Hi. I'm just a dad who reads.

And who has opinions about what he reads. Very strong opinions. About children's books.

I live in the Pacific Northwest with my wife, my 8-year-old daughter, and my 4-year-old son. I work in software during the day, which means I spend a lot of time staring at a screen doing very adult, very reasonable things, and then at 7:30pm I sit on the edge of a bed and read picture books in a series of increasingly embarrassing voices.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s on a steady diet of Roald Dahl, E.B. White, Beverly Cleary, Gary Paulsen, Shel Silverstein, and Choose Your Own Adventure. I read constantly as a kid, to the point where my mom instituted a "no reading at the dinner table" rule that I found profoundly unjust. I still find it unjust. It was a good rule. I've instituted the same rule for my own kids.

When my daughter was born and we started building her book shelf, I discovered two things: (1) there are a staggering number of children's books being published every year, and (2) a meaningful percentage of them are not worth your time or your child's time. There are also genuinely great books — some new, some classics — that I'd never heard of and found only by accident or recommendation.

So I started writing reviews. Not as a professional. Not as someone with a literature degree or any particular credential. Just as someone who reads every night, has read a lot of books twice, three times, a hundred times, and has developed strong feelings about which ones reward that repetition and which ones make you want to "accidentally" misplace them behind the couch.

What I'm looking for in a children's book

Three things, basically:

• Writing quality: Does this hold up as actual writing? Or does it feel like someone filled in a template?
• Read-aloud experience: Is this fun to do out loud? Does the rhythm work? Are there good voices?
• Repeat value: The real test of any kids book is the 30th reading. Some books reveal themselves over time. Others just die.

On nostalgia

I grew up with certain books that I loved deeply. Some of them are still great. Some of them are fine, and I loved them because I was eight. I try to be honest about which is which. I will probably fail at this when it comes to Roald Dahl, who I consider objectively perfect and will not be argued with about.

Disclosures

I buy all the books I review. I don't accept free books from publishers. This site is supported by display advertising (Google AdSense), which pays approximately enough to cover a Starbucks order, but it keeps the lights on. Advertisers have no input on what I review or what I say about books.

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