Mamma Can't Live Without . . .

Reading a book from daddyread.com

So, I've realized that one of the most helpful things I find about reading others' blogs is their advise about the tools they use for everyday life. I have discovered so many wonderful things this way! There is such an abundance of information out there, making it difficult to discern the good from the bad. And when I look at my life, I realize that there are many things that I go back to again and again, so I will be featuring a variety of things on my blog every week or so.

For instance, Mamma can't live without . . .

High Quality Children's Books Web Sites

Speaking of abundance, how about children's books? Sometimes I wonder what you have to do in order to get one published, because I'm sorry, but the majority of them seem like crap. Have you ever had your child latch onto one of those awful ones and ask you to read it fifty thousand times? No fun. But the truth is that there are some AMAZING children's books out there if you know where to look. The trick is sorting the crap from the awesomeness so that your child has the right books to pick from. When your child chooses a book over and over again that has you laughing till you snort, recalling your childhood or  getting slightly teary, well, that's a win win!

As a homeschooling mom, we literally go through hundreds of books. Thank God for our library system. The Snohomish Library System alone is reason to move up north. Can I just say no late fees! We honestly could not afford homeschooling without our library. That's a whole other Mamma Can't Live Without.

So I regularly check three different web sites to get ideas for children's books. Then I just put them on hold at the library.

The first great site I found is www.daddyread.com/

This is an awesome site because it divides books into age level, it gives thorough descriptions of the books, it will tell you if a book has content that some parents may find a little inappropriate and it tells you if there is an audiobook.

The second is www.boysread.org

Finding books that boys truly enjoy can sometimes be difficult. The books listed on this web site are AWESOME. I have told a few other moms about it and all have been so excited to see their little man get into reading.

Lastly, I love www.readkiddoread.com

This web site divides books into age levels as well as into genres. It includes nonfiction books, which my boys really like. Also, it seems to be the web site that most often puts up new books.

Happy reading!!!