judy, judy, judy i love you...

've been into a young readers' craze since last year - which i suspect is largely due to the fact that i'm a mum trying to cultivate good reading habit in her kids - and still haven't gotten out of it.

kiddie books are obviously easier to digest, with simple story lines which make for light reading and won't tax your brain cells too much. life is already stressful and complicated as it is, and ploughing through dan brown's elaborate twist and turns thrillers isn't exactly what i want to pick up after a gruelling day at work and tucking the boisterous kids in bed. i've already blown a few hundred dollars on dr. seuss (hardcover) books and now own about 95% of his entire collection. both xian and wen love his ridiculously witty and funny rhymes and i try to read 1 or 2 books every night before they sleep.

last year, when i was browsing through the shelves to buy birthday books for my nieces and nephew, i was picking our roald dahl's collection. then i decided that my eldest niece, who turns 11 this july, should be reading something a little "more advanced" and that's when i recalled my first "coming-of-age" teen book by judy blume entitled Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret? and i got a copy for her (it's all wrapped up and i'm waiting for july to give it to her). i also picked up another judy blume book for her younger sister (who'll be 9 this july as well) and got her Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, which is the 1st of 5 fudge books.

i was fascinated by the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing book cover and when i read the first few lines of the chapter, i was hooked and suddenly remembered why i love judy blume! and of course, since i have an anal habit of buying my books from the same publisher / similar artwork and design, i had to raid several bookshops to get all 5 of the fudge books. then, i hid the books in my drawer, waiting for an appropriate time to read them... :)

here's presenting the fudge series:

of course, since they weren't displayed openly on my bookcase, i conveniently forgot about their existence until last week when i was packing my maternity bag, getting ready for the delivery. i emptied my drawers to file my clinic receipts and scans of terrorliza, and found the books neatly stashed in the corner.

my initial plan was to pack them in my maternity bag so that i could read them in the hospital when i was bored. but they looked so inviting...

...so during the easter weekend, i dug out all 5 books and promised myself that i'd complete reading them. (not a mean feat as they're pretty thin and meant for 9-12 year olds. and if i managed to devour the last harry potter novel in 48 hours, it wasn't going to be a challenge.)

it was well worth the wait. i even posted a short review in my facebook iread:

"it doesn't matter if you're 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years young! this fudge series is a light-hearted take on sibling rivalry and the pressures of coping with peer influence. great for young kids with siblings and parents with young kids. ;) love this"

now my only problem is that i've to find some other alternative reading material during my stay in the hospital...

by the way, i'm not sure if anyone has heard of johnny tillotson's classic judy judy judy, but that's where i got this blog title from. ;)