Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Now that he’s reading a mile a minute, it’s time to hear from my six-year-old again! The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Ralph is a mouse. Keith is a boy. Ralph and Keith meet in a hotel. Keith gives Ralph a motorcycle. It is a toy motorcycle. If Ralph makes a sound, it moves! I
I don’t often read Graphic Novels, but I do enjoy the ones I pick up! Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller by Joseph Lambert (Disney Hyperion, 2012) is a finalist for the Cybils 2012 awards in the graphic novels category. I love Helen Keller’s story, so I was interested to pick this one
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (David Fickling Books, 2006) is not a “fun” or amusing book, but it is just as highly improbable, and I think that is something every reader of it should realize: this is not a historically accurate book. The subtitle is “A Fable,” altho ugh more accurately
The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brockett by John Boyne (January 2013) is a highly improbable book about a child who is born with the amazing quirk of floating. Barnaby Brockett cannot help it: it is just the way he is. He and his family find solutions (a heavy bag of rocks to keep
I really enjoyed reading the first Hereville graphic novel, so when I saw the next one on netgalley, I was eager to revisit Mirka’s somewhat bizarre world. Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite by Barry Deutsch (published November 2012) is another look at the spunky young Jewish girl who has fantastic adventures in her small
My son is a part of a small co-op group that occasionally reads a book and does activities related to it. Our most recent read was The Perfect Hamburger and Other Stories by Alexander McCall-Smith. Alexander McCall-Smith has always been a favorite author of mine. This particular collection of middle-grade stories are all related to
When I saw Faces from the Past on the Netgalley catelogy, I was excited, since my recent read about forensic anthropology was such a delightful read for me. My son and I have been studying early American history as well, so it fits in well with my current interests. Once again, I have to say how
To accompany our history studies in our homeschool, I read Pocahontas and the Strangers by Clyde Robert Bulla. But, although I had intend to read it aloud to my son (age 5) as well, but we didn’t get to it. Bulla’s story is the romanticized story of Pocahontas saving John Smith’s life. I liked reading it, but
Together, my son (age 5) and I read A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla. In this middle-elementary reader, a young girl in England struggles to keep her brother and sister together after her mother passes away. Because her father was a part of the advance group that traveled to Jamestown, she determines to get
My kindergartner (age 5) and I read aloud Pedro’s Journal by Pam Conrad (first published 1991), a fictionalized middle-grade novel from the perspective of a young cabin boy who attended to Columbus on the voyage. My son really liked this book because it seemed like a fun adventure! He loved the chapter when young Pedro sank the
I have been looking forward to introducing my son to the favorite books of my childhood, and I’m delighted to find he is finally old enough to appreciate them! Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (originally published 1978) is a perfect chapter book for young readers. The chapters are less than five pages,
Grammar has a reputation of being dull and dry, but a turn-of-the-century classic, Grammar-Land by M.L. Nesbitt (first published 1878), attempts to make it fun by turning learning the parts of speech into a game. In the imaginary world of Grammar-Land, the parts of speech have been arguing about which of them is most important.
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