Reading for kids and parents alike is an opportunity. This is because books transform their readers in such unique ways.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
-Dr. Seuss
Aside from an education standpoint (which is crucial to giving kids strong study skills) books bring together the 4 C’s:
Books build Confidence
Books spark Conversations
Books provide Comfort
Books provoke Creativity
As a busy parent (really, is there a parent out there who isn’t a busy one?), the 4 C’s are something I wish to gift to my daughters each and every day.
This is why Kidment was established.
Our goal is to have it fit in with how children explore their worlds through books—as each child will find the books they’d love to pick up and read.
We help parents find books that are tuned into a child’s interests. This way kids will be fueled to read by what organically fascinates their imaginations—and this will naturally bridge into a life-long love of reading.
This is just one aspect of what sets Kidment apart from all the other ways kids can become stronger readers.
It’s about creating a positive experience in how kids are able to build a greater love of reading.
The Same-old, Same-old
Off the top of your head what are some of the main ways you buy books for your kids?
In most cases you’ll probably mention either of these three methods:
- Bookstore
- Library
- Mail Order/Online
I used to work as a bookstore manager for nearly a decade. So, when I think about buying books for my daughters my instant reaction is take them to a bookstore.
The next best thing to this is to order them books online.
I know some of you might even pick heading out to the library as well. My daughters and I used to go on weekly trips to the library.
Libraries are fun because kids can explore the wide variety of books in real time. There are aisles to navigate in awe.
Yet, keeping up on a weekly routine when there’s homework to worry about, dance class, sports, music, and valuable family time—all that can certainly make the excitement of the library feel like a chore.
Other ways to prevent burnout on the parents side is relying on mail order catalogs.
Kids get excited to shop for books.
Occasionally a Scholastic leaflet catalogs will come home with the girls from school. And my daughters will ask for almost all of the books on the brightly-colored tearaway pages.
Going the catalog route gives you access to the newest and popular books. Whatever keeps them excited about reading is a good thing, right?
But deal with only using this method is there’s a limited choice to order from. Far too often the classics and the books that will actually make kids better readers won’t be on those pages.
While there are mainly choices out there to help parents keep their kids reading on a regular basis, they are all limiting in their own little ways.
I Wanted To Give Them Books for the Whole Year
A couple of family tragedies hit home back-to-back last year. This forced my two girls to putting their attention to the bigger things in life than on school work.
While they always loved to read, this passion showed less and less in their studies by the time winter break came around.
For parents, it’s in our DNA to help set our children up for long-term success.
So, I sought out different ways to help get them to back on course.
After running through a few ideas, I decided to give them books as a holiday present.
I knew they would enjoy the break from experiencing true loss by being able to escape to another reality and just be kids again.
But what would be a unique and special way to gift them the books?
Also, I was looking for a collection of books that would last them the rest of the school year, and ones that would help them become stronger readers in the end.
After having managed a book store for years, I knew how much of an event it can be to go to an actual store.
This was even experienced when we used to take a trip to the library.
Time is a valuable resource. And both of these two options cost a lot of time to be consistent with on a weekly basis.
The thought of getting my girls gift cards, so they can order their books online, seemed rather impersonal although it would save us all time.
What I was hoping to find was a service that would bring together the way children naturally find the books they want to read; one that would save us time in the process; and help to get them on the right track again when they started back to school.
I looked and looked…but never found a service that offered exactly what they needed, or for their age range of elementary students.
It Was Like I Never Left
While doing some holiday shopping I stopped in one of my favorite places—a bookstore.
It’s hard to describe the feeling of being in a bookstore during the holidays without including the words bustling and delightful.
While I wandered through the children’s aisles I was surprised to find a former employee of mine assisting a parent track down a few titles.
It had been nearly two years since he and I last worked together. At that point he was still learning his book acumen to become a solid bookseller.
Now, as I was to find out later, he was in charge of the entire children’s section.
When he was in between helping customers I approached him. We chatted for a bit about the times that passed before he need to step away to assist a grandmother looking for a list of books.
Naturally without a beat, I walked over to the section where the first book would be if it were in stock.
The last time I remembered looking for that particular book it was out of print. This happens from time-to-time (even to great books) when the demand just isn’t there.
Of course my memory was correct.
My friend (and former employee) had to look up the book. As it turned our the book needed to be ordered through a 3rd-party reseller.
Stepping into the role of bookseller brought back a lot of wonderful memories. And it felt strange that I could recall knowledge that seemed lost inside me so easily.
Helping parents and grandparents make reading for kids a priority became a calling I couldn’t shake.
I left the store that evening wishing I could put my experience and knowledge to good use.
It would take me another few months to reconcile these emotions and thoughts into a service designed to help not only my daughters become better readers, but many other children as well.
Reading For Kids Made Easy
Children need to have consistent access to books.
How else can they ever become stronger readers?
However, the books the have need to challenge their current reading levels in the process. Otherwise, they won’t move forward as they need to keep up with their class grade.
This is a given. Just ask any teacher.
As a parent and from the perspective of someone who’s helped other parents find books for their children, I have a unique perspective on this.
I must confess the choices out there to help kids become better readers are just far too limiting.
The idea for Kidment was born out of this frustration.
It’s a way that to give any elementary student (ones like my daughters) regular access to quality books they will want to read.
We want parents to be able to find and pick books based on their child’s interests.
In most all cases a book will be judged by it’s cover…and so will its story.
We books we guide children towards are the same books you’d find on a bookstore shelf, and specially created interactive picture books.
The titles range from classics to modern favorites—just like you would find in any classroom.
But, that’s just one side of what Kidment is about. We’re also focused on improving a child’s reading abilities.
The goal is to match the book difficulty to the child’s reading level.
We have a database of thousands of titles from all the major children’s publishers that we can methodically recommend so any child can progressively increase their reading skills.
What would it mean to your child if they can unlock the mystery of reading for themselves?
Each and every week this will be possible. And in the process it will empower your child to explore more books.
As a parent, you’ll experience the relief of knowing your child isn’t beating themselves up because they can’t seem to get the hang of reading.
This will help your child keep the pace with their grade level while they strengthen their reading skills.
Our goal is to help every child who’s moved beyond the beginning reader level become confident in themselves.
That way they can find the joy of picking up a book rather than shy away from it.
