Mom Tip: How to Pick New Children's Books to Read

I'm sure I'm not the only one that isn't able to spend hours at the library browsing through children's books to pick new ones to read at home. I have a toddler that loves to pull books off the shelves and run through the aisles and three other kids that need a little help finding/picking out books.

Don't judge me, but I totally judge books by their cover. If I don't find the cover attractive, then I mostly likely won't even open the book. If I do like the cover, then the next step is opening the book to see how many words there are on a page. Seriously, for those of you that have ever read a LEGO Ninjago book outloud, you'll know why this is important.

I've developed a system over the last few years that has helped my family find new favorite children's books to read.

My younger elementary school age kids bring home Scholastic Book Club flyers from school throughout the year. If you don't have these coming home, then you can check the flyers out online on Scholastic Reading Club's website.

My first step is I get a marker and sit down with the flyer. I circle all the books that have a Hardcover retail price of $15.99 or more. The books are usually marked down to $4 or less to buy through the book order. It usually says something like Paperback Exclusive! This is my clue that this book is pretty popular and should be worth reading. The books that are regularly less than $10 aren't the best books, just okay. The really good ones have the original price of $15.99 or so.

These paperback exclusive books are sometimes featured several times throughout the flyer, sometimes bundled with other books. This is another clue that this is a must-read book.

This is a great way that I find out about new books by some of my favorite authors, like this one by Karma Wilson.

Sometimes I go ahead and buy the book from the book club. But more often, I go to my library's online catalog and see if they have it in our library system. If they do, then I put a hold on it. Then when I go to the library I get to quickly grab a big bundle of books all ready for me. No searching required.

This way my time at the library is spent with my children helping them find books they are searching for, while not having to worry about finding new books in the thousands of books in the library shelves.

We've found a lot of favorite books to read and eventually purchase this way.

How about you? How do you find new, fun books to read outloud to kiddos?

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing! I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me. The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour! And delicious too! I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them. Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need. I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers. You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast. Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this. Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour. (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable. It ...

Chicken Angelo

Don't forget to enter the Whirley Pop giveaway . It ends tomorrow! Am I the only person that asks their friends what they're making for dinner all the time? That's kind of why I started this blog, because I want to know what my friends are making for dinner. The other day I asked my friend, Juli (who is great cook), what she was making for dinner. She told me she was making Chicken Angelo. Then she told me what's in it. I knew I had to try it too because she has some picky eaters at her house like I do. I figured if they'll eat it then maybe it was worth a try at my house. This Chicken Angelo pasta has my favorite things, artichoke hearts and mushrooms in it. But don't be fooled into thinking that my family likes these things too. Because they don't. They won't touch an artichoke or mushroom with a ten foot pole. That being said, my family loved this pasta dish. They even gave me the go ahead to make it again. ...

The Best French Bread I've Ever Made

This is the best french bread I've ever made. I got this recipe from my friend, Nikki, who gave us some of this bread as a thank you for my hubby helping them move a piano. I remember it being delicious and we gobbled it up fast. I was intimidated for some reason by the recipe and waited a few years before I made it. We needed some bread for to make some turkey, provolone, avocado sandwiches, so I made some of this bread and it was perfect! We sliced one loaf like they do at Subway. Then later I made normal shaped sandwiches with the rest of the bread. Delicious... light and fluffy and yummy! Update 2/22/12: This is still my favorite bread after making it for a year! It turns out perfect every time and it's gone in a flash! printable recipe French Bread recipe from my friend, Nikki Yield: 2 loaves Ingredients 2 c. warm water 1 pkg (or 1 heaping Tbsp.) yeast 1/4 c. granulated sugar ...

What is on your menu this week?

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