Kidsreads.com
www.Kidsreads.com

AOL Keywords: Bookworm

Kidsreads is the best place on the web for kids to find info about their favorite books, series and authors. Reviews of the newest titles, interviews with the coolest authors and special features on great books are our specialties. And for even more reading fun we have trivia games, word scrambles and awesome contests!

We are a part of The Book Report Network, a group of websites founded in 1996 that share thoughtful book reviews, compelling features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more with readers every week.

Carol Fitzgerald
Founder/President

As a child, I used to read before the sun came up. Today I still remember many of those books like old friends. In the early Seventies, I read A TRACE OF FOOTPRINTS by Ruth Wolff, a book I wanted to read again. It is out-of-print, but one of our readers found me a copy at some point, and I love seeing it sitting on my bookshelf with my current favorites. The pleasure of finding a great book like this is why I love running The Book Report Network so much.

My house is filled with books. My son Gregory (age 16) plows his way through pleasure reading while also juggling books for his AP English class. He has an interest in shipwrecks and lighthouses, which keep him reading a fair share of nonfiction as well. He searches Amazon the way I used to peruse the shelves at my local library. He's been working with us for the past two years doing production work and he also weighed in on our Teenreads.com Ultimate Reading List. It's such fun to see what books spark his interest.

My son Cory (age 11), like Gregory, never goes anywhere without a book taking one when we get into the car, even for a short trip to the grocery store. His current favorite authors include Anthony Horowitz, Garth Nix and Eoin Colfer. Watching him explore a new book or series is such a pleasure. He has interviewed a couple of authors with me and prides himself on his book collection and trading books with friends. He takes special pride in turning his reluctant reader friends onto books that he thinks they will enjoy. He proves to me day after day that there are GREAT books out there for boy readers.

My husband Tom counts Tom Clancy, Ken Follett and Elmore Leonard among his favorites, though lately he has been reading a lot of expedition and history titles. He's always looking over my shoulder to see what I am reading, and urging me to "read faster."

Authors I can't put down: most suspense-thriller writers (which is why we are doing our Suspense/Thriller Author Feature), as well as a number of literary fiction and mystery authors. Today so much of my life is filled with business reading that I love the pure escape of fiction. Also, I am amazed at how many authors I have come to know from spending time at The Book Report Network. I love reading reader comments at Word of Mouth --- there's always a great idea there on what to read.

Before logging onto the Internet for the first time in 1995, I spent 17 years at Mademoiselle magazine in Promotion and Marketing. I relish the online medium for its immediacy --- and for the ability it gives me to work anywhere, anytime, so long as I can log on. Any bets on where I am writing this?

I am enormously proud of the network of sites we have launched that includes www.bookreporter.com, www.readinggroupguides.com, www.faithfulreader.com, www.teenreads.com, www.kidsreads.com and www.authorsontheweb.com.

I would love to hear what you enjoy about The Book Report Network and what you would like to see more of. Feel free to drop me a note anytime. I appreciate the feedback from our readers --- it's some of the best reading that I do.

Editorial

Tom Donadio
Editorial Manager


As a child, I always enjoyed visiting my local library and borrowing as many books as I could carry. During one of these excursions I discovered the fabulous Choose Your Own Adventure series of books. I couldn't believe that I had the ability to control the various plots and determine what happens to the characters in each story. This concept of "interactive reading" fascinated me, and I quickly became obsessed with the series.

I had my first taste of historical fiction at the age of 13, when my eighth grade Literature teacher introduced me to the North and South trilogy by John Jakes. Although I'm not the fastest reader in the world, I was so captivated by these books that I literally could not put them down. It took me less than two months to read all 2,500+ pages of the series.

Throughout my high school and college years, I was an avid reader of the classics and devoted much time to the works of William Shakespeare, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, among others. My reading preferences have since expanded to include such genres as contemporary fiction, mysteries and suspense/thrillers.

I was in the midst of re-reading the North and South trilogy when I joined The Book Report Network in October 2002. In addition to various editorial projects, I have the pleasure of working with our marvelous reviewers, emailing them regularly and keeping them up to date on books that are available for review. I always look forward to reading their notes and appreciate the enthusiasm they have for our network of sites.

Working at The Book Report Network has been such an enjoyable and rewarding experience for me. Little did I know that the many months I spent looking for a job --- which was a long and sometimes frustrating process --- would pay off so well.

Marisa Emralino
Editorial Coordinator

I've always been a firm believer in the idea that you can tell the most about people through the littlest details of their personalities. For example, I'm addicted to cooking shows, but I'm a terror in the kitchen. I have an incredibly selective memory, so that I'd be able to tell you what I had for lunch on the first day of kindergarten (PB&J sandwich, a box of apple juice, and a Twinkie that the boy sitting next to me sat on), but I probably won't recall what I did yesterday. I like eating ice cream with a baby's spoon because it makes me feel taller than I really am, and sleeping with my head buried underneath the pillows and my feet sticking out of the sheets. I dislike most puns, and people who spit on the street. I drink more than three cups of tea a day (both caf and decaf), and if weather permitted, I would wear flip-flops all year long. So, what have we learned about me? Absolutely nothing. Remind me to toss this "littlest details" theory out the window.

To get down to the basics, most of my spare time is spent listening to or watching music, eating, taking black and white pictures, and reading as if my life depended on it. Ironically, when I first learned how to read, I detested it. It wasn't until I picked up THE VELVETEEN RABBIT for a second-grade reading assignment that the bookworm in me finally emerged. I found this little story --- about a stuffed bunny who was loved so much by his owner that he became REAL --- so touching that it actually made me cry. I didn't understand until then that words had the power to stir emotions. At that moment, I decided two things: 1) that I would rotate my toys so that they'd all receive an equal amount of Marisa-loving, and 2) that this whole reading thing wasn't so bad after all.

About 15 years, a B.A. in English Literature, and buckets of tears later, my appetite for reading has grown immense, and quite random at times. Currently, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN KEATS sits on my nightstand next to an ALICE IN WONDERLAND pop-up book; a collection of food essays keeps me company during subway rides, while a stack of literary fiction novels occupies the few and rare moments of office downtime. I'll also devour everything from historical fiction to biographies, from humor and pop culture commentaries to poetry and classics. And amidst all of this, I'm ready and waiting for my next good cry.

John Hogan
Contributing Editor: Graphic Novels and Manga

John Hogan is the former editor-in-chief of Pages magazine and has worked in the book industry, in one form or another, for nearly 15 years. He is also a freelance writer and reviewer. A native of Iowa, he grew up reading comics and graphic novels and continues to find them an exciting and mesmerizing format for storytelling. He can be reached at writehogan@gmail.com.

Promotions and Advertising

Mary Dubbs
Promotion Assistant

I am not prone to epiphanies, but I had a really great one my junior year of high school. Some people have the good fortune to read books for a living. Shortly following this discovery, I dropped out of physics and began figuring out how to be one of those people. And while a Promotion Assistant has a lot more to do than read, I think I’ve hit pretty close to my mark, especially for a first “real” job.

I’ve always loved stories, and as a kid, my parents read to me and my three siblings more or less constantly. Some of the highlights were the Little House on the Prairie series, many of the Anne of Green Gables books, The Boxcar Children and ARABIAN NIGHTS, as well as heaps and heaps of picture books (The Stupids was on nearly constant check-out from the library). Books were so omnipresent in our lives that, to this day, we sometimes call my sisters Ramona and Beezus (because they bicker and get into interesting scrapes). 

We barely ever bought books, but I wore the bar code off my library card. I loved ghost stories (THE GHOST IN THE THIRD ROW by Bruce Coville is so great), historical fiction (THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE by Avi --- my favorite book ever) and fantasy (The Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce kept me up all night). And even though I’m technically an adult in several ways (although not old enough to rent a car), my favorite books are still the ones written for kids and teens. 

When I’m not reading, I’m talking to my friends and family in Minnesota, cheering for the Marquette basketball team, watching “Friday Night Lights” on TV, knitting, or (on rare occasions) scuba diving.

Design and Production

Eric P. Rhodes
Web Developer/Producer

I was surrounded by books as a child, as both of my parents love to read. My mother, who still works at the family-owned auto parts store, loves Pop Fiction. My father, a retired Captain of the Hoboken Fire Dept. Rescue Co., has shelves filled with the classics like Sherlock Holmes as well as biographies and autobiographies of prominent figures in American culture.

But it wasn't until the summer after my first year of college that I really wanted to read for fun. I guess seeing all of those books on the shelves eventually had an impact on me. And because I heard about the book in some movie I can no longer remember, I chose The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I probably could've chosen something quicker to read, but I like to challenge myself.

So there I was with my Webster's Pocket Dictionary in one hand and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO in the other. A week later it was finished; I couldn't put it down. I read every chance I could --- on the way to work, at lunch, on car rides, during class and after dinner. Next was THE HOBBIT and thus I began to catch on to the classics that I had missed as a kid. THE CAT'S CRADLE, 1984, THE GREAT GATSBY, THE CRUCIBLE and ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE were soon to follow. It’s been a love affair with books ever since.

Working at The Book Report Network gives me the unique opportunity to work in an industry that interests me personally, exposing me to authors and books I may never have been introduced to. It also feeds my professional interest in graphic design and web developing.

I’ve been called a 20th Century Renaissance man before. I don’t know how true that is, but it probably comes from the range of my interests. When I’m not producing websites for The Book Report Network, I do freelance illustration and graphite portraits and assist award-winning illustrator Tony Capparelli at his Art of Sport workshop.

Vicky Kariolic
Web Producer


When I was a child, neither my parents nor my teachers could understand how someone they saw as intelligent would refuse to read. I was shuffled into remedial reading classes for the first few years of my education. I enjoyed stories, but I hated reading.

All through my grade school years, the hardest thing anyone could get me to read was Nancy Drew, Beverly Cleary or Choose Your Own Adventure. In high school something changed. As a freshman, I was told to read GONE WITH THE WIND. I laughed. I, who hated reading, was going to read this giant super-long novel? I started out by skimming, and failed the first quiz. I sighed and read the chapters --- and was amazed that I couldn’t put it down! Sure that was a good story, but I wasn’t really compelled to read anything independently. Until sophomore year.

My high school handed out suggested reading lists for each grade level. In an attempt to get me to read, my parents pulled all the matching titles from their small collection and put them on a shelf in my room. One fateful day, I was really bored. I had gone through the shelf of books on many occasions, and this time I was determined to read something from it. A title caught my eye, THE HOBBIT. My father would only tell me it was an adventure story.

After I read the book and told my father how fantastic it was, he informed me that there was more. Excited, I asked him for the next book. THE LORD OF THE RINGS did not look as daunting as it did when I was younger. After initially accompanying my father to the neighborhood bookstore, I starting going there on my own.

One of the employees gave me a suggestion: ARROWS OF THE QUEEN by Mercedes Lackey. I ended up joining the fan club after reading this book, and as far as the world is concerned, the rest is history. I have gone through many series, and while I do enjoy stand-alones, I am rarely satisfied by them. I ended up at the bookstore I had frequented, working part-time...for 12 years. I only left to move to New York.

When I walked into the offices of The Book Report Network for the first time in January 2007, I was impressed by the shear volume of books that were in the office. It looked like a smorgasbord and I wanted to dig in. The friendly staff clinched it for me, and I couldn’t wait to become a part of it all. When I was hired, I was ecstatic. It combined the best of several things I love --- books, the Internet and friendly co-workers.

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