Growing Bookworms Newsletter: March 12

Today I will be sending out a new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter contains content from my blog focused on children's and young adult books and raising readers. I currently send out the newsletter once every two weeks.

Newsletter Update: In this issue I have four book reviews (picture book through young adult), as well as post about my daughter's latest literacy milestone, and one about why I think she loves Mo Willems' books so much. I have two posts with links that I shared on Twitter recently. 

Reading Update: In the last two weeks I read one middle grade book, three young adult books, and one adult title:

• Jaleigh Johnson: The Mark of the Dragonfly. Random House Books for Young Readers. Middle Grade/Middle School. Completed March 11, 2014, on Kindle. Review to come.
• Mark Frost: Alliance (The Paladin Prophecy, Book 2). Random House Books for Young Readers. Young Adult. Completed March 3, 2014. My review.
• Jennifer E. Smith: The Geography of You and Me. Poppy (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). Young Adult. Completed March 4, 2014, e-ARC on Kindle. Review to come.
• Lauren Henderson: Kissing in Italian. Random House Books for Young Readers. Young Adult. Completed March 9, 2014. Review to come. 
• Robin Sloan: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Picador. Adult Fiction. Completed February 26, 2014, on Kindle. I quite enjoyed this book about everything from musty old books and secret societies to data visualization and Google. It's a fast read, sure to please most adult book lovers.

I'm currently reading Insignia by S. J. Kincaid on my Kindle and The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill by Megan Frazer in print. I am very much enjoying my current audiobook, A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. It is the perfect antidote to stress, and I wish it would never end. 

We're also still reading to Baby Bookworm these days, of course. You can check out the complete list of books we've read to her this year if you are interested. We also read the first two chapters of Winnie-the-Pooh last night. 

She turns four in a few weeks, and I can tell you that we're really seeing the impact of all the books that we've read. She can spell a few words now (her name, Mom, Dad, no, moo, Mo, so), and she'll notice those words if she sees them ("Why does that sign say 'No'?). She's asking how to spell things like "I love you" when she makes us cards. She enjoys the Reading Raven app. I can't remember who recommended that one, but thank you! We are careful not to push her, but she's like a little sponge these days, soaking up new words all around her. My goal is just to keep it fun!

What are you and your family reading these days? Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms. 

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.