Hello everyone! Welcome to a brand new year!
I hope all your holidays were safe and warm and full of treats. Mine was a bit of a whirlwind, but I’m pretty sure it was fun…
Amid many other projects for the year, I’ve got a few goals for this blog, my labour of love Rarest Kind of Best. For one thing I will continue reading my way down the Newbery and Carnegie lists of medal winning books. I’ve already stumbled across a couple buried treasures and anticipate finding many more to share with you!
I’m growing ever more convinced of the need to get our kids reading older novels, to give them a wider experience of language and writing styles, but also historical perspective and context. I also think older books give them a terrific challenge in vocabulary, comprehension and basic stick-to-it-iveness: classic novels move at a slower pace than modern books, and can be oh-so-very LONG!
The other goal I’ve set myself is to mold my RKOB writing into a different format: a monthly online magazine, featuring author profiles, reading lists and links, book and movie recommendations organized by age, and much more. More on that as it progresses, but it seems like an exciting next step for me, if I can find the time and energy to make it happen!
I hope you will keep visiting and exploring and sharing your thoughts!
Best wishes for the new year, and happy reading!
Kim
Rarest Kind of Best 
Feb 24, 2014 @ 19:14:59
Your New Year s activity list is certainly quite the undertaking ! When shopping last year for Christmas gifts of books for children I was bedeviled by the number of titles available, and bewildered by some of their content. Thank you for running this blog, where I can in comfort and quietude consider some titles of value to kids and which also reflect values dear to me.