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I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog’s blanket and the tea-cosy. I can’t say that I am really...
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Wednesdays with Words: Summer of the Monkeys
We just finished Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls on Monday night. What a fun and heartwarming story! (Come back later today for my review of it.) This morning I thought I’d share my favorite...
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Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls seemed like a good read-aloud to end up our summer break. This was a new-to-me novel, despite having loved and read (and re-read) Wilson Rawls’ Where the Red...
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Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter
My girls and I finished our latest nighttime read-aloud, Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton-Porter, while on vacation last week. I picked it up in August on a whim because it was the Reading...
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Read Aloud Thursday–December 2015 (end of year list and our favorites!)
Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you’ve had a wonderful month of December, and that you’ve been able to steal away a few hours to spend reading aloud. It has been a busy month of reading for us–between...
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The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr
We kicked 2016 off with The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr as our history read-aloud. Read mostly just after lunch, this book is one that both the girls and the boys (at times ) listened to. It’s...
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War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
WARINING: This review may contain spoilers. I love twentieth century history, so I feel like we’ve finally arrived in our history studies since turning the century corner. However, rather than get...
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Two by Robert Lawson
Last month I started reading Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson for the 1940s Newbery Through the Decades challenge, and I’m embarrassed to say how long it took me to read it. Difficulty or boredom weren’t...
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Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
My girls and I are in the middle of our Year of Anne, and we just finished book three, Anne of the Island. It has been twenty-plus years since I read this one, but I had plenty of fond memories of...
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Dogsong by Gary Paulsen
I read Gary Paulsen’s Dogsong, winner of a 1986 Newbery honor, because I couldn’t find my copy of his other Newbery winner from the ’80’s, Hatchet, which I intended to read. Maybe that’s not the most...
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Shabanu by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples won a Newbery honor in 1990. I first read it for a children’s literature class when I was in library school a decade and a half ago. My...
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A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Lulu and I continued our adventure with Grandma Dowdel that we started a few weeks ago via audiobook, and what a heartwarming and completely entertaining adventure it is! A Year Down Yonder picks up...
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Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
My girls and I finally finished up Anne of Windy Poplars after a very protracted read-aloud experience which involved reading aloud using Face Time on more than one occasion. We went into reading this...
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Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
I listened to the audiobook of the 2005 Newbery honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt and narrated by Sam Freed last week. I am already such a fan of Gary D. Schmidt that...
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Monthly Reading Report: August and September 2016
These past two months have flown by, and during them I’ve managed to do a good bit of reading. Here’s what I’ve enjoyed: How We Love by Milan and Kay Yerkovich. Steady Eddie heard an interview with...
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Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt
I’ve written my review of Gary D. Schmidt’s new book, Orbiting Jupiter, several times in my brain, only to lack the time to actually sit down and compose it on my blog. Now that I’m sitting down to...
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Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
My girls and I finished the sixth book in our Year of Anne, Anne’s House of Dreams, a few weeks ago, amidst tears (mine) and laughter and smiles (the girls’). Anne’s House of Dreams might be my...
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To Stay Alive by Skila Brown
To Stay Alive: Mary Ann Graves and the Tragic Journey of the Donner Party by Skila Brown was shortlisted for the poetry category of the 2016 Cybils. It is a novel-in-verse that chronicles the...
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Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery
Our Year of Anne (or year-and-a-half-ish) continues! It is with great joy and excitement that we near the end of the series; to me, they get better and better. Oh, I love them all, to varying degrees...
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