Terry Treetop and the Lost Egg

Terry Treetop and The Lost Egg is an environmental education book aimed at preschoolers or beginner readers. The book tells the story of Terry Treetop, a boy who loves to climb trees. One day, Terry finds an egg. However, he does not know whose egg it is. He visits a variety of animals in order to return the egg to its mother. 

It has been a rather long time since I have read a young children's book. But children don't change all that much through the ages. They want a fun book that will keep them entertained and is easy enough that they can start to read the words along with you. The Lost Egg mostly fulfills those requirements. There are a few words that are a little out of place in a beginning reader book, like "vowed" or " patiently." I'm not sure that young children will understand the meaning of these words, much less figure out how to read them. Also, the book is laid out in a weird rhyming scheme. It seems like phrases are written just to force the rhyme instead of getting an idea across to the reader. 

The Lost Egg isn't a terrible book, by far. I'm just not sure how interested children will find it. Perhaps if there were fewer animals with a  little more interaction with each or if the author dropped the rhyming scheme in order to pass on more information, the book might be a little more captivating. As it is, I don't think a child would read the book more than once or twice before putting it away for good. 

I received a copy of this book for free. All opinions contained within are solely my own.

Paper Towns

Paper Towns is John Green's third novel. It tells the story of Quentin Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman. Quentin and Margo have been neighbors for their entire lives. When they were children, they came upon a dead body in the park. The story flashes forward to their senior high school year. Quentin, called "Q" by his friends, is in her geeky clique while Margo, generally referred to by her entire name, is the queen of the school. As such, their friendship had fallen to the wayside long ago.

One night, Margo randomly shows up at Quentin's window dressed as a ninja. She convinces him to sneak out and the two go on a bit of a revenge rampage. The next day, Margo doesn't show up to school. Three days later, she is declared missing. Quentin and his friends, Ben and Radar, spend the end of their senior year following the clues that Margo left behind.

I have found that I love Green's style of writing. Maybe it's because I am rather nerdy myself, but I find myself relating to his main characters a little too well. Quentin is a strongly loyal friend and he often thinks too much for his own good. Margo Roth Spiegelman is the popular girl who puts on a fake facade so people don't understand who she really is. As a result, people end up thinking that she is quirky and unusual. The two make an interesting friendship and I do kinda wish there was more of it in the book.

It took me awhile to read Paper Towns. Not because it wasn't interesting but because it doesn't quite match up to The Fault in Our Stars. (Sidenote: I feel like I should have read TFiOS last. It is so good that it sort of ruins other books.) Once I really got into Q's journey to find Margo, I was hooked. The discoveries that Quentin makes about himself and his friends are awesome. There aren't very many people that get to really understand their friends the way that Q does. And I liked that the three of them stick together, even when they don't like each other very much.

In the end, I did enjoy the book. I was a little disappointed in the ending but the ending did make sense. Maybe I've watched too many romantic comedies where...well, you know how those usually end. I don't want to spoil Paper Towns for you. Much like the rest of John Green's books, I do recommend that you read it. Especially if you like solving puzzles. It will force you to see things in a slightly different light.

Geeky Parenting Tips: Reading

As everyone knows, reading to your children is very important. But how do you choose what books to read to your child? Here are some suggestions to help you. Before I start talking about book titles or series, I really want to recommend that everyone get a library card. Library cards are generally free at public libraries and it gives you the opportunity to read a wide variety of books to your child. At my local library, you can renew your books online if you need to. If you forgot to renew your books and you haven't finished reading them, there aren't any penalty fees for returning children's books late. I'm not sure if every local library offers these features but I find them very helpful.

The books you choose to read your child depends on your personal comfort zone. I am a big fan of the Great Illustrated Classics series of books. Granted, these books do make changes to the original texts. However, they have short chapters and large pictures that easily capture a child's attention. Through these books, my daughter has been introduced to King Arthur, The Wind in the Willows, Little Woman and many more. We will probably reread these books in their original form when she is a bit older but she is enjoying them for now.

Another series I adore is the We Both Read books. These are made for teaching children how to read. One page is for the parent to read and one page is for the child to read. If there is a word that may be difficult for the child to read, it will be in bold on the parent's page. It's wonderful to be able to read with my daughter instead of just reading to her.

As always, you can always fall back on books like Winnie The Pooh, Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein. Don't be afraid to read anything to your child. As long as you are comfortable with the material in the book, your child will most likely enjoy it as much as you do. How else will they learn that Disney's Tinkerbell is a lot nicer than the book version?

Feel free to leave any suggestions for additional books in the comments. It's great to see what other geeks are reading to their kids.