httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKIEkuYZ9RY

Flipping through the newest issue of Parents Magazine, I  read about this website, wegivebooks.org, where you can read tons of childrens books online and for each book you read, they donate a book to the literacy charity of your choice – We Give Books writes that they are “a digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don’t have them, simply by reading online.”

Signing up and using the website is ridiculously easy. They organize the books by age or newest editions to the site. MM and I have read 5 books online together (and donated 5 books to our campaign, Conspiracy for Good which helps Nadirah, a schoolteacher from Zambia, as she travels to London to replace 10,000 kidnapped books that were intended for a new library for her 5th graders in Chataika village. This is just one of the campaigns available on the website but it’s the one that spoke to me immediately.

Some of the books are better than others, obviously, since that is true of all books. But I was really impressed with the quality of the books as well as the online reading experience. “Flipping pages” is easy and the loading time was quick even on my computer which is a known memory hog. My favorite book right now would have to be Ladybug Girl at the Beach by Jacky Davis and David Soman. The story was well written but it was the illustrations that really blew me away – David Soman’s work is just incredible and conveys so much emotion, so simply. This is a book I want to buy for my children right now, along with a few other Ladybug Girl books I’d imagine, since – lucky me! – it’s part of a series!

So definitely check out We Give Books and if anyone is wondering what the kids would like for Christmas – the Ladybug Girl books are VERY high on our list right now!