Survival

Well, we survived the blizzard and the polar vortex that followed. We burnt a lot of wood in the process, but we were toasty warm. Thankfully we now seem to be on our way to warmer temperatures. I just hope they arrive gradually so not to cause flooding.

All this indoor time has left plenty of room for reading. Emily has been reading the second book in a  dystopian series, The Girl Who Dared To Stand, which she is loving as much as the Maze Runner Series. Now for anyone who knows Emily, this is a lot of book love. All her friends who have never read Maze Runner, intimately know the characters thanks to her. And the best part, there are seven books in the series, so she will be happy for a while!

The big surprise, however, came last week when my husband, Bobby, asked me to get the old classic, Papillon, from he library. In the fifteen years we've been married, he's read the Bible, newspapers, magazines, and online articles, but he's never asked me to get him a book. I know he read books before we married, I've just never seen him read one since.

And last but not least, I read a beginning reader titled A Cub in the Tub and a beginning chapter book titled Houndsley and Catina and Cousin Wagster. Don't you just love those funny, punny cat and dog names?

A Cub in the Tub is just what it sounds like, a sight word rhyming book like the kind I bought Emily when she was learning to read. So not only will your 3 to 5 year old enjoy seeing bear go from being dirty to clean, they will also be gaining those critical building blocks that will launch them into reading on their own.

And once they've started reading and want to move onto that I am so grown up chapter book reading phase, Houndsley and Catina and Cousin Wagster will be a perfect place to start. I mean come on, who doesn't love dog and cat stories with happy endings and subtle messages about friendship! And the really fun thing is that there are multiple Houndsley and Catina books from which to choose.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.