Great Reads for Kids

My husband and I are readers. We love to read. And, it is really important to us that our girls love to read as well.
Georgia definitely has a love of books. When she was seven, she saved up her birthday money and all her spare change to buy a kindle. We helped her to buy her kindle and she has taken really good care of it and reads even more than she did before. Our philosophy is to buy her the books that she wants to read and to encourage her to read some of our choices too. When she was four, we started with the American Girl books. I read them aloud to her and we made our way through each of the books of the historical girls.
In case you have a child in your life to shop for - books are always a really good gift.
Here are a few of our favorites...


Frindle by Andrew Clements - Trying to aggravate a tough language-arts teacher, a fifth-grade boy invents a new word for pen: "frindle." Soon, the whole country is using it.
-This is a great book to donate to a classroom library as well!


Just Grace by Charice Mericle Harper - Grade 2–4—Just Grace starts with a list of missed opportunities and finishes with the rich possibility of a new friend. In between, third-grader Grace Stewart sends postcards to her next-door neighbor (purporting to be from Crinkles, the neighbor's own cat), draws comics of Not-So-Super ("but still good") superheroes, plays detective with her best friend when Crinkles goes missing, tries to avoid the odious Sammy Stringer, and establishes herself as a true original in a class with not one, but four, Graces.
- This is a whole series of books, and Georgia loves them!


Clementine by Sara Pennypacker. Grade 2-4–Clementine, a not-so-common third grader, knows her way around the principal's office as well as she does the art-supply closet.
- Another series of books - we love getting to know more and more about favorite characters!


The Froggy books by Jonathan London. This is a pretty big series of kids picture books. All of my girls love to read them over and over again! You name it, there is probably a froggy book about it! Georgia was already a fan when she was able to "meet" the Froggy character at our local public library several years ago.


What are some of your kids' favorite books?

Book Club - Friendship Bread by Darien Gee

I love my book club! Love, love, love it! I have belonged to it for a couple of years now and have read some great books. I have read some I haven't loved, but were still ok reads. My favorite part of book club is that we all take turns choosing books and I have been introduced to books I would have never picked up. We even read a book and were able to have the author call us and do a conference call with us at our meeting! That was really, really cool!

This month was my turn to choose the book, and I chose "Friendship Bread" by Darien Gee.

This is what the author says about the book on Amazon...

Can a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread heal a broken heart and change an entire community?

Friendship Bread opens in the fictitious rivertown of Avalon, Illinois. Like many small communities, Avalon is a place where families gather to share a meal and where neighbors are quick to come to one another’s aid. Visitors are charmed by the quiet simplicity of Avalon, of the scent of fresh-baked goods wafting from Madeline’s Tea Salon, of the sweet bungalow homes that line the shady streets.

But behind every closed door is a story, and on a sunny afternoon in March, my protagonist’s story begins. For five years Julia Evarts has carried a grief that threatens to tear her family apart. She’s going through the motions of life when her young daughter discovers the equivalent of a culinary chain letter sitting on their front porch: a plate of Amish Friendship Bread along with a bag of starter and an anonymous note that says “I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.” They’re instructed to feed the starter over a ten-day period and then bake two loaves of bread and share the remaining starter with three other people. As the bread and its starter make their way through Julia’s small town, including into the home of her estranged sister, the residents of Avalon, Illinois, find their lives--and hearts--opening in ways both poignant and unexpected.

The novel was inspired by my own experience with Amish Friendship Bread, when my daughter brought it home along with a bag of starter she’d received from a friend. I was eating the last few crumbs when I started to think about a woman who receives the starter and just doesn’t want to do it. I saw a sadness hanging over this character and I knew I wanted to find out more. I started writing and the story quickly took shape--more importantly, it soon became clear that the book wasn’t about any one person, but an entire community ready for change and connection.

My verdict: 4 1/2 of 5 stars. It was a really good read. I enjoyed getting to know the citizens of Avalon. I am thinking about baking some Amish Friendship Bread (although the idea of what to do with all the starter makes me a little nervous). I was a little sad when the book ended because I knew that I would miss reading about all of the characters.

In case you are interested, here is a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread:
Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Day 1 - receive the starter (the recipe for the starter is below)

Day 2 - stir

Day 3 - stir

Day 4 - stir

Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.

Day 6 - stir

Day 7 - stir

Day 8 - stir

Day 9 - stir

Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Divide into 4 containers, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread.

After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Using a fork beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts (optional).

Grease two loaf pans with butter, sprinkle with sugar instead of flour.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (individual oven temperatures vary). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.
Amish Friendship Bread Starter

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you'll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread (above). It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.

2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.

3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions above for Amish Friendship Bread.

I am interested to know - Have you ever received any Amish Friendship Bread starter? If so, what did you do with it? Have you ever eaten Amish Friendship Bread? Did you like it?