As promised last week, today’s post features the books we’ve read aloud as part of our home school curriculum or just for fun in the past two months. Before I get any further, I have to say a giant, gargantuan “Thank you!” to Julie H. Ross for her curriculum A Gentle Feast. It lines up with my teaching style perfectly and gives me direction for adding richness to our daily school life. Several of our Fall 2016 read-alouds came from her reading list. The others are just-for-fun reads that we’ve enjoyed.
Robert McCloskey is famous for his picture books, such as Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal. I’d never picked up any of his chapter book, but now I’m so glad I did. Homer is a boy growing up in a small town in the 50s, with an eye for inventions and figuring problems out. Often, though, he simply enjoys the escapades of the grown ups around him. It’s a great book, full of illustrations, a funny cast of characters, and not too many big words for small ears. It was a big hit with both my seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. I was so glad to start the school year off with a chapter book that appealed to both of them, because sometimes they seem more geared toward middle grade girls.
My husband read this book to the kids at bedtime for a couple of months through the summer. They all liked it (though one pretended he didn’t just because he was being obstinant), and really, what’s not to like? Four kids living on their own island with their own boat for a whole summer? Battles with other boats and an imaginary pirate? Real life thieves? If your children are old enough to put up with some sailing lingo, this book is an excellent adventure story. It is a bit on the long side for very young children, probably best suited for 2nd-5th grade. Apparently, it’s been made into a movie this year, too, though I’m not sure how available it is in the U.S. and I highly doubt it will compare to the book.
3. Ramona and Beezus and Ramona and Her Father
When faced with a three-hour car drive with my three children seven and under without my husband, I impulsively/desperately snatched these audio books up at the library. We listened all the way there and all the way back. We laughed and laughed at Ramona and Beezus. Ramona is only four-years-old in this story and her mischief knows no bounds. Ramona and Her Father was enjoyable, too, but the subject matter was a little on the serious side for my kids. Still, listening together sparked a lot of good discussions about the story. Sometimes I look to fictional parents to inspire me to greatness, but in the Ramona books, I just enjoy how flawed yet loving her parents are. I feel you, Mr. and Mrs. Quimby. You shouldn’t call your daughter “a naughty girl” so often, but I feel you. These are books that I don’t think we would have enjoyed half as much if we hadn’t listened to a professional reader (Stockard Channing) doing all the voices.
4. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
We’re making our way through this book as part of our science curriculum this year. It is delightful. I know I use that word overmuch, but it really is. Peter Rabbit hops through The Old Orchard, conversing with the different birds and casually learning their habits, likes, and dislikes, as well as a bit of their personalities. There are black and white sketches of the birds throughout. This is my first exposure to Thornton Burgess’s nature books written for children. The fact that they are about one-hundred-years old (published in 1919) only adds to their charm. I’m happy to discover I have several Burgess animal books on my shelf that I didn’t even realize I had collected over the years! These are the kind of discoveries that make my week.
5. The Five Little Peppers
We just started this one last week. Isaac (5) has already lost interest, so I’m guessing it’s going to end up being one I read mostly to Ella (7). However, the cookies and books technique might drawn him back in. =) The Peppers are a poor, fatherless family who all have to pitch in and “make do,” but they do so with cheer and love and that’s why I think generations keep coming back to read about them. I only read the abridged, illustrated edition as a child, so I’m thoroughly enjoying this read-aloud myself. I love the character of Polly Pepper, who is both admirable and likable. I’m hoping the future chapters will feature Ben and the other boys a bit more so we can get to know them, too.
That’s it for our chapter book read-alouds so far this fall! Stay tuned for an update on the picture books we’ve been enjoying lately, coming soon. Happy reading!
start popping up on Pinterest and in blog feeds of soup recipes and chunky sweaters make us down here in the Southern United States scream, dunk our faces in ice water, and sit in front of a fan for a few hours. We literally have no memory of what naturally cool air feels like until at least October.
Ann Voskamp is releasing a new book on October 26th, and you can bet your book light it will be in my mailbox on that very day. 
I’ve heard Ivey can make any book work simply through her way with words. I haven’t read her first book, 
I put Shauna Niequist’s Present Over Perfect on my 
Edie Wadsworth of 
This is the second study I’ve done by Jennie Allen (the first one was
I muddled through most of the summer and made very little headway. To make a long, uninteresting story short, the more present I became, the more connected with my own thoughts, the more I stared contempt in the face. You know contempt? “The feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn?” As I wrote, as I talked, as I pursued my own thoughts, all I found was negativity, and I didn’t like it. I was full of disdain for all sorts of things. It was ridiculous and never ending. What I began to understand is that contempt is almost always a message of self-contempt at my core.
The Light of Paris
The Middle Place