Top 20 Most Popular Posts in Five Years of Blogging

I started this blog on the 26th December 2007. I wrote the first half dozen posts while on holidays in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. My aim was simple, I wanted to offer posts that might be of use to teachers, parents, university students and their lecturers. The aim was to offer a strong emphasis on literature because in 2007 it seemed to me that there was reduced interest in books and holistic approaches to creating passionate, critical and effective readers and writers. There were few readers at first but eventually, people found the blog. I have written 288 posts since at the rate of approximately one per week (all I have time for). There were just 11,322 visitors in 2008. This has risen to over 150,000 in 2012.

In honour of being the most read post

I haven't always been able to tell exactly which posts people will read most. Sometimes I'm surprised how simple posts written quickly can strike a chord and bring many visitors. At other times I labour for hour over a post and receive less visits. Anyway, here are the 20 most read posts in the last 5 years (with unique visitor numbers in brackets).

Mr Men Turns 40 (43634)
Your Baby Can Read, Part 1 (36105)
Chapter Books for Girls 6-12 Years Old (16904)
The Wind in the Willows Turns 100! (12933)
Emergent Comprehension in Children Under Five (12195) 
When Do Children Start Writing? (10154)
Key Themes in Children's Books: Conquering Fears (9619)
Your Baby Can Read, Part 2 (9232)
250 Great Children's Books (8379)
A Search for Meaning, the Heart of Literacy (7948)
The Role of Adults in Children's Play (7830)
Eight Strategies to Help Children Become Better Spellers (7711)
Ten Great non-fiction Books for Children aged 5-12 years (6940) 
Author Focus: Pamela Allen (6304)Making Reading Exciting for Boys (6225)
25 Great Children's Apps to Stimulate Literacy, Learning & Creativity (5987)
Alice the iPad and New Ways to Read Picture Books (5825)
2012 Newbery & Caldecott Medal Winners Announced (5604)
Enrichment for Gifted & Talented Children (3879)
Your Baby Can Read - Part 3 (3013)

Thank you for reading my blog. Thank you especially for those who link to my site, recommend it to others, make comments, tweet posts, and for faithful followers who come back again and again. I look forward to having you drop in again during 2013.

 Happy New Year to all!