Read Aloud Thursday: this and that

CHAPTER BOOKS
The Squirrel's Birthday and Other Parties - I grabbed this one to go along with our "birthday" theme.  It was a little odd but fun.  The kids liked the short stories.

The Prairie Thief - Gemma found this one at the library all on her own and we've been reading it aloud together at bedtime.  It has been fun! and fits in nicely with our recent read alouds.  It is a little scary, but I have offered to stop and she always wants me to keep going.  ;-)  

She has also started reading her first chapter book BY HERSELF!!!  She picked up a copy of A Little House Christmas Treasury at the library as well, and has been busy (enough) sticking her nose in it.  She told me, "I'm just reading the words in my head mom, and it's pretty cool that way!"  YAY!  She had never shown any interest in reading chapter books on her own (or anything to herself for that matter), and I didn't want to force it (although I would drop hints here and there), so I am glad to see her picking this up on her own.  She has definitely done a ton of reading aloud to the boys this Summer, and her reading skills are good, so I figure she will reach these milestones when she is good and ready.

The Moffats - almost done with this one, and we'd better hurry!  It's due next week!!

FROM THE BOOKSHELF

Our Nursery Rhyme Books have been popular with Clement recently.

For Clem's recent birthday he got:
Tawny Scrawny Lion
The Monster at the End of this Book
Katy No-Pocket

FROM THE LIBRARY
Pumpkins - This was a cool story about living simply with what you need (always a great message). And the importance of a nice view.  ;-)

Danny, the Angry Lion - Cute.

Beatrice's Goat - Oh my, this book was positively wonderful.  We recently met a priest from Africa and were able to send some clothes and shoes back with him to his village, and between that and our involvement with Unbound, this book just tied in so very nicely.  It is a beautiful story, beautiful message.

Tops and Bottoms - Another one on my wishlist to own someday.  SO fun!  This time Clem grabbed the sound recording.   

Happy reading, friends!

Read aloud Thursday: ogres, Africa and birthdays

CHAPTER BOOKS

We are still reading The Moffats, namely during snacks and some mealtimes.  Most days, but not every day.  Gemma and I will start the Latsch Valley Farm series (at bedtime) as soon as it comes in the mail (I got a super good deal).

FROM THE BOOKSHELF

The kids had our Nursery Rhyme books out the other day.  I just love these books so much, and the fact that they are board books makes them so very durable.  The illustrations are precious.

Hey Diddle Diddle (and other favorite Nursery Rhymes)

Hickory Dickory Dock (and other favorite Nursery Rhymes)

I have been encouraging Gemma to read to Clement from our copy of A Big Treasury of Little Animals.  This has long been a family favorite.  When Gemma was Clem's age I think she and her daddy read one before bed every night.  For months.

Excited to have our very own copy of Adele and Simon in America this year.

FROM THE LIBRARY
The Odious Ogre was one Gemma picked up because she thought she remembered it from kindergarten.  But then when we read it she said she'd never heard it before. Oh well, that's neither here nor there.  This was a neat story with great use of vocab and a very good (but not overly preachy) lesson reminding us that our actions (negative and positive) can often make a more lasting impact on ourselves than they can on others.  I would definitely check this one out again.

At bedime we've been reading books about Africa.  We really liked these.
Jamela's Dress
My Rows and Piles of Coins
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears
I Lost my Tooth in Africa
The Butter Man
Beatrice's Goat
Galimoto

Since Clement has an upcoming birthday, we will be doing a week with our favorite birthday books.  Some of our favorites are:

Otis and Sydney and the Best Birthday Ever

A Birthday for Bear 

C is for Cake

Happy Birthday Moon

For something new we thought we'd try at least a few chapters from The Squirrel's Birthday and other Parties.

I keep wanting to get back to our Virtue Study, but have never really taken the leap to jump back in.  For whatever reason, courage has kept coming up, and when Gemma came out and asked me the other day what it meant to be courageous, I finally said, "OK, we're getting back into this".  For now, I decided to just use a virtue (courage here in a couple weeks) as our weekly (maybe two weeks) theme.  We'll see how this evolves once the school year starts.  But that's a whole other conversation...   For courage, I got much of my inspiration here, but I'll have to report back once we dive in.

That's all for now!  What are you reading this week?

Read aloud Thursday: summer

It's Thursday somewhere, right?  Oh wait, that only works with 5:00.  Oh well.  Here's what we've been reading...

CHAPTER BOOKS

Still working through The Moffats.  My only complaint about this one (and complaint really is a lame word) is that the chapters are really long.  Like, longer than what one sitting usually is for us, especially as this is a book that I pegged for mealtime/snack-time reading.  But don't let that deter you.  It really is a great book.  Has anyone read the rest of the books in this series?

Gemma and I read The Prairie Skies trilogy recently, which included: 

Pioneer Summer
Cabin in the Snow 
Our Kansas Home

I would highly recommend these books.  They introduced slavery in a very understandable way for their target audience and provided some great opportunities for discussion.  We also read The Sod House, which I thought was okay but nothing special, and to go with it I also checked out Sod Houses on the Great Plains which was a really good explanation of the "why?" and "how?" of sod houses.  These books on the westward expansion have been fun and informative, so in keeping with the theme I think we may read the Latsch Valley Farm series next.  I requested the first two through ILL and you never know with that how long it might take them to come, but I'm hoping it will be soon.  Any other recommendations along that vein?

For Kolbe, we've been reading Leroy Ninker Saddles Up.

FROM THE BOOKSHELF
I was at Kohls the other day to get Gemma's uniform shirts and we stumbled upon their Kohls Cares for Kids display and oh my word did that ever make my day.  For $5 each we got our very own brand new hard copies of A Sick Day for Amos McGee and And Then It's Spring, both of which have been on my wishlist for quite some time.  I'm still wondering if I should have gone ahead and picked up Bear Has a Story to Tell and If You Want to See a Whale...

FROM THE LIBRARY

We've had several Leo Lionni books recently, and Kolbe has taken a particular liking to them.  I pointed them out on the shelf to him last time we were at the library, and the next time I turned around he had chosen one of each, HA!  I enjoy all these books, but my very favorite by Lionni is An Extraordinary Egg.

WEEKLY THEME BOOKS
Currently we have "summer" books in the basket, and next week I intend to toss some Independence Day ones in as well.  Some faves:
When Lightning Comes in a Jar - I can not read this book with out turning into a horrible sappy mess at the end, no matter how hard I try. 
Summer Wonders and Summer Days and Nights seem to make their into our basket every year (probably because I request them every year....)
The Gardener was neat, and would go well with a study of The Depression Era.
Come On, Rain! is so great, I think it falls into the "magical" category.  Maybe not as meaningful when we're not experiencing a drought, but magical nevertheless.
The Watermelon Seed always causes copious giggles and to go along with it we have Watermelon Wishes and Icy Watermelon.
Aunt Minnie McGrannahan was a very sweet story, and while not necessarily summer, it went nicely with Aunt Minnie and the Twister, which is a little more summer specific in these parts.
Adele and Simon in America is one we enjoy every year, and this year we have our very own (former library) copy.  No, I didn't steal it from the library, in case you were wondering.
How to Bake an American Pie is always good
The Star Spangled Banner seemed necessary, and I can honestly say I don't know that we've ever gotten this version.

We have a Ugandan priest visiting our parish, and the kids (namely Gemma) are going to be sending some hand-me-down clothing and shoes with him back to Uganda to share with our brothers and sisters there, so I have a pile of books about Africa (I believe there is one that is Uganda specific) to share with them some day here soon.  I got my inspiration here.
Well, that's all, folks!  Happy reading!