Celebrate with Jen Robinson

Today, at her book page, Jen Robinson talks about the fact that she’s now been blogging for eight years. Hard to believe, but then I also can’t believe that her little girl, “Baby Bookworm,” is so clearly not a baby anymore or that my son, for whom I have used Jen’s page as a great book resources, is heading to college next year. But, yes, okay, sure, it’s been eight years.

This is just a quick post to celebrate Jen and her blog. Jen’s Book Page was one of the first I found when I started reading blogs. Even though, as she says, Jen chose an engineering path and I totally did the English major-Victorian novels-lots of papers route, I connected with Jen over the fact that, as adults, we both still read kids books. A lot. Possibly even the majority of the time. Without a touch of embarrassment. And her passion about and commitment to getting kids reading and sharing the best kidlit with adult readers struck home for me, in a huge way. Jen has also led me to the Cybils awards site, from which I pretty much build my year’s reading list and where I return whenever I run out of something to ready (yes, it happens) or am stuck trying to find a book to gift. And I’m pretty sure Jen is the reason I started blogging, because–if I remember correctly–it was while I was leaving a comment on one of her posts that I thought, “Wow. This is a really long comment. This comment is practically as long as an actual blog post. Hmm. Maybe I should…”

Jen’s reviews are thorough, intelligent, and just detailed enough to get you intrigued without dropping any spoilers. She’s honest about her reaction to a book, sharing what she sees as pluses and minuses. In her post, she mentions the “reviews” she’s written about the books her daughter loves, even when Jen doesn’t always agree. I’m loving these posts, partially because they really show how kids’ tastes can differ from ours, but also because Jen’s thoughts so reflect what all parents go through, who–in trying to pass on their love of books–hit little heffalump traps along the way.

I’m pretty sure that everybody who reads my blog reads Jen’s, but in case you haven’t actually dropped in there yet, do. You’ll be welcomed into a wonderful world of books and reading. And stop by to tell Jen congratulations!

Happy Anniversary, Jen!