We read every night to the kids. Having a mother that loves to collect books
and family members and friends that also like to give them, the kids have a lot
of books. We also go to our local library,
and my eldest son (in first grade) brings home books from school to practice
reading. We read a lot of books. Each kid is allowed two books a night. Kile now reads one of the books and we read
the other for him. Penelope is two and
often picks small books so we are guilty of reading her extra books. We usually read kid picture books, but we
also have been reading chapter books for the past two years. The chapter books that we read this year
include the following.
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
By far, the boys enjoy
the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder more than any
other chapter books. I know I am very enthusiastic
about them, but they love the on their own merit. They especially love Pa and all of the things
that he builds.
On the Banks of Plum
Creek was especially exciting to the boys as it is set in Minnesota. Their grandparents live in Minnesota and that
is where my husband is from originally.
They thought it was very cool that Laura and Mary lived in a sod house
in the ground and found it hilarious when a cow stuck its foot through the
roof. They loved when Pa built the new
house.
They identified with
all of the feelings encompassed in the book.
Kile looked nervous when Laura disobeyed Pa and went swimming by
herself. Similarly he was torn up when
Laura had to give her beloved doll Charlotte away. When Pa got trapped away from home by a
blizzard at Christmas, both boys were very worried. And they were both disturbed by the invasion
of the grasshoppers.
I believe that is why
the Little House books are timeless.
They are great historical fiction, showing the hardships faced by
families settling the frontier in the nineteenth century, but they also show
universal feelings shared by all children as they grow up. What it means to be good and why parents give
you rules seemed to hit home with this book.
Overall, we loved On
the Banks of Plum Creek. We are reading
Farmer Boy right now, and the boys love it even more as it focuses on Almanzo.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Kile is very impressed that I still have the
scholastic book order slip in this book from when my Mom purchased it for me
when I was in elementary school. The
story of Wilbur the pig and his friend Charlotte the spider is timeless. I love the start of the book, “Where’s Papa
going with that ax?” asked Fern. And so
Fern goes to save Wilbur’s life and to love him. The boys loved how Fern had a pet pig and
were sad when he moved on to the Zuckerman’s farm. They perked up at the introduction of the
animals and Charlotte. I enjoyed reading
this book again and got a little teary at the bittersweet ending. The boys handled it better than me. Daniel was willing to let Wilbur meet his end
in addition to another character if it meant bacon for breakfast.
Pirate School:
The Curse of Snake Island by Brian James
The boys LOVE pirates and Kile had a pirate birthday
party earlier this year. Aunt Jenn gave him
this book and both boys enjoyed it. It
was a quick read with plenty of pictures.
Pete and his friends live aboard the ship called the Sea Rat. They are learning to be pirates, but first
mate Rotten Tooth is always trying to foil their plans. They decide to prove their worth as pirates
by discovering treasure on Snake Island.
Will they be able to get past the scary snake guarding the treasure?
I am familiar with the first two books, and Pirate School sounds darling. Your children are learning to love reading and will benefit so much from this.
ReplyDeleteWe read a lot of books together in my family. My kids are 11 and 9 and they still want me to read to them every night. The Little House on the Prairie series was my favorite when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteLaura - that is fabulous to hear. I look forward to our time reading together each night and want to it continue on even when the kids are older. My oldest son, Kile, turns seven next month. Right now the kids still love reading together with us, although they have a hard time only picking two books a piece.
ReplyDeleteI was obsessed with the Little House series as a kid and still quote from it these days. Luckily my husband has started to enjoy it as well now that we are reading it to the kids. I think it is falsely advertised as "just a girls" series of books, when there is plenty in it for boys to enjoy as well.
Great post. I just located your blog and wished to let you know that I have certainly loved reading your blogs. At any rate I’m going to be subscribing to your feed and I really hope you are writing again soon.
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