My Other Passion

This is Sophia when she was only 6. She has been and still is a very precocious reader (we are talking a couple of chapter books a week). At least a couple of times a week I still come in to find her like this. I LOVE this picture!
Another reason I love this picture...all of the homemade goodness to be seen: quilt was graduation from HS present to me from my mom, pillowcase was made by big brother for her, doll and clothes made by me, nightgown made by me, giraffe (under doll) handmade from Togo.

I thought I'd tell you about one of my other passions today (what you'll usually find me doing when I'm not taking care of my family or sewing/crafting)...reading. I love to read and I love reading to my kids. I also love to pass on my love of reading and think I've succeeded so far.

 So far they've all been rather precocious readers (and by that I don't necessarily mean reading early, but rather once they learn to read the also love to read and go through books like candy). And it seemed to go hand in hand that the more they read, the more ahead they got, so that by 3rd grade (even the one that didn't start reading till 1st grade) they were reading well above grade level (and no, I'm not one of those mom's that have pushed her kids to read...Clara is not reading yet and will turn 6 here soon. Am I worried at all...No. She will get it when the timing is right, but she loves to read with me and that is all that matters). Anyway...this difference in age and level led me to this site, Compass Book Ratings. It's a great resource to "see" what is in a book without actually having to pre-read the books my kids were reading (I was trying to do that and realized it was no longer possible with 3 readers that were reading through 3-4 books a week in the summer). The ratings are given for the categories that worried me the most when it came to content that was too mature. 

Well after using the site for a while, I decided that I was reading a lot anyway and looked into being a reviewer. I made it through their little trial and am now an official reviewer! You can find a little bio of me on the reviewers page. So now a few times a month I submit a review for books that they ask me to review or that I just want to add to their data base. It's fun for me because I feel like that I'm doing something useful with the time I spend reading and I hope that I'm helping someone else, that finds themselves in my situation. So go check it our and pass it on to your friends that read!