At the beginning of this year (it seems so long ago), our four-year-old grandson and his mom were living with us. Steven and I tried to have reading time every day so I entered a couple of challenges that are out of the ordinary for me.

The Illustrated Year Picture Book Reading Challenge encouraged me to include Steven’s reaction to the books we read in my reviews. As far as possible, I have done that.

I entered this at Level 1 which required me to read just 12 books over the course of the year. I’m happy to report

SUCCESS!

1. Giraffe & Bird written and illustrated by Rebecca Bender
2. I Want My Hat Back written and illustrated by Jon Klassen
3. Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? written & illustrated by Susan A. Shen
4. Madeline written & illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans
5. Fuddles written & illustrated by Frans Vischer
6. A Few Blocks written & illustrated by Cybele Young
7. Horton Hears a Who written & illustrated by Theodore Seuss (aka Dr. Seuss)
8. Gimme Jimmy written & illustrated by Sherrill S. Cannon
9. Dog in Boots written by Greg Gormley; illustrated by Robert Angaramo
10. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom written by Bill Martin Jr; illustrated by John Archambault
11. Harry, the Dirty Dog written by Gene Zion; illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham
12. There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen written by Sheree Fitch; illustrated by Sydney Smith
13. The Market Square Dog written by James Herriot; illustrated by Ruth Brown
14. One Winter Night written by Jennifer Lloyd; illustrated by Lynn Ray
15. Curious George written by Margaret Ray; illustrated by H.A. Rey
16. Eloise written by Kay Thompson; illustrated by Hilary Knight
17. Coyote Sings to the Moon written by Thomas King; illustrated by Johnny Wales

And some non-children’s picture books:
18. Griffin & Sabine written and illustrated by Nick Bantock
19. Sabine’s Notebook written and illustrated by Nick Bantock
20. The Golden Mean written and illustrated by Nick Bantock

On the heels of the Picture Book Challenge and my goal never to say “no” to the request from my grandson for a story, came The 3660 Minute Reading Challenge, hosted by Mommy Wants To Read.

The challenge was “to spend 10 minutes every single day reading to our children. Since this year is a leap year there are 366 days hence 3660 minutes. The goal is to promote reading, increase imagination, foster a love of words, bolster comprehension skills, and spend quality time with the children in our lives.”

HUGE FAILURE!

Unfortunately, Steven & his mom moved unexpectedly to Vancouver at the end of January and our reading time was curtailed. For the first couple of weeks, I tried reading to him on the phone but there were always too many distractions for him.

For the year, I recorded an abysmal 380 minutes spent reading to him.

Next is the Award Winning Reads Challenge. The Awards referred to are the Newbery Medal for children’s literature and the Printz Award for Young Adult lit. I don’t usually pick up YA or children’s literature on purpose but every time I’ve read an award winner on these lists, I’ve been impressed. So I entered this challenge, pledging to read four award-winning books.

SUCCESS!

All of these are Newbery Medal winners, and three of the four were delightful!

1. Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright 1939 (read in Dec 2012)
2. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George 1973
3. Holes by Louis Sachar 1999
4. Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpoole 2011