Introduction

I realize that the above is not the most creative of titles, but bear with me, I am new at this.

So who am I anyway and what am I doing creating a blog about Children's Literature?

In answer to the first question, I am a twenty-three year old recent college graduate living in Dallas with my Insurance Underwriter husband and trying to find a teaching job. Contrary to popular belief, you will NOT always be able to get a job if you are a teacher...especially not in a recession. Yet I digress.

In answer to the second question, one of the biggest attractions of teaching/education for me is Children's Literature. I have ALWAYS loved good stories, both reading them, and having them read to me. Some of my fondest memories are of my parents reading to me books such as Ramona the Pest (which my mother started reading to me, and when she put it down to fix dinner, I continued reading on my own), The Chronicles of Narnia, The Boxcar Children, Missionary Stories for Children, Carry on Mr. Bowditch, The Witch of Blackbird Pond.....and yes I COULD go on forever.

And so, at the urging of my husband, I have decided to create a blog dedicated to the reviewing, discussing, discovering, and re-discovering of beloved Children's books.

So, what will you find in this blog?

1. Reviews on my favorite books, and other books as I discover them, or am introduced to them. My goal is to have at LEAST one a week.
2. Because I am of the Elementary Education persuasion, I will occasionally include activities for you to do with your children or students, or nieces, or nephews, or grandchildren, or any other kind of child you may have occasion to read to.
3. I may occasionally throw in some background information on the authors of these books
4. SOMEDAY, I would like to upload videos as I have occasion to visit places that are settings in a book that I have reviewed, the birthplaces of authors, or anything else that may be relevant to this blog. I don't know how often this will happen, or if it will happen any time in the near future, but I am enchanted by the idea of getting to visit such places and would love to look for opportunities to do so. :-)

Let's see is there anything else we should cover in this introductory post? Oh yes.

When I say, "Children's Literature" this include but is not limited to:
*Young Adult Literature
*Historical Fiction
*Fantasy
*Realistic Fiction
*Occasionally non-fiction
*Newbery Award Winners
*Caldecott Award Winners
*Non-award winners :-)
*Books with pictures
*Books without pictures ("Well some people use their imagination!" -- Belle, Beauty and the Beast)
*Books that inspire imagination
*Books that teach moral lessons that children can appreciate
*Books that build a children's understanding of their world
*Books with deep characters that experience character development
I am by no means a professional reviewer, so I hope you will bear with me as my writing improves.

Stay tuned!

Jessica