Read-Aloud Book Review: Ling and Ting are Saving Our Lives

     Adora, Juno, and I love, love, LOVE to read! We spend a good amount of time reading every day, which I personally think is good for all of us. It gives Adora and Juno time to recharge, relax, and regain energy (so that they can return to being their energetic and effervescent selves for the rest of the afternoon), it allows us to learn new things and strengthen reading skills, it helps us connect out weekly themes with information and pictures (I often get books that relate to our themes), and it's a lovely time for us all to be together. I love reading, and I'm trying to pass some of that love onto them. Plus, I really, really enjoy reading out loud. And recently, the kidlets do, too! 

Our book pile. Featuring the boxed I have packed to take to uni, because I'm too lazy to crop them out. Maybe I like my pictures better raw? It's more authentic, probably. Don't judge.

     This has brought up one, little tiny issue: finding appropriate out-loud reading material for Juno. Adora always reads aloud to us from Junie B. Jones; she is amazing. She does hilarious voices for each of the characters and puts a ton of emotion into reading. You can really tell how much she loves to read! We love hearing her read, too.
 Juno, however, is a lot younger than Adora, and is less practiced at reading aloud. I love hearing her read stories, but Adora is generally not as patient with it as I am, which I understand (it's hard to be the oldest, and while she's generally very patient and understanding, this is one thing that she finds less easy to tolerate). As much as Juno longs to read us chapter books, it's a bit much for her (and a bit trying on Adora's patience), and picture books just aren't classy enough for her. We needed something in between, but I was having trouble finding that thing.

Enter Ling and Ting, my summer saviors.

Ling and Ting books are amazing, for these, and many more, reasons:

A. Ling and Ting books are short and aimed at younger children, but they are cute, and they are hilarious. The stories are at Juno's reading level, yet they easily capture Adora's attention (which isn't always easy to catch).

B. Ling and Ting books have chapters, which makes Juno feel super fancy (her basic reaction to seeing the chapters was, "Now that's classy, partner.") and accomplished, but the chapters are short, so she doesn't feel overwhelmed when attempting to finish one. Amazing. 

C. We need more diverse books in the world, and Ling and Ting are helping with that effort.w The protagonists are Chinese, and the book features stories in which they practice with chopsticks and make their own dumplings, amongst many other cool and interesting stories. I love reading books that features diverse characters with the girls, and they love these stories, so it's a win-win!

D. Grace Lin wrote the book, and she is a gift to this godforsaken world. All of her books and super diverse, super interesting, super well written, and super worth reading. 

To recap, pretty much every day, the girls and I would have a conversation along these lines:

Juno: "I want to read!"

Adora: "PLEASE don't let her read!"

And it was frustrating, because I wanted everyone to be happy, but there was no way for me to make it happen. Ling and Ting have completely eliminated this, and have SAVED OUR LIVES, I tell you. 

Also, this post is 100% not sponsored? I'm honestly just so hype about this book, man. 

What books are you and your kidlets enjoying this summer? Let me know in the comments! We could totally use recommendations.

Juno is reading and EVERYONE IS HAPPY (!!)

(Also, the lights are off. Like a movie theatre, obviously) 

PS: I was really tempted to add "by Fall Out Boy" to the end of this title, but I restrained myself.

PPS: If you didn't watch the Elmify video I linked to earlier, you're missing out, because she's amazing and a creative genius.