I had good intentions of writing sooner than the last week in January. I miss this spot and some times want to peck a few more keys that I am allowed on Instagram. I guess we'll just warm back up to posting with a quick post on what I read in January, and it will be short and very sweet.
This month, I got through four books - three of them were read alouds with various and sundry children, and I got through ONE book personally. Why only one, you ask? Well, I bought myself a new edition of Little Women for Christmas and my January goal was to reread this beloved favorite. It did not disappoint. It has been several years since I read this ... I want to say that the last read of this book was with the girls and we only read the first half of the book with promises to return and finish the second half. (Ahem, apparently that has never happened!) Reading this book over and over through the years as a teen, then as a young adult, as a mama to littles, and now returning to read as a mama of one little and a handful of (gulp!) middles, it has something for me in every age and stage of parenting and loving my family well. Working through anger and impatience (like Jo); being graceful, patient and willing under affliction (like Beth); running a happy home and loving my husband and children well (like Meg); and using the small talents that God has given me in whatever small way that I am humbly allowed (like Amy) - this book never fails to inspire.
And now I want to read Little Men. :)
The three read alouds that we read this month were so randomly and fantasticly different.
- Animal Planet Chapter Book: Sharks - The boy and I had been reading through this at bedtime. (Not my first choice for bedtime reading, but he seemed to suffer no ill affects). This was actually a book sent to me by the Amazon Vine program to read and review and it got two (make that four) thumbs up from us. Lots of facts and pictures for my animal loving boy and we are going to hunt for a few more of these books for him.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - This is the first time that I have read this book aloud and B (age 9 1/2's) first time through the book. I think she has seen this movie once, but with our older two, the general rule was that had to read through the books to get to watch the movies. (And that usually resulted in getting to stay up late after other siblings went to bed for a private showing with Daddy. Super cool privilege). :) I'm pretty sure that B has been grandfathered in to a few viewings as a younger sibling, and honestly she hasn't been as interested in diving into the series as they were. She is my one that has not jumped into reading as fast as the bigger girls. The first time that she expressed interest in the series, I handed her the hardback from the library. The sight of so many pages completely overwhelmed her! We solved that problem by an offer to read it aloud together at bedtime AND we read the book on Kindle. Problem of an overwhelmingly big book solved! We finished it up yesterday and are looking for a night where we can watch the movie together.
- The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton - this is a delightful stand-alone story that was recommended to me by a fellow homeschooler on Instagram. It is a blend of nonsense and wordly wit that reminds me of the great Roald Dahl. There were so many lines that I wanted to go through and flag so that I could read them to my grammar class that I teach in our Classical Conversations community - fantastic uses of alliteration, rhyme, -ly adverbs, etc. The author is a crazy, talented illustrator in her own right AND is the sister in law of Andrew Peterson, author of another of my favorite series, The Wingfeather Saga. So many good signs that pointed to us loving this book. And we did. Highly recommend as a read aloud and for your library.
There were several that I wanted to read in January that I just didn't get to ... Little Women consumed all my time, and I just didn't have as many spare minutes this month. Luckily next month has a week of winter break for us and I always try to spend some down time with a book when we aren't doing as much school. I'm already looking forward to it. :)
Linking up with Amy at Hope is the Word who is bringing back a once-a-month Read Aloud Thursday roundup. Yay!
I may have to pick up Little Women again. It's been a while!
ReplyDeleteIt is never time wasted! :)
DeleteOh, Jennifer Trafton is Andrew Peterson's SIL? I didn't know that!
ReplyDeleteMy 3rd born is less interested in reading than my first two, also. What is that? Though truthfully, when my girls were at his stage of reading development, they were sort of like he is, too. I love the idea of reading HP aloud, but it's SOOOOOOOO long. Eeek!
I bought the annotated Little Women at Orchard House. I can't wait to dig in. <3 I haven't read Little Men, either.
SO GLAD TO BE BACK! Love these chatty book posts. Love you! <3
How have you not read Little Men!! I think I actually read that first, and then found out about Little Women - you HAVE to read it. Have. to.
DeleteOh my word, HP took us FOREVER. We started it last summer, and each chapter probably took at least two nights (sometimes three) to get through and we were very hit or miss as her interest would ebb and flow. But I'm glad we finished it and we have the second book queued up for when she's ready.
It sounds like I'm going to have to pick up The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic!
ReplyDeleteI came to Harry Potter late in the game (I was in my mid-twenties despite being the age that could have "grown up" with them") and, while I have plenty of time before my kids (2 years and 7 months) will be ready to read them, I have occasionally wondered how to go about introducing them to my children. I binge read them - and am quite certain I would have binge read them if they were all available and I was reading them as a kid. Yet the increasing maturity of the series as well as the relatively amoral tone of the books makes me wary of that. I suppose reading aloud would help slow the process down as well as give opportunity to discuss the mature and/or amoral aspects as they come up. You've given me something to chew on :-)