Last spring my daughter read the same paperback chapter book forty-three times. I counted. By the end of the school year the cover looked like it had been through a washing machine with gravel. That was the year I started hunting for the best book sleeves to protect kids paperbacks, and what I found changed … Read more
I have lost count of how many paperbacks have slid off my nightstand onto the floor at 2 a.m. After one particularly painful tumble involving a coffee cup and a hardcover, I started looking for the best book caddies for bedside reading. What I found was a category full of options, and a lot of … Read more
Finding a thoughtful gift for a grandparent who already has everything can feel impossible. I have spent the past three months testing book subscription boxes as grandparent gifts, ordering from eight different services and shipping sample boxes to my own grandmother in Florida, my mother-in-law in Arizona, and a family friend in her late 80s. … Read more
When my nephew was diagnosed with dyslexia in second grade, our family went on a hunt for the best text-to-speech tools for struggling readers. We tried apps, browser extensions, and physical scanning pens. Some were clunky. Others had robotic voices that made comprehension harder, not easier. After months of testing, we finally found tools that … Read more
If your child groans every time you mention a book, you are not alone. I have talked to dozens of parents and teachers about this exact problem, and two names come up more than any others when they ask what finally got their reluctant reader to crack open a book on their own: Dog Man … Read more
Curious kids ask questions non-stop, and the best nonfiction book series for curious kids turn those questions into adventures. After a year of reading with my two kids and surveying thousands of parent reviews, I put together this guide to 12 nonfiction series that actually keep kids engaged, from preschool all the way through middle … Read more
When my daughter turned two, picture books had taken over the living room and stuffed animals had staged a quiet coup on every flat surface. I went hunting for cube storage organizers for books and toys because I wanted one system that could handle both, keep things off the floor, and let her pull out … Read more
Middle school is where reading changes jobs. Between 6th and 8th grade, kids stop learning to read and start reading to learn, and the ones who coasted through elementary school often hit a wall in science and social studies first. That shift is why our team spent three months digging into the best reading workbooks … Read more
I have spent the last several months testing vocabulary workbooks for elementary kids with my own two children, my niece, and a small group of neighborhood kids in grades K-6. What started as a way to keep my second grader sharp over the summer quickly turned into a full-blown research project. I worked through 10 … Read more