When Susan Sawyer Sitton’s ’86 triplets began bringing home chapter books in first grade, it wasn’t unusual for them to enjoy a popular title so much that they would want mom to read it too. But her response was often quite different. “I hated them. They were crude, stupid or worse, evil,” recalled Sitton, who lives in the Austin area with husband Brent and their triplets and toddler.

Determined to help her kids make better reading choices, Sitton previewed titles, bought books that reviewed children’s books and volunteered at the school library for three years — where she discovered that other kids and parents were also having trouble finding stories that supported their families’ values.

One night she told her husband about her concerns. In January 2005, the couple began working on www.discoveryjourney.com, a site that reviews children’s books and movies. The site went live that June, and the company began marketing efforts this year. “We average over 100 unique visitors per day and have already received a page ranking by Google of five,” she said.

Reviewing the good, the bad and the ugly — because “some of the trashy books are very popular and parents need to find information about those books too” — Sitton and her team of reviewers provide evaluations of children’s books and movies. Each title is given a “Character Score” — ranging from 0 to 100 — based on how strongly it reflects 10 positive character traits. Titles lose points for negative behavior influences like violence, profanity, nudity, sexual content, and the promotion of drugs, alcohol or tobacco.

While www.discoveryjourney.com initially focused on preschoolers and elementary age children, going forward pre-teen and teen titles will make up the majority of reviews because it’s the area “that is the worst,” Sitton said.