"My Light Bulb Went On!"

When spring break started, my 6-year-old had all the skills to read chapter books.  She could decode.  She knew dozens (maybe more) sight words.  She had the interest - she loved nothing better than to have me read to her.  But somehow, all that didn't add up to being a reader.

By the end of spring break, 10 days later, through no effort on my part - or hers, really - it did.  In the last two days she breezed through four Princess Posey books (my older daughter was also a fan).  This morning she got ready for school quickly and then asked if she could read Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie (the first in a series that is now up to 3 books), which was also one of my older daughter's first chapter books.

When I asked her what had happened between the beginning of spring break and the end, she replied, "My light bulb went on!"

She also told me, "Reading is the best thing, next to chocolate."

Music to my ears.

A First Grader Reads About A First Grader

Kids usually like to read about kids who are older than they are, at least in my experience.  I'm not sure whether it's because it makes them feel more grown-up or because it allays (or creates) any worries they have about the next grade or stage... or something else entirely.  But maybe this rule doesn't hold true for the younger set, because right now my first grader is really enjoying books about a fellow first grader: the Princess Posey series by Stephanie Greene.

With its short chapters, large text, realistic plots and illustrations every few pages, these books fill that all-too-large gap between early readers (boring!) and middle grade fiction.  The stories are sweet but not saccharine, the text and plots simple but not boring.  Posey faces the fears and anxieties of many a first-grader and navigates social relationships in way my daughter could relate to.  And although Posey secretly becomes Princess Posey when she wears her special pink tutu, being a princess here is empowering.  Long live Princess Posey!