Hail and well met! Having now perused all 8642 messages posted in the month of November, I'll say the following: 1) I agree with most recommendations for beginning books, and would include Jane Langton's _The Swing in the Summerhouse_ and _The Diamond in the Window_. The latter has Ralph Waldo Emerson running all through it! Also Alan Garner (Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Elidor). Eager, Nesbit, LeGuin, L'Engle and yes, Dahl, are all great young adult books. Whatever happens, do NOT allow children to read Dahl's adult work, which is wicked and quite funny and they absolutely don't deserve *weg*. My dad says I was born reading - I finished all LoTR before I was 8, got obsessed with vampires when I was 10 (thus my first training as a researcher) and read _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_ TWICE in the summer of my 6th grade year because yes, I was really bored. As Steve says, its not what we read that sets us apart, its that we read at all. 2) Liver is good, but only in a nice pate. 3) The One True Stuffing is Mrs. Cubbisons, with a pinch of Pepperidge Farm thrown in. The Only Acceptable Additions are celery and water chestnuts. After 15 years, the family still argues about the celery. 4) I like to read in total silence so nothing interferes with the movie in my head. 5) As Queen of the Universe and Goddess (Acting), who am I to deny the possibility of other deities? Do carry on. Qryz "To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet sheath." --George Eliot 1819-1880 _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail