Several weeks ago, my daughters “graduated” from the third grade. The final day of the school year was an unusually warm June day, and after pizza and games, their teacher said goodbye for the summer after extracting a solemn promise – to read “at least 10 books” during their time away.

Ten chapter books in 10 weeks, I reminded them on our drive home – a healthy dose, remembering the pile at my bedside. Easy, they promised, no problem.