pdxbeth's Profile

We have audio books on pretty much constantly in the car, as we have a 30-40 minute commute home from school every day. My almost-7-year-old has LOVED the Harry Potter audio books (so far, we're only on #4), A-Z Mysteries, Encyclopedia Brown, Magic Tree House, all of the Roald Dahl books, Junie B. Jones, the Ramona books, and anything by Cornelia Funke (including Dragon Rider and the Ghosthunter series). We also just started on the Gregor books by Suzanne Collins (of Hunger Games fame, but these are for younger kids).

Wow, what a beautiful room! I wish I had room for a library/art room in my house. Very nicely done.

Usually I do candy, but one year we did hand out mini glowsticks to kids and they were a big hit. This was in a neighborhood with mostly older kids anyway.

I had this very shower curtain in college (~12 years ago) for my postcard collection and carried it to my first few apartments too. Finally got rid of it when I became a homeowner but I remember loving how versatile and changeable it was. I don't think I ever used it on an actual shower...just used it as wall decoration or in closet doorways.

I worked at a used book store and not only did it end up with a very eclectic selection of kids books, but some are ones you can't find anymore. I found myself buying a bunch I remembered from childhood (YA books from Betty Ren Wright, Ann M. Martin, Christopher Pike), as well as books for my 6yo son.

And library sales are great...my cousin is a teacher and she would stock up on books that she needed multiple copies of for her classroom.

I love the swap idea! There are definitely some books we've outgrown.

I can tell I'm not going to get any work done today with this book theme on Ohdeedoh... :)

We love the Skippyjon Jones books at our house! They are great fun to read aloud, and the illustrations are bright and colorful. I am a fan of the ones that come with the CD where the author reads the book.

We have audiobooks in the car at all times as sometimes the commute home from school can take 30-45 minutes. My son is a little older (just turned 6), but has been listening to audiobooks for a few years.

For younger kids, with shorter attention spans, I know that Disney has a series of books on CD (with the chimes for turning the page) that are relatively cheap. Usually based on their movies, like Cars and Monsters Inc. which gives you limited selection.

Longer books that we enjoy on CD: all the Ramona/Beezus/Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary, James and the Giant Peach, BFG (GREAT voices), Magic Treehouse books, Ghosthunter books by Cornelia Funke, and the Junie B. Jones books.

We are lucky that our library stocks so many great audio books, and most of the cases say what ages they are appropriate for.

The Boxcar Children was my favorite as a kid. I've only ever read the first one, but my 6yo loved it and we'll be checking out more from the series this summer.

I can't wait for him to be ready for Harry Potter. I think we probably have another year to wait before it's not over his head.

This isn't a "classic" series but he seems interested in the Percy Jackson stories and Greek mythology in general.

Correction - the movie was called "Good Boy" not "Good Dog." Made my son laugh out loud quite a bit!

Look at her web site, she talks about the process and she shows that the wheel part of the ferris wheel is actually a cable spool.

It's probably too big of a DIY project for me, but I wish there was something on a smaller scale. My kid would go nuts for a ferris wheel type contraption to put things in.