Habitual Reader Profiles - Page 2

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	Name: Cheryl Spanos
	State: California
	Vocation / Avocation: Mom / Aspiring author

Why I'm a Habitual Reader:

My journey as a habitual reader began in the fifth grade with a furry-toed Halfling named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo's travels took him There and Back Again. I went with him, but never came back. My next summers were filled with Frodo's adventures, as my siblings and I fought over installments of The Lord of the Rings. From there, reading transported me to other worlds, those of the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Dickens, and Dumas.

The birth of my own children brought with it the opportunity to pass a love of books down to the next generation. What could be better than a small child snuggled in your lap, their chubby fingers clutching a beloved picture book. Their favorites were read over and over, Dr. Seuss or The Caboose Who Got Loose. Torn pages and ripped bindings were no obstacle. You knew the words by rote anyway and could recite them in your sleep.

My children no longer fit on my lap, but I still read aloud to them. And sometimes they read to me. Nowadays, it's chapter books. Together, we have thrilled at the perils of Harry Potter and the good creatures of Redwall Abbey. I snoop through the books they select from the library, nabbing them for a quick read if one catches my fancy. They are not just for children, you know.

Don't expect to find me browsing titles in the "grown-up" section of a bookstore either. I'll be in the Young Reader and Young Adult sections with my kids, scouting for finds among the stacks like a Niffler sniffing out bright, shiny objects.

My List of Ten: Beyond Harry Potter (Ten great reads for your tween...and you)

1. Redwall (series)
Author: Brian Jacques

2. The Hobbit
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

3. Which Witch?
Author: Eva Ibbotson

4. The Thirteen Clocks
Author: James Thurber

5. Anne of Green Gables
Author: L.M. Montgomery

6. Half-Magic
Author: Edward Eager

7. The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster

8. Watership Down
Author: Richard Adams

9. Holes
Author: Louis Sachar

10. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Author: C.S. Lewis

Have you read any of these titles? Review one now.

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