Ages

An interest in books that starts during childhood can lead to much more than academic success. Teenage volunteer Shruti Vadlakonda reveals how a love of reading resulted in friendships that would help her navigate middle school. Think about how you’ve met your closest friends. Mostly for me, I’ve become friends ...

Najla Albeayeyz is a BookSpring volunteer from Saudia Arabia who started a book club during her junior year of high school!  Starting a book club with friends is easy, and Najla has advice on how to keep it going.  Read on for tips on how to implement this fun activity! ...

Are you looking for some great books to read at home with your kids? We recommend these titles for the pre-kinder and kinder bound kids in your life. Review by Barbara Campos  Inside Out Box of Mixed Emotions by Brittany Candau Learn about five different emotions (Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger ...

Shabeeba recommends these stories to fill your summer days. In addition to reviewing books for us, Shabeeba volunteers with the Islamic Circle of Noth American Austin Chapter Food Pantry. Recommended for kids age 9-12, and young adults  Holes by Louis Sachar  Louis Sachar’s Holes is an intricate and satisfying novel ...

Venus shares the power of reading with her reviews of some of her favorite Dr. Seuss books! Reading these Dr. Seuss classics is a wonderful way to bond with young ones at home and stimulate their imaginations. Read one of these stories and afterward work on a craft project as ...

BookSpring volunteer reviewer Barbara Campos is back with another round of reviews! From books that emphasize the value of kindness to a love for animals, these works are sure to elevate the quality of your child’s home library. Read on for Barbara’s take! Moo, Baa, La La La! By Sandra ...

We are teaming up with Generation Serve to promote literacy this summer and beyond! Kids and teens are sharing with us some of the books they are reading over the summer. Here are some recommendations.  Recommended for kids age 9 – 12  Aru Shah and the End of Time by ...

Sammer from Generation Serve is back with some summer book recommendations for you. These fantasy adventures are sure to help teens and adults travel to many destinations from their living rooms. Books are a great tool for satisfying your wanderlust!  The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien Bilbo Baggins is a self-respecting ...

Shruti is a BookSpring volunteer who enjoys Young Adult fiction thrillers. If you need an escape from reality, be sure to check out these book reviews and add to your summer reading list.  Skyward by Brandon Sanderson  Skyward by Brandon Sanderson is a thrilling novel about a girl named Spensa ...

Volunteer blogger Destinee McGhee returns with an eclectic selection of books to review for BookSpring! In honor of Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month, we recommend these titles featuring stories of tailors, journalists, and athletes. See below for Destinee’s reviews! Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim Maia Tamarin is ...

Sylvie is a seventeen-year-old who loves reading!  She is virtually volunteering with BookSpring to “spread kindness to others and put a smile on someone’s face!”  We are honored to have Sylvie share her recommendations for some great Young Adult books with us. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas The ...

Reading is a great activity to relax and calm anxious nerves. We recommend families read together twice a day to reduce stress. Barbara Campos is a BookSpring volunteer with a passion for books and reading. She recently compiled a list of children's books, for the kid in your life spending ...

In honor of National Volunteer Week (April 19th – April 25th), BookSpring is highlighting contributions from volunteers, who are critical to making our operations possible throughout the region of Central Texas. BookSpring’s temporary transition to working remotely has provided us with the occasion to spotlight volunteers who have made a ...

In honor of National Volunteer Week (April 19th – April 25th), BookSpring is highlighting contributions from volunteers, who are critical to making our operations possible throughout the region of Central Texas. BookSpring’s temporary transition to working remotely has provided us with the occasion to spotlight volunteers who have made a ...

Destinee has a passion for books and reading! Here are her Young Adult book recommendations for you. These books are available on Amazon. Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish By Pablo Carta At six feet tall and 180 pounds, eighth-grader Marcus Vega is usually seen as a threat by pretty much ...

Students from Gorzycki Middle School are helping BookSpring remind kids reading can help them learn and grow. They are reminding all Central Texas families how inspirational and important books can be. A special thank you for helping launch The Must Read Series for kids, which features book recommendations by kids ...

Students from Gorzycki Middle School are helping BookSpring remind kids reading can help them learn and grow. They are reminding all Central Texas families how inspirational and important books can be. These middle schoolers launched the Must Read Series for kids. These are book recommendations by kids for kids and ...

Parents and caregivers looking for wonderful non-fiction and board-book style e-books will be thrilled by Unite for Literacy's free browser-based platform, where all you need to enter is a zip code to access a library full of digital books ...

By Ashley Haustein Like many 30-year-olds, I grew up loving Harry Potter. The magical Hogwarts castle, professors who could turn into cats, and flying broomsticks captured me in a way no other story did. Last summer, my book club decided to put a “pause” on reading books written for adults ...

Liam H. held a book drive for our literacy programs in lieu of presents for his 11th birthday party. Thanks to his friends at St. Austin Catholic School they collected books to share with other children in Central Texas. Thanks Liam for helping us provide children in Central Texas with 20 ...

Social science research shows a statistically significant correlation between the size of home libraries and children’s future academic success. According to Unite for Literacy’s book desert map, which analyzes variables including income, ethnicity, geography and languages, at least 70% US households have fewer than 20 children’s books in the home ...

By Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director The tradition of book gifting has been studied scientifically by researchers in education and healthcare for many years.  Practices include bookmobiles, little free libraries, and other early literacy interventions and social programs at the regional, national, and global levels. We at BookSpring look to ...

Manor Independent School District (MISD) has been celebrating literacy all summer long! Children and families can explore reading aboard the "Reading on the Go" Manor book bus. The traveling book bus has been making stops around Manor helping families build their book collection one book at a time. Through a ...

by Christy Anderson It makes sense: the more a child reads, the better a child gets at reading. But studies show that being read to is just as critical to a child’s growing literacy and language development, even in very young children, including infants and toddlers. Even Children Who Can’t ...

Submitted by Altaira Wallquist I can’t ever remember not loving to read. My mom tells me that on the way home from my first day of Kindergarten, I was disappointed because we didn’t learn to read the first day. I did learn by Christmas and I’ve been in the middle ...