I get asked a lot about what my kids are reading. I keep the house stocked with good books, and from there, they mostly do their own choosing. (They also select their own books–with steering–at our local library.)
Right now Jack (age 11) is loving Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schulz. We found it in the adult section of our local library, but its colorful font and numerous illustrations make it kid-friendly (not that he cares). He’s been drawing comics galore and filling this up.
He also adored The Vikings, and now we’re both searching for good books to follow it up with.
Sarah (age 8) has been reading The Borrowers, which I never read as a kid but am reading now, at her insistence. Ever since she started the series, the nooks and crannies of our house look like this:
the orphanage
the movie theater (with concession stand in the background)
the toy store
Lucy (age 6) loves books that are heavy on the illustrations–since she’s still learning to read–and The Nutcracker has been her go-to book since we went to a matinee in early December. She reads, she dances, she reads some more.
When she’s not reading ballet books, she’s reading her first love.
Silas (newly 4) wants us to read him Dragons Love Tacos, over and over and over again. And this book: it’s super awkward to read out loud, and the quality of the stories is questionable, but he doesn’t care.
Read any good books with kids lately? Share your favorites in comments.Â
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PS. My parenting mantra, and 8 books worth re-reading.
27 comments
I loved The Nutcracker phase at our house. We have multiple versions. I was read The Borrowers at school. I love all of the little furniture your daughter has set up around your house. At my house, My 13 year old just finished To Kill A Mockingbird. She returned the book to me upon completion and said, “I loved the ending. It was so sweet.” My 12 year old I just completed A Hundred Horses.
Ballet Shoes will be fun for Lucy in a few years!
You’ve got that right. 🙂
My son is 7 (a first grader). Right now he really likes the “Piggy and Gerald” books by Mo Willems. His other favorite is ” Mouse Soup” by Arnold Lobell and we do a daily kids devotional too!
Katie
My 4 year-old, Penelope is enjoying anything with superheroes and Fancy Nancy (she actually reminds us of the little girl in the story). I have read Curious George over and over to our 2 year-old, Caroline.
Thank you for sharing these magical pictures, Anne. I’m glad to know the tiny people in your home have such comfortable accommodations! ♥
Thanks for sharing the photos as well as the book mentions; I love your daughter’s little scenes. My son is 11 and b/c he is developmentally delayed it is a challenge to find books that interest him yet are not too babyish. At the moment he is hooked on the “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” series, “The Big Green Book of Beginner Books” (a book of 6 Dr. Seuss story-poems), and anything by Richard Scarry.
A family favorite picture book we are always reading is The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman. With my 6 and 8 yr old we’ve been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter because, well, it’s been that kind of winter 🙂
We love the Silly Eaters, too! (And every time I say to myself, “This is the longest winter ever”, I flash back to The Long Winter and get a grip on reality.)
I’ve been thinking about The Long Winter a lot lately….
The SSE is a favorite around here!
I just ordered The Seven Silly Eaters. Thanks for the recommendation!
“The Borrowers” is really cute, gives me someone to blame for all those missing pony tail holders. My 10 year old and I just finished that one. My older girls are reading “Eagle of the Ninth” by Rosemary Sutcliff and “Sherlock Holmes.”
Looks like some great titles. I haven’t actually read any of these though I’ve heard of most. Right now my son is listening to The Two Towers on audio on car rides, reading The Pearl on his own and listening to me read the 2nd Harry Potter book. I’m looking forward to him reading The Outsiders soon….a fav of mine from high school.
Samuel is reading Kingdom Keepers #3 (it’s Disney). Together we are reading a book of poems called Sing a Song of Popcorn, and portions of some nonfiction while we decide on the next fiction selection. At school they just finished Robin Hood and started King Arthur. We just finished The White Mountains by John Christopher which we loved.
“We” just checked out the Avengers Super Heroes in the I Can Read series, so I feel your pain, Anne, over the Disney Cars book! But the redeeming feature is that the 7 year old can read it to the 2 year old, so I can Marine crawl silently away and get a break occasionally!
Ha! Yep, my 11-year-old reads it to my 4-year-old sometimes (and my 11yo enjoys reading it way more than I do). I need to work on gracefully engineering that situation so I don’t have to read it!
I just started A Bear Called Paddington today with my girls and I’m already in love!
Those little scenes are priceless! I am going to show them to my 6 yo and see if she wants to read The Borrowers. She’s not a fan of reading new things right now unless I really build it up for her. This might do the trick.
I feel your pain on the Cars book. We read the I Can Read This Is Iron Man book almost every night. My daughter has been asking for The Little Red Hen a lot, and we all love The Napping House.
Hahaha! Yep, I’ll bet you do feel my pain. 🙂
We’re reading The Boxcar Children! I loved the series as a child and am delighted that my six year old does too…even his little brother listens in for a while. Our current favorite picture book, Cowboy Camp.
My favorites as a child included the Ramona Quimby series, the Little House series, and many of the Little Golden Books. My little brother constantly wanted to be read The Monster at the End of the Book, and later when he got older we sat and read parts in Calvin and Hobbes books for hours.
I taught 5th grade for years. Hopefully I’ll get back into the classroom soon. Anyway, some good titles include The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Harry Potter, and most any book by Andrew Clements.
My two year old grandson loves The Monster at the End of the Book, too. It belonged to his Auntie and was given to her by my Auntie. Who would’ve ever thought that a Sesame Street book would become a classic?!? I love seeing the inscription to my daughter in my aunt’s handwriting. I must confess, though, that I do get tired of it, so it often heads for the bottom of the shelf/pile for a while. Luckily, he has yet to meet a book he doesn’t like, so he’s easily led into other stories!
I’ve had Frindle on my to-read list for ages.
We are reading:
Because of Mr. Terupt–unexpectedly enjoyable
The Farthest Away Mountain–a long time favorite
The Franken-weinie series (my boy will put down the gaming system to read these–I’m glad he can read them himself as they are NOT my thing at all).
Edit–Because of Mr. Terupt might be good for older kids, but deals with some mature themes (teenage pregancy) for elementary kids.