Useful guides for parents
Practical answers, no fluff, clear about trade-offs.
The family book club
How we'd run one that kids come back to, plus ready-made discussion questions for every book.
Every classic by reading level
Lexile, AR level, grade and age for every book we host, easiest first, with notes on why the number you found online may belong to a retelling.
How to read these free books on any device
Every book here is a free EPUB — here's the easiest way to open one on a Kindle, iPad, phone, or computer. Two minutes, no jargon.
To device or not to device
Kindle Kids vs. regular Kindle vs. iPad vs. Fire tablet vs. the phone you already own — real pros and cons from the raising-a-reader angle, not the spec sheet.
Why I went with a normal Kindle
The Kids bundle fills your child's shelf for you. We set up a regular Kindle with a fresh account instead, so the library only holds books we chose. Here's the exact setup, tested in our house.
How to use the movie to spark the book
The movie can be the better door into a classic — how we run movie-first, and its reverse, with the trailer up front and movie night as the finish line.
Why you should read them too
The classics are shorter than you remember, better than you remember, and the ingredient that makes everything else on this site work. A case for reading along.
Abridged, illustrated, or the original?
The same classic title can hold five different books — abridgments, retellings, graphic novels, the original. How to tell them apart, and how to pick the right one for your reader.