Welcome!
Welcome to a place for anyone who has kids in their life that are learning to read!
Here you’ll find lots of information that will help you raise a reader.
Why is raising a reader something to care about?
Because a love of reading is one of the clearest predictors of life-long success.
Instill in a child to a love of reading and you will have given them a great start in life! And the best news of all is that it’s pretty easy to do and affordable as well!
What you can find here on the site:
- How to build a home library with wonderful books
- Ways to acquire books affordably
- How to pick good books for kids
- Expanding from books to other activities
- Following a child’s interests
- Book and illustration reviews
- Activities you can do at home with the materials you have on hand
- Ideas for “delayed” readers and “advanced” readers (and should we really think of them in these ways?)
- What to do about screens and the amount of screen time a child gets
I know what it’s like to try and figure out this “raise a reader” challenge.
I have a child entering the middle grades (fourth through sixth grades) and for the past ten years I’ve encountered a good bit of frustration as I sifted through the many recommendations for how to raise a kid who loves to read.
Along the way I’ve talked with so many other parents, teachers and other adults about their feelings on how to find good books that their kids will love, locate activities that are fun and doable, and how to afford it.
Be sure to check out the main sections of the website to find ideas and answers!
- Discover books and illustrators that kids will love
- Get access to interest-led activities
- Learn real-world ways that work to raise any type of reader
About Me
Hi! I’m Sarah, the creator of Beehive Books and Art. I got my college degree in elementary education almost 30 years ago and I’ve been a student of the world of children’s literature (aka kids books) ever since.
These days I am a mom, a book lover, and an educator. When my son was born I discovered I’d been hiding my love of children’s books. Now that I had a child I embraced that love fully. Over the years I built a big home library for him. I honed a process for quickly identifying books that were quality AND would be loved by the kids reading them.
There is one, simple thing we can do that will help our kids find success in life. It’s having a home environment that is full of books and other printed material.
– Sarah Laucks, Beehive Books and Art
I’m here to help you discover great books for your kids, to find a love of these books for yourself, to access fun activities, and to do it all in an affordable way.
Our home library contains over 1,000 books. If I’d bought those books new … well, I just couldn’t have afforded it. Instead I found a ways to be book rich ( #bebookrich ) without breaking my bank account. And you can to. Start by downloading by free guide Be Book Rich: How to Create a Rich Home Library So You Can Raise a Reader. Then follow along with me as I share:
- my tips for selecting quality books
- reviews of books, authors and illustrators that you and your kids will love
- interest-led activities
Comment on posts or message me with any questions! Happy reading!
About My Website
I love the children’s literature world, and I love seeing children become readers. There’s a magic to it that captivates me and it’s the reason I started this website.
- Is there something that you love?
- A story you want to tell?
- Expertise that you could share with the world?
Everyone has a unique voice and there are people out there who want to, need to, hear what you have to say.
If you’ve been considering putting your voice out there, take this as a sign to go ahead and do it! Whether it’s blogging, podcasting, or vlogging – you’ll need a website as home base.
The team at Biz Budding helped me build this website; if you want to start blogging let me be the first to tell you that they will be a great partner in your efforts. Their website features a wonderful free guide about how to start blogging. And a fantastic website starter bundle package that will get you launched with a website so you can start posting content quickly. Blogging is something you can start small, on the side. It’s very enjoyable to write about a topic you love and a team like Biz Budding can help you grow your project into everything you want it to be!
