About this Blog

As a kid, I was a voracious reader. I was the kid on our summer vacation that Mom was always telling to put down the book. I loved all kinds of books, but mostly fantasy: C. S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, Norman Juster's Phantom Tollbooth. Even as I grew older, I remember telling my mother that I would never read adult books -- they were boring. I only wanted to keep reading kids books.

Now that I am an adult of course I enjoy "adult" books, but I still read books written for children. I don't have kids; I'm not a teacher or school librarian; I don't have lots of nieces and nephews. I just love kids' books. They contain a sense of wonder not found in adult books (outside of science fiction and fantasy, perhaps). It is extremely difficult to write a really good book for children, one that doesn't talk down or moralize or try to be too trendy. Kids books are universal. Kids books make me cry (something an adult book never did).

This blog is meant for those folks like me who enjoy reading children's books because they enjoy good literature and, in the case of picture books, good illustrations. It's ok if you have kids or are a teacher or librarian -- as long as you enjoy kids books for their literary value and not because you "have" to read them.