Barnes and Noble

Due to Christmas (and/or perhaps Kwanzaa) this week today's work day was rather quiet so I took our daughter to the local Barnes and Noble (B&N) book store for story reading time. Personally I don't mind being suckered into a store via such an event since exposing children to reading in many forms is essential. Yes B&N got US$4.00 out of me for a new book for our daughter but that is worth the money to not only have her see the joy of reading but to also have a chance to interact with children in a social setting.

One small boy for instance took the toy train from our daughter that she was playing with before he even entered the "B&N Junior" play area. His grandmother never said anything to him so I had to offer a comment to her and comfort our daughter. Now perhaps my wife will appreciate why I want the kids in martial arts classes!!

But let's get back to the books -- one section of books that I love reviewing at B&N is the "Summer Bridge" series which is designed for use with young students to "bridge" them across the long summer break so they don't lose part of what they learned the year before. For US$13.00 I don't believe this essential tool is out of reach for any family living in poverty in the USA since it is an amount that equals the "one large pizza" amount I so often hear in policy debates especially when it comes to property tax increases.

Invest in children by cutting taxes,

Todd