Move Over Harry Potter, Here’s Something Furrier

 

It was a beautiful day here on Friday, so I shooed the kids outside.  If it gets above 40 degrees in Indiana in March you best get your heiny outside and enjoy it.  Chances are in another day or two you'll be freezing that very same heiny off. 

It also happened to be the day that Grandpa Paul came to visit.  We hadn't seen him since Eli's birthday in  August, so naturally we celebrated Christmas.  And Christmas for Elena came in the form of the next two books in the Warriors series that she's fanatical about.  So she obediently went outside, but there was no frolicking in the warm air.  It's a good thing we have this swing set available to prop her up.

She's getting to the age and the reading level now where I can't possible pre-read everything she gets her hands on anymore.  I try to rely on suggestions from school and peers to keep her challenged, but not in over her head as far as the maturity of the topics in the books.  This Warrior stuff threw me for a loop, though.

First of all, I'd never heard of it.  It doesn't help that it's about cats (not a big fan) and it's in the fantasy genre (also, not a big fan).  But she came home from school talking incessantly about Shadow Clan and Rain Paw and hairballs and such, and so I thought I would nice and take her to the library so she could get her own copy of the book.  I'm having no luck finding it anywhere in the children's section, so I ask the librarian.  Yes, she knows of the series, but no, it's not in the children's section . . . it's in young adult! I had visions of Elena checking out Warriors along with Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 

But we went with it, and she loves them, and as far as I can tell they're just fine.  I count my blessings that I have to worry about what she's reading instead of if she's reading. 

I do hope the obsession with cats passes sooner rather than later.  All this meowing and walking around on all fours is a bit tiresome.  I think I preferred it when she was in her pioneer phase, parading around the neighborhood in her long dress and bonnet.  There was that one awkward moment when the neighbor thought we were fundamentalists, but other than that it was just fine.