Volusia Bookworms

07/15/2026

Struggling to find read alouds the whole family can enjoy? Below are my top 10 reads that work for a wide range of ages.

Tips for reading to a variety of ages:

📕 Let older kids answer the questions of younger kids.

📗 Ask children to recap the story every chapter or two. Fill in the blanks of anything important they may have missed.

📘 Recap the story yourself before starting a new reading session.

📙 Keep reading sessions short. 10-15 minutes of reading per sitting is a win and listening stamina will grow over time!

📚 The list:
• Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
• Stuart Little by E.B. White
• Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
• Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
• The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
• Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor

What are some of your family’s favorite read alouds? Did I miss anything great that belongs on this list?

07/12/2026

Even our dog likes to snuggle up with a good book 😆

I’m so excited for our family’s next read aloud. Half the joy of family reading for me is sharing these stories I loved so much with people (and a dog) I love so much.

A few tips for successful read alouds:

📕 Choose books that are 2-3 grade levels above your child’s reading level. Their listening comprehension outpaces their reading abilities.

📗 Let them play and move around while you read. They’re absorbing more than you’d think.

📘 Ask your child to recap what was read every chapter or two. Fill in the blanks on anything important they may have missed before moving on.

🌟 Bonus points if you can read ahead and predefine words your kids may not know, but don’t stress if you can’t! They will naturally pick up a lot through context clues.

I’d love to know, what’s your family reading right now?

07/10/2026

"I like them because they're just good books. 💁‍♀️"

-My 7 year old

07/10/2026

“Our son loves the outdoors. This series has hooked him on reading!!”

-Amazon Reviewer

07/10/2026

“Things are about to get worse, and fast. The next generation reads much less than today’s adults did when they were kids. Kindergarten teachers say that many of their students don’t know nursery rhymes or fairy tales, Benjamin Powers, the director of Yale and the University of Connecticut’s Haskins Global Literacy Hub, told me. (In the study of 236,000 American adults, only 2 percent read to a child on a given day.) From 1984 to 2025, the percentage of 13-year-olds who said they rarely or never read for fun rose from 8 to 29 percent. Every year older a child gets, the less they like to read. “

Build up your home libraries. Cultivate a love of reading in your home. Read with your kids everyday.

The future of our world depends on it. 📚🌎

Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.

07/04/2026

Happy Independence Day 🇺🇸

May God continue to bless this great nation for another 250 years.

07/03/2026

Pausing our regularly scheduled programming to present to you my new favorite coffee mug featuring (almost) all my favorite ladies of classic lit 😍

07/02/2026

Peter Spier’s The Star Spangled Banner is a great way to introduce kids to our National Anthem!

Each page beautifully illustrates a verse of the song bringing it to life and giving kids meaning to language used.

The end of the book includes its sheet music, a photocopy of the original poem written by Francis Scott Key, and a brief description of events leading up to writing of the poem.

This is a book packed with tons of value that can be pulled off the shelf and enjoyed year after year by children (and adults!) of almost any age 🇺🇸

06/30/2026

American Lore Canon 🇺🇸

06/25/2026

Happy birthday to Eric Carle! 🐛

Best known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Carle authored and illustrated dozens of children’s books throughout his life. His distinctive, collage-style artwork and simple but meaningful narratives have captured children and adults alike for nearly 60 years, cementing him as one of the greatest children’s authors of our time.

Which Eric Carle classic is your family’s favorite?