As I have said before, my family is a family of readers. From my husband and me all the way down to our youngest little boy, Michael, we love books. Although everyone (except for two year old Mike) has an e-reader, I am still and always will cherish the weight of a book in my hands. Someday I will build a house that has a two story library with one of those cool winding staircases in one corner, but I digress…
For a while, I felt like I was running out of books for Madison to read because I felt like she had already read most of the “good” books I read when I was younger. I try to steer the kids towards quality fiction (Think Island of the Blue Dolphins or Little Women) and away from what I refer to as “junk food books” (Dork Diaries, Captain Underpants, etc.), but as long as they are reading, I am happy. Anyway, after listening to endless weeks of Focus on the Family radio (more on that another day), I decided to try out some Christian fiction for her and we have, thusly, adopted the Lily series into our home.

The Lily series is, in my humble opinion, one of the best book series for young girls, Christian or not. While there is an emphasis on finding your faith in God and accepting Jesus, I think parents of all faiths can look past that and see the quality moral values taught in these books. Each one of Nany Rue’s fiction books has a non-fiction counterpart designed to guide young girls through the changes they are facing as they prepare for and pass through puberty. Heavy stuff dealt with in an age appropriate and very fun way.
My personal favorite duo is “Lily the Rebel” and “The It’s MY Life Book.” As most Mamas (and women in general) remember, being a teenager is a time when your parents just don’t understand you, you are constantly emotional and things can be just plain tough. This book talks to girls in a way that they can understand about why it’s not cool to be disrespectful to your parents, how to talk about that feeling you get when you want to rebel and constructive ways to transition from being a kid to having responsibilities. And it does so without talking down to them. If you’ve ever been a preteen, you know how much they LOVE to be talked down to.
None of our kids are perfect and, as they get older, they are going to make more mistakes. As parents, we have to give them the tools to deal with their increasing responsibility without overtly preaching to them about what they “should” be doing. The last thing kids want to do at this age is what their parents say is best for them. It’s better to help them find it out on their own. Since reading this series, Madison has really taken more of an interest in helping with her siblings, being more kind to others and her attitude has improved markedly. Methinks the two may be related…
For more on the Lily Series visit http://www.nancyrue.com/originalsite/tweenhome.html.
Here are some other things we are reading around here:

Everything Dr. Seuss is loved in this house

My son will know the proper names of construction equipment/vehicles. I went a little nuts and wrote the producers of Bob the Builder a scathing letter after they referred to a front end loader as a bulldozer. There's a difference people!!
What is your family reading these days?