Recent Read-Alouds

First, a bit of housekeeping: thanks so much to all who responded to the survey! The winner of the gift card and ebook has been emailed.

A few books we’ve enjoyed reading aloud recently:

… to the little ones:

Blueberries for Sal – who doesn’t love a sweet romp through the blueberry patch and a mother/baby/bear mix-up? My favorite part of this book is the last picture of that simple, uncluttered vintage kitchen.

The Day the Crayons Quit – I didn’t love this book. It’s about what the crayons may actually be thinking about when you use (and abuse) them constantly. But my 11 year old ended up really enjoying it and read it several times to the younger ones.

Maybelle the Cable Car – loved this cute story about a cable car, and learned a bit of San Francisco history as well. The illustrator and author is Virginia Lee Burton, who also wrote another favorite story, The Little House.

Harold and the Purple Crayon – this is a much-loved book and one of Josiah’s favorites (when we read it, we replace Harold with Josiah). This book is apparently where he learned about pie-making.

Madeline and the Gypsies – I love the Madeline books and this one is no exception. The best part of reading these books is looking for the Paris landmarks in their pages.

… to the big kids

I started The Secret Garden with Sadie, but she kept complaining that it was boring, which nearly broke my heart since this is one of my very favorite books, and my copy was illustrated by Tasha Tudor, making it extra-special to me. But then she asked me to read Little Women with her and redeemed herself. After a couple of chapters, we had fun doing an online “Which Little Woman are You?” quiz. (Mine is Jo, no big surprise there – a slightly tomboyish, bookworm writer who cares little about her hair? Yeahme. Do I get Gabriel Byrne at the end?)

Still reading Pride and Prejudice with Julien. He’s being a real sport about it, because I can tell it’s not his favorite thing, but despite himself he’s enjoying it. It’s leading to some great conversations about respect, dating, what to look for in a good woman, and the plight of women through the years.

Ilana just finished Jane Eyre and I forgot to get her thoughts on it before posting this. She’s now reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, which is a new genre for her, but I think she’ll enjoy it, because you can’t live in my house without being a fan of Sherlock Holmes.

Read anything good with the kids lately?