ReadKiddoRead.com

 As avid readers (and bloggers!) ourselves, we all appreciate the valueof the written word. Yet convincing kids that reading is not justmeaningful – but actually fun – can sometimes pose a challenge,especially as they get older and start to believe they read enough inschool. In fact, according to the 2008 Kids and Family Reading Reportby Yankelovich and Scholastic, despite 80% of parents wanting theirkids to read for fun, most kids claim there aren’t enough really goodbooks for their age group.

James Patterson has taken this issue to heart. A father himself, heknows that one of the main obstacles for young readers is a lack ofbooks kids can truly connect with,  those rare stories that draw you inand keep you reading until the very last word. We  can all remember thejoy of a great book from our own childhood; begging to stay up ten moreminutes to finish a chapter, then hiding under the covers with aflashlight to read “just one more.” Patterson has made it his missionto give this experience to children everywhere and instill in them alove of reading.

To that end, he recently launched a new website, www.readkiddoread.com,in order to give kids of all ages access to truly great books. Whetheryou are still enjoying picture books with your baby or have an olderchild reading at an advanced level, ReadKiddoRead acts as a resourcefor finding thebest books. Each featured book, hand-selected by Patterson, includes asynopsis, related themes, quotes from critics, links to find the bookin any number of locations (including local libraries), and evensimilar suggested reads. In addition, the website provides resourcesfor finding book discounts and promotions, features interviews andcontributions from authors and celebrities, and even allows members toconnect with each other via a Ning community. Providing kids with alove of and appreciation for books gives them something that willremain with them throughout their lives, and this resource helps makethat possible. Plus, if anyone can get even the most reluctant readersinterested in great stories, it’s James Patterson.

Read what other Moms are saying about ReadKiddoRead.com:

tnchick.com says: "I just wanted to help get the word out about this site and Patterson’s valuable mission. So, check it out! Maybe use it when shopping for gifts!"

Bookroom Reviews says: "I was always a huge reader.  But my older son never wanted to read. The popular author, James Patterson, has started this wonderfulwebsite, READKIDDOREAD.COM to give parents tips and books ideas to helpyour child learn to love reading."

NatureMoms Blog says: "For my son for instance, I like the Real World Fiction section for kids ages 5-9.This gives me a list of great real world stories he can relate to andthat will be fun for him. The descriptions are long and tell me exactlywhat the book is about and what lessons it teaches (if any) and I candetermine if he will like it."

5 Minutes for Books says: "To me this is what makes this site stand out. The books listed are notonly fantasy along the same lines of City of Ember, but somenon-fiction books as well. If your child enjoys non-fiction, perhapsyou could go the reverse route and click on some of these very populartitles and whet their appetite for that title with some of thenon-fiction titles recommended here."

Quiverfull Family says: "Applying the same concept Patterson used with his own son, titles thattickle the imagination have been carefully selected to spark a lifelong love of learning in children."

Booking Mama says: "His latest venture is ReadKiddoRead,a program which helps parents and educators connect children with thebooks that will give them a lifelong appreciation of books."

Mom of 2 Dancers says: "In order to give kids of all ages access to truly great books, James Patterson has started a wonderful site called Read Kiddo Read. The site covers picture books that you are still reading to your baby/toddler to advanced reader books."

Red Sox Mommy says: "I know once I started loving to read I was begging for new books allthe time. I wanted the next in the series, I wanted to start a newseries I'd heard about, I wanted to go to the library all the time andit just kept going on."

Fefyfomanna says: "She brings at least one with her everywhere we go and I currently havea stack of about 6 books to return to our library. WE LOVE BOOKS! Andthis website has so many great recommendations on what books we shouldread next. It is AWESOME!"

Three P's in a Pod says: "What'sreally cool is that you can read reviews by authors and publishers,giving both parents and their children a great place to find anexciting new story lines your kids are sure to love. Along with the book recommendations, he includes relatedthemes, links to find the book in all sorts of locations including yourlocal library, quotes from critics, even similar suggested reads."

A Wrestling Addicted Mama says: "The ReadKiddoRead websiteis a great resource for both parents and educators. It enables you tolook for new children's books, research them and get ideas for everyage level whether you have a baby or older children you'll findsomething for all of the children in your life."

Big Blueberry Eyes says: "What a wonderful resource this is! The site was started by best-selling author James Patterson. Read Kiddo Read acts as a resource for finding the best books."

All Because Two People Fell in Love says: "I have already spent a lot of time on this site searching for theperfect book for some of my reluctant readers in my 5th grade class.The list of books are grouped by age and then divided into categories!The organization of the site helps you to quickly find what you arelooking for!! Just an all around GREAT site!! We LOVE it!!"

Cutie Booty Reviews says: "His site Read Kiddo Read isa great resource for parents looking to enhance their child's library.He recommends books by age and also provides links for places to obtainthe book. I think my favorite aspect of the site is the ability tosearch for the book at your local library! Love that!"

Mama Pajama says: "I remember reading constantly until I was inmiddle school. Suddenly reading just lost some of it's pizzaz.  At thisage, kids tend to be more involved with extracurricular activities,and have less free time. Plus, with cell phones, television, and videogames, reading might seem boring to a lot of kids."

Tara's View of the World says: "I LOVE reading and one of my parenting goals is to pass my love ofbooks onto my kids. I want to tell you all about a great siteintroduced to me by MotherTalk. It is called ReadKiddoRead and it was developed to bring the joy of reading to kids!"

Seven Dogs and a Baby says: " I must have picked up thirty books but I just couldn't seem to find what I wanted. Read Kiddo Read is a new book review service that allows you to get a real perspective on books you may already be interested in or find new books!

Sassy Frazz says: "Not all kids are into reading especially since our world is sooverpowered from media overload. Many parents struggle with gettingkids interested in reading when the video games are calling theirnames. Reading just may not seem "fun" to kids of today."

Jason. For the Love of God says: "That's why I was so pleased to find out about Readkiddoread.com,James Patterson's website resource for finding fabulous books for kidsof all ages. There is even a special section specifically for boys!Rock on!"

A Wrung Sponge says: "Patterson is dedicating it to helping parents, teachers and librarians find the books that kids latch onto and can't put down."

Lisa Reviews says: "It is a great site to find out about books you were wondering about. It is also great for books that you’ve never heard off.  After seeingthe cover of the book to the left and reading its review, I now want topick that up for my kids."

A Book Bloggers Diary says: "Providing kids with a love of and appreciation for books gives themsomething that will remain with them throughout their lives, and thisresource helps make that possible. Plus, if anyone can get even themost reluctant readers interested in great stories, it’s JamesPatterson."

Just a Mom's Take on Things says: "It’s hard for me sometimes to remember that reading for fun isn’tsomething that everyone likes to do. And I’m happy to see my two oldergirls following in my footsteps of becoming avid readers themselves.But there are many kids out there who don’t enjoy reading, or who thinkthat they read enough in school so don’t need to read any more at home."

Gotcha Baby says: "ReadKiddoRead.com is agreat resource for searching out good books when leisurely browsing thebookstore or local library isn't really an option (toddlers in tow,anyone? anyone?). Each book listed contains all the information youwill need to find it at the local library, or just click on one of themany booksellers listed to the right of each book listing."

Bloggin' 'bout Books says: "If you have a reluctant reader, you have a friend in best-selling author James Patterson. He's all about getting kids to read by offering them good, entertaining stories."

SMS Book Reviews says: "There is also an accompanying ning communitywhere you can chat with other people who are concerned about theirchildren's reading habits and get even more suggestions and support."

Mommy Brain says: "There is so much to see at this site, starting with the book suggestions. They are broken into Great Illustrated Books, Great Transitional Books, Great PageTurners, and Great Advanced Reads. My local librarians are probably wondering what’s up - what with all the holds that I’m placing on their web site."

24/7 Moms says: "Today 3 of our 5 children have become avid readers, Their idea of avacation is packing as many books as they can and laying around forhours reading and reading. our two youngest are still in Avid readertraining, however Nate daily quotes to me that he is learning to readbecause it is the window to the world."

Not So Average Mama says: "If you give your kids great books that they enjoy reading you will geta kid who loves to read. The Read Kiddo Read site can help us all pickout some great books to help our children along."

Get in, Hang On says: "But the aspect that I really appreciate, is that he has also included alist of similar titles for each of the books.  So, say you have a childwho loved The Lightning Thief, well he’s now given you a list of nearly20 books that are similar.  So, you can go down the list and find acouple more for your child."

Moomettesgram's Musings says: "If I felt like getting out of the house, one of the few alternatives Ihad besides going to a friend’s house was walking to the library.Consequently, I spent many hours browsing through the stacks. My loveof books and reading therefore led to my holding high aspirations ofsome day becoming a librarian."

A Box of Chocolates says: "Teaching a child to enjoy reading is the best gift we can give. Through books they can learn anything, go anywhere,and become anybody. The adventures and knowledge is endless. Providingkids with a love of and appreciation for books gives them somethingthat will remain with them throughout their lives."

Major Bedhead says: "It's a great littlewebsite. And it needs more traffic to really get the conversation andsuggestions rolling in. So if books get you all worked up, if you wantto talk books with other parents or grandparents, get yourself overthere and register. Have a look around. Anything that can get kids more interested in reading is, in my opinion, a Very Good Thing.

Postcards from the Mothership says: " I love reading and by all things holy, my kids shall love to read as well. James Patterson, one of our generation’s most prolific authors, hastaken to heart the cause of getting kids of all ages to love reading.To that end, he recently launched a new website, ReadKiddoRead.com, filled with recommendations to truly great books for kids."

Miserable Bliss says: "When I visit the library, I recall many of my old favourites andhave definitely taken the opportunity to share them with the kids. Butthere are SO many new books, new series, new authors and new plotlinesthat I haven’t read or even heard of.. how do I choose something? Enter ReadKiddoRead. I really, totally, truly love this site. And I recommend it to allparents - or anyone tasked with purchasing a book for a kid. It’sreally quite fabulous."

Artificially Sweetened says: "This site was put together by author James Patterson to give parents,teachers and librarians recommendations for books that 'kids wouldabsolutely,  positively love… [that they] will gobble up and ask formore'."

Our Little Slice of Heaven says: "I have added this link to our favorites and can't wait to use it the next time my crew is whining about wanting a good book! "

The Adventures of Leelo and His Potty-Mouthed Mom says: "If your kid is anything like my kid, and not content to have books onhand, or to go to the library on Mondays, or to surf the Amazon.com"also boughts" for recommendations, if your kid wants more more morebook recommendations all the time all day long, and isn't satisfied byNewberry credentials then ReadKiddoRead is a godsend."

Actual Unretouched Photo says: "Don’t take my word for it.  Go check out ReadKiddoRead.com.  I can’twait to examine every link on that site.  As a voracious reader myself,I am constantly searching for intriguing and addictive books to passalong to my kids so they will grow to love reading as much as I do."

Production, Not Reproduction says: "I'm glad to help spread the word about it, becauseI hope it succeeds in its mission to introduce more children to thewonders of pleasure reading. Every kid who grows up to join ourbookworm ranks is a thing to celebrate."

Verbatim says: "In the meantime, Patterson has gone one giant step further in his questto instill in children his own love of reading: He launched a website, Read Kiddo Read,in order to help kids of all ages (and their parents) find that onegreat book that might be the magical key to turn a kid on to reading."

Crunchy Granola says: "All in all, a good site. I'll be browsing it when looking for good booksuggestions (especially for kids who are much older than CG, where I'mnot so familiar with the new literature). So put Read, Kiddo, Read!into your bookmarks."

Barefoot Stories says: "Though it's still in it's infancy, I hope READKIDDOREAD will grow to fill its niche as more people join, add reviews and discuss the joys of reading."

PCOS Baby says: "I want to make sure that we've nurtured this love of books in both ofour kids.  Several of the books on the list are ones we have alreadyread and enjoyed; I look forward to reading the rest of them!"

She's Becoming DoughMessTic says: "Take a look, parents and grandparents. What better gift than a book?Maybe, just maybe, one of these days your child or grandchild willthank you for it. In writing."

Sticky Feet says: "There is no doubt that I'm an advocate of reading. I love to read and Ilove to read to Bo. Reading is an activity we do together every day andhe already loves books."

BBM Review says: "It was never a problem for me to find another captivating book to read,but today, in such a fast-moving world, it's hard for kids to settledown enough to find something that draws them in. Author JamesPatterson has taken this problem and provided a solution."

Suburban Turmoil says: "Sometimes, it feels like a battle. With all of the distractions outthere for kids, it has never been tougher to convince them to pick up abook. Luckily, I'm not the only one fighting."