We sell read-aloud stories, which you can also read for free. Visit our Bookshelf page and pick one today!

Heya <<First Name>>,

Before it was a movie, “The Princess Bride” was a book. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction.

“

What happened was just this: I got hooked on the story.

For the first time in my life, I became actively interested in a book. Me the sports fanatic, me the game freak, me the only ten-year-old in Illinois with a hate on for the alphabet wanted to know what happened next.

What became of beautiful Buttercup and poor Westley and Inigo, the greatest swordsman in the history of the world? And how really strong was Fezzik and were there limits to the cruelty of Vizzini, the devil Sicilian?

Each night my father read to me …

”

The power of reading aloud is almost … inconceivable.

Happy reading.

Jeff, Bob, and Zoe …
… who believe that reading with kids can change the world for the better

PS. I post a new, expert-recommended book each Monday on our Facebook group page. Check out this week’s and let us know what books you and yours are digging these days.

Our latest read-aloud continues …

Barnaby, Scarlet’s nemesis in “Scar and the Wolf.” (Illustration by Madeline Barber.)

The past few weeks, we’ve been telling the story “Scar and the Wolf,” complete with new illustrations.

We’ll publish “Scar” this fall, along with the second book in the series, “Moldylocks and the Bear.” But for now, you can read it free on our Storyblog.

“Scar and the Wolf” is an early-grade chapter book. It’s basically “Red Riding Hood” as a lovable zombie girl. And, I hope, it’s more than that. Beyond having fun with the premise, I wanted to dig into the ways we transition out of childhood and begin to grow up.

This week, Scarlet gets stuck in a dark and squishy place and has to summon all her ingenuity to try and free herself.

Here’s an excerpt.

Scarlet pictured herself and suddenly started to giggle. The cloak now smelled like wolf stomach, as well as squirrel pee. Her boa was a limp string of damp feathers. Her hair a sodden tangle. Her nosehole a snot factory. Her shoes shorn of sequins. She shook with laughter.

“What is it, Scarlet?” asked Grandma.

“I was just imagining what the Threadheads would think if they saw me,” she gasped. “They’d hurl.” Grandma Bone started to laugh and the two held each other, shaking at the absurdity of it all.

Suddenly Scarlet shouted, “Grandma! That’s it!”

Contents