Books We Have Been Reading

We have been reading a lot lately.  Here are a few of the books we have enjoyed and a few that we didn't like-

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes is a  I liked this book and it really made my children think about the things they say to other people.  It was an emotional read for my girls and I had to stop several times to help them talk through Maddie's guilt and talk about why the kids were mean to Wanda in the first place.  It is a fairly quick read and the girls liked the illustrations.  Three stars.

 The Family Under The Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson was depressing.  It kind of bummed my kids out a little.  It's good for them to realize how blessed they are to have a home to live in but they are probably still a bit young for this story.  It was recommended by the Sonlight kindergarten program and I can't say I am too impressed with their selections this year, which is unfortunate as I really liked their preschool list. Three stars.

I also read the whole Giver Series by Lois Lowery.  It was much more disturbing to read as an adult.  I definitely did not understand all of the symbolism and diseased culture when I read the first two years ago.  I kind of wish Lowery had skipped the last/4th book (The Son) as it was completely superfluous in my opinion.   I still don't understand why the evil had to be conquered again after The Messenger.  Three stars for the first three books and two stars for The Son.

 This was my first time reading any of the Little House On The Prairy Books but Two Fish grew up listening to them as a child.  My mother in law gave us the first two stories.  The chapters are a little bit long for young kids so we had to do only half a chapter some nights but my girls really got into the story.  They liked the idea of living in the middle of the big woods and like hearing about horse carts and old time farm practices.  We will definitely be reading the rest of the series a little bit at a time.  I can only handle reading one book from a series at a time to my kids.  I can't read a whole series at once.  Maybe that will change when we start moving a little quicker on books. Four Stars.

 My mother in law bought Mary Engebreit's Fairy Tales for New Fish for Christmas and it has become her constant companion.  New Fish is obsessed with princesses and this book is much more fun to read to her than those darn Disney princess books.  It has very bright, fun illustrations and the stories are retold in a really child friendly way.  It is New Fish's favorite book and she just refers to it as "the princess book."  She can tell all of the "real" fairy tale stories by heart now. Five Stars.

I also recently read The Snow Child by Eowen Ivey.  I liked the Russian fairytale aspect of this story as I am a huge fan of all fairy tales. It was haunting and sad. Three Stars.

 James Herriot's Treasury For Children was a fun book to read to the girls.  Red Fish especially loves books about animals and New Fish liked the pictures.  They are sweet little animal adventures told from the perspective of a country vet. Three Stars.

I also re-read Les Miserables- sigh- and it's so lovely.  Unfortunately I missed the book club where we discussed it because it is definitely one of my favorite books.  I've loved Les Miserables everything since I was a little kid and used to watch the animated movie.  (On a side note- Les Miserables as an animated movie is sort of a disturbing idea.  I need to find a copy someplace and re-watch it to investigate how much of the story is in it.  Animated prostitutes?) Five Stars.

I sobbed through the last few chapters of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  I think it might be my favorite chapter book I have read with my kids.  It's beautiful.  The story is well crafted and I love the language.  The moral is uplifting and the friendship between wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider is touching.  My kids both loved it.

The Complete Adventures of Curious George is now Red Fish's very favorite book.  I didn't realize that the copy I bought her for Christmas came with the entire works on two CDs.  She has listened to them over and over.  She falls asleep holding it at night.  George is a topic of dinner conversation on a regular basis. Five stars.

The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale was another book club read.  I enjoy juvenille literature every once in while but I think I read too much of it in March.  The story was fine.  It was definitely different than I expected just from the title and review.  Three Stars.



Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (my childhood favorite) is up next on the docket.  I'm excited.