Today I celebrate my fifth blog-birthday!  And what a marvelous five years it has been. 

A huge thank you to all of my fellow kids lit bloggers who have created a community filled with warmth and acceptance for all.  Rather like our library shelves that way, ain’t it? 

Recently we have heard lots of bloggers (and not only in kid lit land) talk of the ongoing grind of blogging, the pressure of accepting books to review, and the guilt of not being able to do it all.

Here is my advice as one of the ancient blogging aunties:  DO IT FOR YOU.  There is no responsibility to the publishers.  There is no guilt about not liking a book, not being willing to review it, not having the time to even crack the cover.  This is about you.  Your love affair with the written word.  Your joy of discovery.  Your blog.  Your words.  Your passion.  This is your space and it should be free of such worldly worries and fretting.   Write what you want, shout it to the heavens, rant, rave, but be you and do it for you.  That’s all.  No expectations.  Just you.

And so this is just me.  Thank you for reading for all these years.  Thank you for sharing your comments.  Thank you for being part of my passion for children and books and the magic of combining the two.