Reading to the little people

As some of you know I wanted to be an English teacher in a former life, so as you can imagine, I'm passionate about reading to kids.  I'm the person at a baby shower who just gives a stack of books and everyone groans...  It's recommended that kids have at least 1000 books read to them by the time they enter Kindergarten--it could be the same book 1000 times, but reading to them obsessively--before bed, while you wait for the car to be fixed, or for the pediatrician to come into the exam room--is the single most important thing you can do to stimulate their developing minds.  One of my professors in my education program said that the night you get home from the hospital, put the baby in the crib, and then get out a book and start reading.  It's never too soon!  I recommend going book-shopping with an elementary school teacher--my mother-in-law can tell within seconds of flipping through a picture book whether or not it's good or bad (it's actually quite amazing to watch her).

SO, now that I've climbed down off my soapbox, I wanted to share with you this list, compiled by the wonderful and amazing Tattered Cover Bookstore of Denver (this famous local bookstore is one I've actually been to!) of literary websites just for kids.  Since everything is increasingly web-based, I thought this might be a good tool for both my teacher readers and readers who know little people.  That is to say, I'm hoping you'll pass this along.  I found the link via a book blog called Blog of a Bookslut, which is a wonderful literary website--they always have reviews and suggestions about books I'd otherwise never hear about.

My personal motto is, when all else fails, read.