What I Review

This is called the Onwords (On Words) blog and it's about words (i.e. language,) books, and kids.
A lot of my posts are reviews of books for kids. That includes all three of the basic topics.

Where do I get all the books I review?

Sometimes I trade with other authors who are willing to review books I've written.
At other times I review library books. I get some at our community's free book swap. 
And once in a while I review one of the many books already on my own shelves.

I can't begin to count the number of kids' books I've read in my life.

When I entered second grade I was reading at fifth grade level, and immediately became a bookaholic with no intention of ever getting into recovery.

As a parent, teacher, and grandparent I've read books to children (usually picture books) hundreds of times. For my own pleasure I usually read five or six middle grade books every week with an occasional chapter book or Young Adult novel thrown in.

I refuse to review books I don't like because it's hard for writers to sell their books and I don't want to make someone else's job more difficult even if I don't like their work myself.

I hope some people who read these posts find out about books they should buy or check out of the library for their own kids, grandkids, students and young friends to read. It would be great if my words here about books help children discover the joys of reading.

Maybe some of them will become bookaholics, too.

Books, Etc.

I've blogged many times about reading. And I've reviewed dozens of books for kids here and elsewhere. I've even written and had books published.

But why do I care about reading so much?

In the first place I think it's one of the most important skills people can have. Reading informs us, helps to shape our personalities, entertains us, stretches our minds, helps us understand people different from ourselves, and provides respite from our problems.

I'm pleased to live in a community where people often line up waiting for the library doors to open.

A while back I had a bumper sticker made that says "Bookaholics Unite" and some other people have asked me where to get a sticker like that. (Maybe I should have more printed and sell them. Ya think?)

Lately bookstores and chains have been closing, newspapers and magazines have gone out of business, publishers have merged, and the internet is full of discussions about the future of books.

Zillions of self published books are competing with traditionally published ones and e-books are spreading like wildfire. (Please pardon the cliche.)

One problem with the proliferation of e-books is that the technology becomes outdated so books people buy today may not be readable in the future, but most often books are only read once anyway.

Personally, I still prefer hard copies and have lots of things on my e-readers I've never bothered to read. But, in the long run,  I don't think it matters whether people read hard copies, e-books, or handwritten scrolls just so we continue to read.