Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
We have been “officially” doing unofficial kindergarten at home for a little over a month now. I’ve been teaching Raisin at home for much longer, of course, but I had to call it official at some point.1 I decided we would learn about American History this year, and I feel it’s definitely time to report on some of the wonderful books I’ve discovered in this year’s journey.Continue Reading
As I mentioned the other day, nominations for the Cybils are open! I am a first-round panelist, so that means I get to read all the books (so far, 80 and counting; last year it was more than 200) that get nominated in my category, fiction picture books. If you have a book to nominate, published between October 16, 2011 and October 15, 2012, make sure you submit it before October 15!
Last year, when I reviewed Cybils books, I tried to do it in a topical manner. That is just not going to work for me this year. Nevertheless, my son and I are going to have a blast reading through the books. He and I have been watching the nominations come in and we’re always excited when we see a book we’ve already enjoyed show up on the list! He also has noted a few that, either because the title is so interesting or the cover illustrations is intriguing, he really wants me to get soon so he can read them!
I will plan on posting on whatever books we found in the previous week, and I’m really going to try to post on Cybils at least once a week from now until December! This week has a number of books that we found earlier in the year but didn’t have a chance to post about them at the time we first read them. The quality of the books we’ve read this week bodes well for the rest of this year’s Cybils panel.
White House Kids: The Perks, Pleasures, and Pratfalls of the Presidents’ Children by Joe Rhatigan (Imagine Publishing, 2012) provides a fun and colorful picture of the history of children in the White House. From George Washington’s step-daughter to the Obama girls, White House Kids gives an interesting portrait of how life changed for the children of the nation’s most well known public official. It’s not easy being a kid, and being thrust in the limelight while still a child obviously brings an entirely new set of difficulties.
I’m not usually interested in pop culture celebrity biographies, but White House Kids provided an interesting contrast to other celebrity biographies out there. Because of the historical nature of the White House and the presidents, reading this book gave historical insight into the presidents. A number of things surprised me about White House Kids, mostly because of the breadth it covered through history and the interest it provides for youth today who may be interested in history, the presidents, as well as current “celebrity kids” like Malia and Sasha Obama. Continue Reading
If you follow me on Goodreads or if you’ve been keeping up with my comments on my reading, you’ll know that I’ve been interested in reading about American history, since that is the basic course of study I’m giving my kindergarten age son this year. For him, of course, I’m reading living books that expose him to the historic figures he should be familiar with, and that is essentially enough.
For me, though, I’m finding I’m incredibly interested in reading more about these eras. However, my favorite books have always been Victorian novels. I’m woefully unfamiliar with the classics of American literature, although I have read a good number of the obvious ones: Huck Finn, Scarlett Letter, Washington Irving, some of the Harlem Renaissance authors I discovered a few years ago, John Steinbeck, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, to name a few.
For your information, here are some nonfiction (mostly) books I may tackle this year:
If you have a year to read just a few (maybe 10) new-to-you works of American literature, which would you choose? Give me your “essentials” list and I’ll figure out which ones I’m missing.
I’m personally looking for books that may help me understand the era. Maybe Common Sense and the Federalist Papers? What else should be essential reading for an interested adult?
If I do take the plunge and read some of classics of American lit, which books do you think I should I take off of my Classics Club list? I don’t want to just add another handful of books. That list was intended to be a realistic portrayal of what I could accomplish in the coming five years, so I’d like it to stay at 50 classics. Ugh. So many books, so little time!! So much to learn, so little time!!
