500 books by 12 years of age

Kristen and I are big fans of Jim Trelease's book The Read-Aloud Handbook. Trelease makes the case for reading to children, not just when they are young and unable to read for themselves, but as they grow older as well. He relates the story of Erin Hasset, whose mother and father read to her from the day she was born, and continued to read to her throughout her childhood, keeping notes along the way. She celebrated her 12th birthday by finishing the 500th book read to her by her parents.

We read this story when Jaymie was five years old, and we asked each other, "Can we do this?" We resolved to try. As it turns out, we're probably not going to reach 500 books by the time Jaymie turns 12 -- we started too late, and Julia and Stanley need to be read to as well. But we have enjoyed the challenge, and have seen the benefits already with all of our children.

This blog is a record of our reading experiences. We'll list the titles we read, hopefully with some thoughts on the books as well.