OK, here is what the kids are reading:

Also this:

And also this:

What does it all mean?

I bet, if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know who is reading what. I can tell you that all of these books have been getting rave reviews. It seems like as the kids get older, they love books in a different way. It's not more passionate (what could be more passionate than the way someone loves, say, Stuart Little?). But it feels deeper, and more thought-provoking, and more lasting. And it's all being read against the constant background drumbeat of Terry Pratchett and Frances Hodgson Burnett. I feel like we're making potions, but instead of oils and tinctures we're putting in books—and no one knows what this particular mixture will result in.