Who knew there were so many different Bibles to choose from? My Bible App on my phone has 616 versions in 376 languages! So, how do you know which Bible is right for your kids, nieces and nephews, students in the Sunday School you teach or at the camp where you're a counselor? Which version will resonate best with what age group? Over the years my kids have amassed a large collection of Bibles (gifts from baptisms, take homes from Sunday School and VBS, stuffed in Easter baskets and more). I'm not an expert. And I certainly haven't looked through all the Bibles, but I know which ones they keep in their beds, which ones they turn to again and again. My husband picked up Bible Stories (DP 1999) at Cosco in 1999 when it first came out for our then, one year-old, Maddie. The eye-catching illustrations with all of the major stories from the Bible accented by photos of actual Biblical sites and artifacts along with historical facts, have made this book a family favorite -- so much so, that the binding and many of the pages are now taped. Mallory's Sunday School class uses the Adventure Bible (Zondervan). She loves this version with "Did You Know" and "Live It" boxes inserted into the text to make the scriptures relevant to her so much that she asked for it for Easter this year. Max keeps the ESV version in his bed. This is the version his boys' middle school Bible study uses and he's old enough now for a "real" Bible. Maddie has the You Version App of the Bible on her smart phone and on her iPad. She loves having the Bible with her where ever she goes. Not a morning goes by that she doesn't check out "the verse of the day". In fact, she often "shares" it with me or my husband. I'm sure there are many more great kids' Bibles, but these are the additions that resonate with my kids.

Because it's summer, and because it's just so darn good, Mallory is rereading the original Harry Potter book. J.K. Rowling wrote these books intending for kids and the series to grow together. Therefore, each sequential book is a bit more mature and also a bit more dark. If the average third grader read the first book and then waited one and a half years to read each additional book, the timing would be perfect, and when they originally released it was. But now all the books are available, and once you're immersed in the world of Hogwarts, you want to keep reading. The only problem is kids might not be ready. Individual parents need to gauge their own kids, but in our house, you're allowed to read The Sorcerer's Stone in second grade and are permitted to read the next book in the series the following summer - one per year. This allows my kids to mature with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and be prepared for where the plots take them. Mallory has completed the first three books and isn't allowed to read the fourth until next year. At first, she was dismayed. But she's a problem solver, so she just started reading them from the beginning again to get her HP fix. And you know what? It's just as good the second time around!

We are in the car All. The. Time. I have four kids who are super busy and none of them can drive. Today alone we spent two hours and fifteen minutes in the car transporting them to and fro. Since I haven't figured out yet how to read and drive at the same time, we listen to books on CD to pass the time (mainly to make toting around their older siblings more tolerable for Mallory and Maguire). Right now, we're listening to Double Fudge by Judy Blume. It is hilarious. Although Maddie and Max rolled their eyes at a middle grade read, they can't help but laugh out loud when it's playing on our rides. Double Fudge is classic Judy Blume--characters so real, you feel like you know them--a little too well. It's narrated by her, the author herself, in her full on thick New York accent. There's humor about strange relatives, jokes about little brothers, real life questions about what money can and can't buy, how you feel when a pet is sick and how crummy it is when friends move away all peppered into the plot. But mostly it's just plain fun. And a great way to make the drive time not only tolerable, but pleasant.

Maguire reads a couple of Magic Tree House books a week. Thanks goodness Mary Pope Osborne has written more than forty of them. This week he's celebrating Christmas in July and reading A Ghost Tale For Christmas Time. I love all of the Jack and Annie adventures. Osborne has created an incredible series revolving around two ordinary kids time traveling to critical points in history and meeting individuals who have changed history. The books are a nice size for emerging chapter book readers with a picture or two sprinkled into each chapter to keep the readers engaged. This book takes Jack and Annie to England to meet Charles Dickens while he's writing A Christmas Carol. I have to admit, I'm a little jealous.

A few years back, when it was first released, Maddie, Max and I all read the first Percy Jackson book. I really enjoyed the wacky characters and adventures, but because my reading pile is sky high, I never got around to read any of the other books in the series. My kids, on the other hand, kept reading. They moved through the other Percy Jacksons and the Krane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, as well. Now, Maddie is reading the The Mark of Athena, where the Greek and Roman demigods need to collaborate to save the day. As she savors the month and a half before high school starts, and all of the assigned reading that will go with it, I think this fantasy world is a great story for her to escape to.

Max would rather read a Sports Illustrated than a book any day. It's not that he's not a good reader. He is. A very good reader. So much so, that SI Kids bores him, and he delves deep into the talented writing staff week after week of Sports Illustrated. But there are articles in SI that aren't meant for twelve year olds, plus there's something inside me that longs for my son to experience the magic of books, especially the world, places and characters that fiction introduces us to.

When Max was grudgingly searching for a new title for his summer reading, I suggested The New Recruit by Jill Williamson. Knowing Jill, because we're represented by the same literary agent, I had downloaded her YA Christian spy story on my Kindle a few months back. I'd only had a chance to read the first two chapters. The main character, Spencer, is forced to choose between military school and a Christian spy organization and he never seems to put down his basketball. It was worth a shot. It turns out it was a three pointer. Max loved reading on my Kindle, plowed through the book in just a couple of days, and just spent his own money to buy the second book in the series, Project Gemini. He gave The New Recruit five out of five stars. I honestly haven't seem him enjoy a book so much since he read Tim Tebow's Through My Eyes.

Mallory recently pulled out of her older sister's book cupboard the The Blood Diamond Treasure by Heather Gemmen Wilson. I met Heather at the Write to Publish writer's conference way back when I was pregnant with Mallory, so it only seemed fitting for Mallory to dive into one of Heather's books. After getting only 30 pages in, Mallory rushed into my room exclaiming, "Mommy, I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK!!!!" Mallory tends to overdo the explanation marks and facial expressions of life, but these were warranted. The Blood Diamond Treasure is a great read for middle grade girls. It's short enough (around 150 pages) that it doesn't seem daunting. IMing, earbuds and iPods make the story hip and relevant. This adventure laden tale takes the main character, Lydia, to Liberia on a hunt for diamonds while exposing her to the poverty of a third world country. But, this book is more than a mystery or a travel adventure. It is a journey filled with faith and inspiration.