The method of in-transit trip planning I’m going to show you in this post requires a time investment before the trip. Why put in the time? If you hate rest stop bathrooms and eating facilities with a passion like I do, read on!

My parents love the American West, thanks to all the Wild West movies they watched as children. When my sisters and I were children, my family took many road trips throughout the American West. Endless vistas of rocks, highway, and tumbleweeds, which to my elementary-school eyes were. . . boring.

Carl Hiaasen audiobooks became a family favorite of ours long before Junior was born. Since my partner had worked at Disney, I checked out Native Tongue before we embarked on a long drive. Hiassen’s hysterically funny satirical take on Disney World and rapacious Florida developers clicked with her memories and we spent the rest of the trip laughing over bumbling mango-vole-thieves-turned-habitat-defenders.

“The yarn Jacob was now tying to a bush at the entrance of the labyrinth came from a tailor’s shop in Vena, and there was nothing magical about it except for the skill involved in spinning common sheep wool into a firm thread.  This was going to be their thread of life….”  So opens Chapter 43 of Cornelia Funke’s Fearless. 

One of Junior’s classmates told me excitedly that her afterschool group was going to see It. I didn’t think the school would be screening any Steven King movies and I told her so. Her mother rolled her eyes and said, “She wants to see It, no matter how much I remind her that she doesn’t like feeling scared.”

A two-hour road trip to the beach? With three kids under seven? My mind automatically went to audiobooks. But the only one suitable for elementary schoolers at the library was Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and Junior had been studiously avoiding the chapter book version on our shelves at home. I remembered it as a funny book about a man with a houseful of penguins—but didn’t remember any other plot details. Would a book published in 1938 keep everybody’s attention?

If you're like me and pick up a book with Hilary Knight illustrations to read without even looking at the text, you're in luck! Two New York museums are currently featuring exhibitions of his work. The New York Historical Society is running Eloise at the Museum through October 9, and the New York Public Library’s Performing Arts Library showcases Hilary Knight’s Stage Struck World through October 14.

What did you do on your summer vacation? Contributors Michele Braun and S.J. Bernstein went on a bucket-list vacation to the land of King Arthur. Although they did not find themselves the chosen heirs of the Once and Future King--that honor belongs to Matilda Jones, who pulled a sword out of Dozmary Pool in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall--they report that they had a wonderful trip!

I’ve read all of the Little House books many times, but Farmer Boy, which doesn’t feature the Ingalls family at all, is my favorite. Malone, New York, site of the Wilder homestead is a five-hour drive from where we live. While we were reading the book, we told Junior, “Someday, we’ll visit Almanzo’s house.”

My biggest tip for parents of young readers is:

Have books around that everyone likes to read.
 

Everyone is the operative phrase here. If you can't stand the book, you're not going to like reading it to anyone. If your child doesn't like the book, she or he is not going to want to sit and read it. When you're building your family's library, be very selective. It's not you--90% of kids' books are terrible.