I was excited to get to review a story meant for younger girls.  It was a chance for me to see what types of books are being newly offered to children my daughter’s age. Reading has always been a great escape for me, and I see my daughter doing the same.  Providing her with books that are age-appropriate and sensitive to her innocent spirit is such a big responsibility to me.   Sometimes she asks to read books that are a little too mature for her (she’s 8 years old).  While I know that she’s able to read and comprehend the story, I very much want to protect her from adult themes or language until she’s old enough to really understand it.  Let’s face it, our kids are exposed to way too much these days. Why not let them be kids for a little longer?

That’s why I really liked Life with Lily .   Lily is an Amish child who really has a fun, spunky spirit.  She engages in the typical kid stuff and gets into typical kid messes.  Overall, this is just a good clean read for kids.   Little things like a candy bar from a vending machine become a big fascination.  My kids don’t realize how many luxuries they have—–reading the story from Lily’s point of view just makes it all seem so different.  I’m so glad that this is going to be a series.  Series books are always a treat because the story doesn’t just end with the last page of the book…..you can be assured that another story is coming.    The only thing I would have changed about this book was the cover.  My daughter wasn’t really interested in the book at first because it just didn’t look like a story she’d read.  Including farm animals (especially a horse) or something of that nature would have really made this more appealing for kids.  This would be a GREAT read-aloud book for third grade classrooms.