By way of introduction, my name is Jenny Brown, and I choose the books for Readeo’s library. For more than 20 years, I have been immersed in the world of children’s books–editing them, promoting them, teaching with them, and (for the past decade) reviewing them.
Our goal at Readeo is to offer you the best books available for you to read together with the young people in your life. We have always believed that books bring people together, and now with Readeo, even if you are separated from your loved ones by physical distance, books can bring you together.
In my family, we read aloud together for as long as I can remember. I have a brother four years younger than I am, so as soon as I could read, I read aloud to him. When I was about seven, we joined the I Can Read Book Club, and as I read to my brother, he could start to recognize words and phrases and join right in, reading in unison. As an elementary school teacher, I read to my students every day. Reading together gave us a common frame of reference, a shared language and characters and events we could refer to throughout the days and weeks to come. The experience of reading a book aloud together is one of the best ways to create shared memories—especially when you’re apart. But you already know that because you’re here! So let’s get started.
The first time you engage in a Readeo Bookchat, we want you to have the most positive experience possible. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
1. Take a “scroll” through the Readeo library. In the Readeo library, we have many terrific titles to choose from, so it may help to pick out a few for your first Bookchat. For dog lovers, there’s Lost and Found by Jim LaMarche, and adventurous children will feel a kinship with the hero of Mighty Max by Harriet Ziefert. For children who revel in a slightly longer tale with a thickening plot, The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen is one they’ll want to return to again and again. And this month, it’s our Featured Book! Each month we will have a Featured Book that you can read all the way through, even if you’re not yet a Readeo subscriber.
2. Create a Bookshelf for yourself. Add any books you think your young reader might enjoy to your bookshelf. That way you’ll have them ready to go when you connect for a Bookchat.
3. Create a Bookshelf for your young reader(s). Your young readers can create a bookshelf before you’re connected or while you’re connected. The important thing is that as you discover books you enjoy reading together, your young readers can choose the titles they wish to add to their own bookshelves. Even when you’re not connected in a Bookchat, your young readers can preview books and add them as contenders to read together the next time you are connected.
We hope you enjoy Readeo, and that you’ll let us know what you think!
With all my best,
Jenny
jenny@readeo.com
