Reading Goals

Harleen

Read to improve focus

Our Reading Progress

Books Read

60

Goal: 60

Pages Read

233

📚 THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: THE MS READATHON FINAL BOSS HAS ARRIVED 😂

31 DAYS. 53 BOOKS. $187 RAISED.

And somehow… WE STILL HAVE TONIGHT.

It is the final day of August, which means Harleen's MS Readathon challenge is almost complete.

But "almost" apparently isn't good enough for this tiny overachiever.

There are still books to be read.

There are still pages to turn.

There are still bedtime stories to be demanded.

And there is still a very real possibility that Mum will be sitting on the couch tonight at 11:58pm, desperately whisper-reading a picture book while Harleen casually eats a snack and wonders why everyone is so stressed. 😂

When we started this challenge, I genuinely had no idea how many books we'd get through.

I certainly didn't expect to be sitting here on the last day of August with 53 books already ticked off.

Fifty-three!

That's enough books to make me question whether we actually have a toddler or a very small librarian who has been secretly moonlighting at the local library.

And the best part?

We're not finished yet.

Tonight is the final push.

The literary equivalent of the final lap.

The bookish grand final.

The bedtime boss battle. 😂📚

Will we reach 54?

55?

60?

Will Harleen suddenly discover a renewed passion for Where the Wild Things Are at 10:47pm?

Will she request the same book approximately 14 times?

Will Mum's voice survive?

Only time will tell.

💙 BUT LOOK WHAT THIS LITTLE READER HAS ALREADY ACHIEVED...

Harleen has raised an amazing $187 for the MS Readathon, helping support people living with MS.

And she's read 53 books so far.

That's 53 opportunities to discover new stories, characters and adventures — plus approximately 4,000 opportunities for Mum to say:

"Okay, last one."

Which, as every parent knows, is an outright lie. 😂

We've had dinosaurs, bears, cats, pigeons, superheroes, princesses, Wild Things, KPop Demon Hunters, Hairy Maclary and enough "DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK" books to establish that Harleen considers written instructions to be merely suggestions.

We've also watched her little personality grow through the books.

She's started joining in with Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, pointing proudly at her own fingers and toes.

We've seen favourite books become comfort books.

We've watched her get excited when she recognises a story.

And we've learned that toddlers have absolutely no concept of literary fatigue.

🏆 THE FINAL NIGHT SCOREBOARD

📚 53 books read

💙 $187 raised

⏰ One night remaining

📖 Unknown number of books still possible

🧸 Toddler enthusiasm: dangerously high

☕ Mum's energy: critically low

🗣️ "Again!": still going strong

So tonight, we're going back in.

One final reading marathon.

One final assault on the bookshelf.

One final opportunity for Harleen to look at me after I've finished a book and confidently announce:

"One more."

😂

Whatever number we finish on, we are already incredibly proud of our little bookworm.

And to everyone who has donated, shared, encouraged us and followed along this month — THANK YOU. 💙

You've helped turn a stack of children's books into something much bigger: a month of reading, memories, laughs and fundraising for an incredibly important cause.

Now...

BRING ON THE FINAL NIGHT. 📚

The books are ready.

Harleen is ready.

Mum is...

...well...

Mum will be ready after coffee. 😂☕

Let's see how many more books this tiny literary machine can squeeze in before August officially disappears!

53 down. One night to go. LET'S FINISH THIS! 💙📚

📚 30 BOOKS. ONE VERY DETERMINED TODDLER.

We have reached the halfway point of Harleen's MS Readathon book goal…

At this point, I'm not entirely sure whether we're raising a little bookworm or training for the toddler version of the Olympics. 😂

Harleen has officially read 30 books, putting her HALF WAY TO HER GOAL — and we've still got plenty of month left.

And while 30 different books sounds impressive… I feel it is important to clarify that some of these books have been read approximately 3,098,547 times each.

Because apparently toddlers don't believe in "variety".

They believe in finding one book they like and then making you read it until you can recite it from memory while driving, showering, sleeping and potentially during your own funeral.

Our current champion is:

🌳 Where the Wild Things Are

We have read this book COUNTLESS times.

At this stage, I no longer read it.

I simply enter autopilot.

My brain has completely stopped processing the words and my mouth just continues producing the story while my soul quietly leaves my body.

But honestly… watching Harleen get excited about her favourite books makes every single reread worth it 💙

And we've had a VERY exciting development in the reading department.

Harleen has started reading along with Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes 💅

She points to her fingers and toes throughout the book, following along with the story.

It is possibly the cutest thing ever.

She'll sit there proudly pointing at her tiny fingers and toes like she's conducting an extremely important anatomical presentation.

"These are my fingers. These are my toes. Thank you for attending my TED Talk." 😂

Her current reading list is also becoming quite the eclectic collection:

🎤 For the Fans! KPop Demon Hunters
🚌 Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late!
🎵 Hiku
🐭 Squishy Stories: Mickey Mouse
🎼 Magic Xylophone
🦇 DC Batman: The Joker's Parade
🧸 Cuddles and Snuggles
🐻 The Very Super Bear
🦖 Ten Minutes To Bed Little Dinosaur
💥Disco Donkey
🐱 Slinky Malinky
🐱 Scarface Claw
🐷 Hide and Seek Pig
🐶 Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack
🚫 Definitely Do Not Open This Book
🚫 Seriously Do Not Open This Book
🚫 Do Not Open This Book Again
🚫 Do Not Open This Book
👧 Little Red Riding Hood - Pop-Up Book
😊 H is for Happiness
👹 Where the Wild Things Are
🐻 Two Cranky Bears
🦖 Mr Luke's Magic Library: Dinosaur Trail
🐻 The Very Itchy Bear
🌿 We're Going on a Bear Hunt
🐶 Hairy Maclary and Friends
🔎 Where is Hairy Maclary?
🚽 No More Nappies
🖐️ Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
🚌 Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

And yes, we've read a LOT of them more than once.

Because apparently the official rules of toddler literature are:

Find a book you like.
Read it.
Read it again.
Read it immediately again.
Ask for the other book.
Reject the other book.
Demand the first book.
Repeat until Mum forgets her own name.

😂

💙 AND THEN THERE'S THE REALLY IMPORTANT PART...

We've now raised $187 for the MS Readathon!

Every single dollar is helping support the MS community, and we're so incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated, shared, encouraged and followed along with Harleen's little reading adventure.

It's pretty amazing to think that this tiny human, who is currently obsessed with pointing at her toes and demanding Where the Wild Things Are for the 700th time, has already helped raise $187 for such an important cause.

And we're 11 days into August

📚 30 books read
🎯 Halfway to our goal
📅 11 days into the month
💙 $187 raised
🦶 10 toes still being proudly pointed at
🌳 Where the Wild Things Are: basically memorised
☕ Mum's coffee: Cold

We're incredibly proud of our little reader.

Here's to the next half of the challenge, many more stories, many more adventures, and an absolutely unreasonable number of rereads.

Because if Harleen has taught us anything so far, it's that there is no such thing as "I've already read that one."

There is only:

"Again." 📚😂💙

Harleen has Offically Become a Tiny Literary Legend

📚 Harleen Has Officially Become a Tiny Literary Legend

Well... things have escalated.

Harleen has now raised an incredible $186 for the MS Readathon! 💙

That's $186 going towards supporting people living with MS, and approximately 186 times she's interrupted whatever I was doing by dramatically presenting me with another book.

Our tiny bookworm has now read 19 books! At this point, I'm fairly certain she's one library card away from being appointed Minister for Bedtime Stories.

Since our last update, she's added these to her ever-growing reading list:

📖 Scarface Claw (Turns out the world's toughest cat is also incredibly relatable before coffee.)

🐷 Hide and Seek Pig

🐶 Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack (Hairy Maclary is becoming a regular member of our household.)

🚫 Definitely Do Not Open This Book

🚫 Seriously Do Not Open This Book

🚫 Do Not Open This Book Again

🚫 Do Not Open This Book

The "Do Not Open This Book" series has taught Harleen one very important life lesson...

If someone says don't do something... absolutely do it immediately.

📕 Little Red Riding Hood (Pop-Up Book) – the wolf received zero personal space.

😊 H is for Happiness – a gorgeous reminder to find joy in the little things.

👹 Where the Wild Things Are – Harleen has informed me she would absolutely join the Wild Rumpus.

🐻 Two Cranky Bears – honestly feels like an accurate description of Mum and Dad before our morning coffee.

Current statistics:

📚 Books read: 19

💙 Money raised: $186

📖 Favourite word: "Again!"

☕ Hot coffees consumed: Still a work in progress.

🎭 Character voices performed by Mum: More than my vocal cords would like to admit.

Reading with Harleen is never just reading. It's pointing at every picture, asking "What's that?" 47 times, trying to turn three pages at once, and insisting on reading the same favourite book immediately after we've just finished it.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far. Every dollar helps support people living with MS, and every bit of encouragement keeps our tiny book lover excited to keep reading.

We're only $14 away from hitting $200! 💙 If you've been thinking about donating, now's the perfect time to help Harleen reach her next milestone.

Now, if you'll excuse me... I've just heard the unmistakable sound of tiny feet running towards me with another stack of books.

Pray for my voice. 📚😂

📚 Harleen's MS Readathon Update: Eight Books Down... Approximately 8,000 to Go

The tiny CEO of Story Time has been BUSY.

Harleen has now raised $97 for the MS Readathon, and we honestly can't thank everyone enough for supporting her little reading adventure. Every donation helps support people living with MS—and gives Harleen another excuse to hand me a book while I'm in the middle of doing absolutely anything.

So far, she's conquered 8 books:

📖 Mr Luke's Magic Library: Dinosaur Trail (Dinosaurs remain undefeated.)
🐻 The Very Itchy Bear (A relatable icon.)
🌿 We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Spoiler alert: We found the bear. Every single time.)
🐶 Hairy Maclary and Friends (Harleen now expects every dog to have a full legal name.)
🔍 Where is Hairy Maclary? (He's literally on the next page, but the suspense is incredible.)
🚽 No More Nappies: A Potty-Training Book (Educational... for all of us.)
🖐️ Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (Confirmed: she has all of them. We counted.)
🚌 Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Harleen is still considering whether the pigeon deserves another chance.)

Current reading statistics:

📚 Books read: 8
💙 Dollars raised: $97
☕ Hot coffees successfully finished by Mum: 0
📖 Times I've read "just one more book": I stopped counting around Tuesday.

Harleen's reading style is... unique. Sometimes she reads every page. Sometimes she skips straight to the ending and then reads the book backwards. Sometimes she confidently tells me what happens, despite the book containing absolutely none of those events.

According to Harleen:
🦖 Dinosaurs can become princesses.
🐻 Bears are everyone's best friend.
🚌 The pigeon absolutely should be allowed to drive the bus "just for a little bit."

Who am I to question such literary expertise?

A massive thank you to everyone who has donated so far. Your support means the world, and together we've already reached $97! We're so close to hitting that magical $100 milestone, and Harleen is determined to keep turning pages until we get there.

Now if you'll excuse me... I can hear tiny footsteps approaching, followed by the unmistakable word:

"More!"

Harleen's MS Readathon: One Tiny Reader, Unlimited Book Opinions

Meet Harleen: professional book lover, part-time storyteller, and full-time critic of any book that doesn't immediately contain dinosaurs, animals, or something she can dramatically point at.

This year, Harleen has taken on the MS Readathon, combining two of her favourite activities: reading books and acquiring more books than any small human reasonably needs.

On a typical day, Harleen can be found settling into her reading chair with a towering stack of books. Within minutes, she has either:

- Read every book.

- Re-read every book.

- Read them upside down.

- Narrated them entirely from memory.

- Or confidently invented a completely different story that bears no resemblance to the original.

Honestly, the authors would probably be impressed.

Harleen is participating in the MS Readathon to help raise awareness and support for people living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). While she may not fully understand the complexities of neurological conditions just yet, she absolutely understands that reading books is important and that helping people is a good thing.

So far, her reading strategy has been highly sophisticated:

1. Select a book.

2. Demand the book be read.

3. Read the book herself.

4. Carry the book everywhere.

5. Read it again.

6. Ask for another book.

It's a system that has proven remarkably effective.

The MS Readathon encourages children to discover the joy of reading while supporting a great cause, and Harleen has embraced the challenge with the enthusiasm of someone who genuinely believes bedtime is just another opportunity to squeeze in five more stories.

As the pages continue to turn, Harleen is proving that even the smallest readers can make a big difference. She may be tiny, but her book collection, imagination, and determination to read "just one more" are absolutely enormous.

Good luck, Harleen! May your bookmarks stay where you left them, may your stories never end, and may your parents survive being asked to read the same book seventeen times in a row.🤣

Current reading statistics:

Books read: Many.

Books memorised: Suspiciously many.

Books left to read: Never enough.

Times she's said "one more book": Scientists are still counting.