VISION

Through the Magic Door™ (TTMD) exists to foster a life-long love of reading in children and to kindle or reignite that love among parents.

MISSION

Our modern economy provides us with a great abundance of all things, most of all of choices. The more we can do, often it seems as if the less time we have to do it. The more choices we have, the more we are confronted with uncertainty and risk.

It is our belief that reading is a source of solace in times of trouble, a source of entertainment and joy, a source of knowledge and wisdom, a source of continuity and tradition. People become better individuals and citizens through reading.

We seek to make the lives of parents just that little bit easier by selecting those books that by the quality of the writing, interest of the story, beauty of the illustrations or some other notable attribute, not only grab the interest of children but extend their thoughts, emotions, knowledge and experience.

We intend to cast our net wide and make available not only the traditional classics but also the best of past year's stories and stories from other countries that never make it into the classics lists but which none-the-less are loved by children.

We seek to create programs, materials and tools that allow a parent (and teachers) to easily and confidently find those books that they believe their child will love and help those busy parents to share and explore the story.

By these mechanisms we hope to foster that love of reading that becomes self-sustaining as well as to reinforce the bond between parent and child.

NAME

The name Through the Magic Door™ (TTMD) is derived from a book of that title by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The analogy he creates and with which we strongly agree is that of a book serving as a magic door through which a reader is able to reach across time, space, cultures and languages to engage with people and experiences beyond our immediate circumstances.

Sir Arthur's book is available electronically in .txt format from Project Gutenberg's site.

We hope that you and your children will have many wonderful adventures as you travel through the many magic doors we have made available.

PHILOSOPHY

Children learn to love reading when they are allowed to read what they enjoy and when they have a selection of books available that are not only interesting, but at the appropriate level for both their age and their reading ability. If a child views reading as fun and relaxing rather than just a task to be mastered, related skills such as comprehension, a wide vocabulary and spelling accuracy are often more easily acquired.

VALUES

As working parents ourselves, we wish to be very respectful of our customer's time and privacy. We are seeking to make our business model work with a minimum amount of intrusion into your life but with a maximum attention on responding to your child's reading interests. We believe it is important for you to be able to trust us, not just by our words but by our actions.

Selling client lists and taking advertising is a significant part of the commercial success of most such ventures as ours. Since selling client lists will increase the intrusion into your life and since advertising binds us to the interests of others and therefore potentially undermines our independence, we intend to neither sell client lists nor take advertising.

The degree to which we communicate with you (other than related to specific orders) is determined by your preferences set when you register with us.

For more about us, please see Come On In.