie is based on a book," they had agreed, "you must read the book prior to seeing the movie." She knew the reasoning--once you have the movie images in your head, you will never be able to imagine the book on your own. "But," she persisted, "have you seen the size of those books? That will take FOREVER."

"Then you’d better get started," her Mother cheerfully replied.

Disappointed, but still determined—she trudged to her sister's bookcase and hesitantly pulled Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone from the shelf. Before long, she too had fallen under the spell of reading and became an avid reader, which, as you may imagine improved her spelling and grammar immeasurably.

The third daughter was beautiful little blue-eyed girl whom they named Jamie. As soon as she was able to talk, Jamie began telling stories. Amazing, fantastical stories of frightening creatures and her daring feats of heroism as she battled them. She loved to tell and retell her stories to anyone who would listen--the stories became more amazing and fantastical which each retelling.

Soon, she too was learning to read. But she found the process too boring—to tedious and frequently skimmed over her reading assignments. Jamie much preferred to listen to Ranae read the hilarious capers of Junie B. Jones than to read them herself. Besides, she began to resent the books her older sisters always seemed to have their noses in. "What was so great about books, anyway?" she thought. She felt that way for a while--until her 6th Christmas, when Santa brought her an American Girl doll named Kirsten and the storybooks all about her.

Jamie loved Kirsten. She took Kirsten with her everywhere. Soon she wanted to know more about her wonderful doll-friend and so began reading Kirsten's stories. Jamie liked Kirsten's stories so much, she looked and discovered there were other American Girls to read about—Samantha, Kit, Kaya, Felicity and on and on. Soon Jamie loved Kirsten, American Girls AND reading, too.

She began to find her schoolwork easier and more enjoyable. Her grades improved. And she found herself--rather than resenting her sisters books--borrowing them.

Of the five children the woman and her prince charming welcomed into their family, there was but one boy. His name was Bub and he was ALL boy. He loved trucks and cars, balls and bikes. He ran and played and giggled and worked. But above all, Bub wanted to be just like his Daddy. When Daddy got his tools out to fix something, Bub did too. When Daddy worked in the yard, so did Bub. When Daddy went to the ball game, Bub went too.

One of Daddy and Bub's favorite activities was finding cool things in his I Spy books. They spotted all the neat stuff -- marbles, toy soldiers, cars and animals. When it came time for Bub to start preschool, Daddy thought it might be time to read him his own favorite books. Together they laughed at the antics of Curious George, wondered at Ralph the Mouse and his tiny Motorcycle and cheered on many a hero.

By the time little Claire was born to the family, some of their children's books were, well, let's just say they were VERY LOVED. Their collection of Sandra Boynton board books was no exception, but they had held up fairly well and were ready to delight just one more child. By the age of 3, Claire had several memorized—she and Daddy recited purely from memory, "The Going To Bed Book" each and every night. Then it was Mommy's turn to sing songs and read about the Barnyard Dance, Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs or The Snoozers. For Claire and Mommy and Daddy, books aren't just for teaching and learning or enjoying stories—they’re also about spending time... laughing, smiling, sharing or just plain being... together.

So one day, the woman and her kids were searching the internet to find out what books other kids were recommending. They couldn't find any. They looked and looked for honest book reviews by other kids and soon decided to start writing their own. Since the woman already worked from home as a website builder—it only made sense to build one about their family's shared love for books. And that is how Best-Kids-Books.com came to be.

We hope you will visit us often and share your book reviews, too.

Sincerely,

The Bookworm Family @ Best-Kids-Books.com