If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I asked readers to participate in a simple survey a couple of months ago. I knew I had to narrow down my categories, so the main question was which ones you enjoyed reading the most.
- Diversity/Tolerance/Global Awareness
- Especially for Parents
- Folklore, Fairy Tales, and Legends
- Friday Photo Fun
- From my Kids to Yours: Chapter Books **
- Healthy, Green Families **
- Inspiration for Moms **
- Math Resources
- Picture Books – fiction **
- Picture Books – nonfiction **
- Rainy Day Activities
- Raising Readers **
Interesting, isn't it? While you seemed to like the children's literature posts, you didn't really love the specialized ones as much. It surprised me that the diversity, math resources, and folktales categories were not as popular as the more general categories. They're the ones that I feel make this blog unique.
If I were to stop adding to the categories that are not starred, I feel like a part of me would be lost. For example, diversity is a topic that I focused upon throughout graduate school because I think it needs to be discussed more in schools, along with geography and global awareness. It seems people continue to have a resistance to this topic for some reason, which almost makes me think I should write about it more, rather than less. But if you don't want me to, how can I not take that into account?
I haven't added to the "From my Kids to Yours" category in a while because YA books take me a very long time to review, and I can't keep up with everything my children are reading. So unfortunately, I won't be able to add to that one too often anymore.
Please understand that I'm a little different than many other book bloggers in that I do not typically write about newly released books, or ones that I have been asked to review. Most of my time is spent seeking out and sorting through many different books before I select the ones I write about.
I have been asked many times to review certain new books, web sites, and other products, but have done so only when I felt the product was one I would have written about had I discovered it on my own. While I love to learn about new resources, I've found that when I have to stop and look at them (and they pile up), it really becomes a distraction. I prefer to seek out my own materials, so I will not be accepting any new books or product review requests for now.
While I work on my reevaluation of this blog, I will temporarily focus more on literacy and learning than on picture books. I will examine what it means to be a lifelong learner and leader, and will create a new category which directly relates to the raising readers category.
In the meantime, please feel free to let me know if there's a category you'd like me to keep that wasn't one of the favorites. Thank you!
