Books Open a Doorway to a Lifetime of Imagination & Adventure

What was your favorite book as a child?  Chances are, you first had a favorite bedtime story.  Once you started going to school -- and especially when you learned how to read -- a new favorite likely emerged.

No matter our age or the things we find interesting, books will always be  at the center of our lives.  

• Books create special bonding memories with our parents and the people who lovingly read to us before we could even sit up on our own.
• Books help develop our vocabulary and help us learn to use our imaginations.
• Books help us dream about what we will be when we grow up.
• Books help us learn about ourselves and the world around us.
• We use books to gain greater knowledge about the subjects, crafts, hobbies, and career paths that we'd like to explore.
• Books play a key role in our overall literacy.  Regular readers tend to do better at spelling, grammer, punctuation, sentence structure and conveying complete thoughts.
• Books entertain us, and they often have a subtle way of inspiring future authors!

​​​​​​​Books are magical -- or at least they used to be!  As society changes, the innocence of childhood is being eroded.  Parents, caregivers, and grandparents now feel compelled to pre-screen the content of children's books to ensure their most precious possessions are not being exposed to things that are inappropriate, offensive, or focus on identity politics or promoting a victim mentality.  How do I know?  Because I pre-screen every book before they are bought or gifted to my own grandchildren.

Young minds are being barraged with anything but the magic of childhood and my heart breaks at the undue anxiety it is causing.

Awe & Wonder Academy was created to help offset at least some of the craziness and give children the joy of simply being entertained by things that they find interesting, fun, and educational.

My hope is that you find books you're excited to share with the young people in your life, and those same young people enjoy them enough to ask for them to be read by you again and again.  With any luck, well-worn copies of these treasured books will find themselves on your family's bookshelves for generations to come.