Two Years and Counting
December 17, 2007
Today is the two-year anniversary of the day that I started this blog. I can't imagine my life without it now, and yet I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I have been waxing nostalgic and looking back over my blog's history. Here are a few highlights:
- I published My Mission Statement, which really should have been my first post, on January 9th, 2006. It's still one of my favorite posts.
- My first children's literacy round-up (though I didn't call it that yet) was published on December 29th, 2005. I remember looking up articles at my friend Liz's house while visiting Boston for the holidays. I love that I started writing about literacy news during my very first month, and have kept it up ever since.
- I received my first comment (of currently more than 2700) on that first Lit Roundup post, from the sister of my most book-loving friend from Texas. My second comment was from my friend Patrick, one of the people who encouraged me to start a blog in the first place. Thanks, Patrick! I guess it was a good suggestion.
- My first comment from someone with a blog came from Jen Rouse.
- My earliest links seem to have come from participating in Poetry Friday. I also remember being thrilled when Tasha Saecker wrote about my blog at Kids Lit in May of 2006.
- But of course what really got my blog onto people's radar was the lists of Cool Girls and Cool Boys of Children's Literature, which consumed my attention in May and June of 2006. It was a lot of fun, and I got to know tons of wonderful bloggers and other correspondents through that process. I still have intentions of going back one day and updating the cool girl and boy lists.
My blogging has expanded over time to include the Cybils, Readergirlz, the SBBT/WBBT and Radar Projects, promoting the Robert's Snow event, and other activities. It's been a tremendous experience. But what I find heartening right now is that the core things that I write about haven't really changed since those first few posts. I think that a lot of my "blog focus angst" from this fall was really about getting myself back to my basic focus, reviewing children's books and helping people who care about raising readers. Many thanks to those of you who have supported me along the way.
There's one other nostalgia thing that I wanted to share. About 2 weeks after I started the blog, I began my blogroll of Children's Book Blogs. There are currently 12 blogs remaining from the ones that I added on that first day (TypePad helpfully stores the date that you added each link). They are:
- A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy
- Bartography
- Big A Little A
- Book Buds
- Book Moot
- Chicken Spaghetti
- Finding Wonderland
- Kids Lit
- Read Alert
- Read Roger
- Wands and Worlds
- What Adrienne Thinks About That
Now, nearly 2 years later, the blogs on this list remain among my daily must-read resources. And many of their creators (along with others whose blogs I found later) are now friends who I couldn't do without. Becoming a part of this ever-expanding community has been a joy, and it's changed my life.
Looking back over these two years, my only regret is that I constantly wish I had more time to spend on the blog. But if you think about it, that's a pretty good thing to be able to say about anything.
Thanks for a great ride! I wish everyone a joyful and book-filled holiday season.
© 2009 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.