Posted on 06/19/2008 7:10:37 PM PDT by incredulous joe
FReeps have such great taste! So, I thought I would put this out there.
One of my favorite things to do during the summer months is read to my children before they go to sleep. Actually, I do this year round, but particularly enjoy reading to them during the summer months. At times we get carried away with some of the great children’s lit available ~ with Mom finally coming up tho the bedrooms at 10:30 to shut down the evening's activities. At which point we may have to get real quiet and me straining my eyes.
It’s great to have a book that you can’t put down and not have to get up for school the following day!
As the kids have gotten older I’ve found that there is a lot of great stuff out there that we can read.
I thought that I would ask my FReeper friends what they may have read with their kids or grandkids and really enjoyed ~ thought funny or profound.
My son will be 10 and my little girl is going to be 7 soon. They’re interested in a lot of different things, but it’s sort of a key to meet somewhere in between with them on the stories that we read. My son could go for a steady diet of military stories and C.S Lewis books, but my daughter does not particularly favor those, though she will listen in.
Here are a few that were very much enjoyed;
“Flush” by Carl Hiasson
“Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamilo
“The House of 60 Father’s” by Meindert De Jong
“Redwall” by Brian Jacques
What do you recommend?
The Three Investigators series by Robert Arthur. I really liked these when I was a child.
Forgot to mention “The Indian in the Cupboard” by Lynne Reid Banks.
Get the book on audio and save for a road trip. You won’t be able toget out of the car if the cassette is not over.
The author’s reading delivers the story with relish and gusto!!
“I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a kid.”
Laura’s mother Caroline is my great grandfather’s sister. Laura and my grandfather 1st cousins.
The Little House books are still good reading, even for adults.
“You mean, you’ll put down your rock, I’ll put down my sword, and we’ll try to kill each other like civilized people?” ~The Masked Man
The Princess Bride was written by William Goldman. Wow, has that got got a diverse catalogue of work!
Seriously, I read Ingalls Wilder to my wife’s stomach when my son was in utero. We were so silly when we were in the family way. ;-)
I’ll second The Tale of Despereaux. I loved that book.
Number the Stars
The Giver
by Lois Lowry
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
by Madeline L’engle
Bunnicula
The Celery Stalks at Midnight
by James Howe
Peter Pan. Read them the original.
i like the Kate Dicamillo books, especially The Tale of Despereux... excellent read aloud... this summer my sons are listening to The Children’s Homer... they recently listened to The Red Badge of Courage... A Wrinkle in Time... Cricket in Time Square is excellent... Johnny Tremain is very good... Carry On Mr. Bowditch... The Witch of Blackbird Pond is good...
as a family we are listening to Uncle Tom’s Cabin... very long... they also heard At the Back of the North Wind this year... and the original Pinocchio... and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry... as you might tell, we’ve been studying the Civil War period of American History...
past books: The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, The Narnia Books, Shilo, Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island... Black Ships Before Troy, The Bronze Arrow, The Golden Goblet...
gosh—we do read alouds all year long, so we have covered many, many, books... i cannot think of them all... oh—The Indian in the Cupboard series is good... Mr. Popper’s Penguins... From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (this is one my 4th grade teacher read to our class 33 years ago—i was glad my kids loved it, too...) and Where The Red Fern Grows...
if i think of others, i will post again...
this summer we are covering: Farenheit 451 (currently), The Children’s Homer and The Illiad...
if i had to recommend just one, i would choose The Tale of Despereaux... easy to read aloud... good, good story...
I would also recommend "The Borrowers" series. There is something fascinating about tiny people living secretly in the walls and under the floors that really appeals to kids.
Animal Farm
1984
Brave New World
I loved The Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island. Also, A Wrinkle in Time.
And, of couse, Mark Twain's stuff.
Thanks.
Great stuff. Sounds about up our alley. Our guys loved Johnny Tremain.
Shelby Foote has a recounting of The Battle of Shilo. You gotta hear it in his voice, with that slow southern draw!! It’s awesome!
If you like the historical stuff. My entire family enjoyed “Lewis & Clark” by Ken Burns on CD. They had anensemble of readers and it was presented very nicely. My daughter was just 5 and she listened in.
I loved The Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island. Also, A Wrinkle in Time.
And, of course, Mark Twain's stuff.
“Bones on Black Spruce Mountain”
There's a good summary at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_and_the_Phoenix, although they forgot to mention how much Phoenix loves Aunt Amy's sugar cookies.
The Stinky Cheese Man. I raised my two on that one. My son is in the USAF, doing top-dog work and my daughter is a Natl Merit Scholar Finalist.
yes, yes, yes! in fact, i still have my book from when i was a little girl... i found it last year in my mother's garage! my boys read it... they are now 7 and 12... i do remember that the first chapter book i ever read was Charlotte's Web... and speaking of Charlotte's Web, how about E.B. White? The Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little... i especially liked The Trumpet of the Swan... my 4th grade teacher read that to us over 30 years ago...
Shelby Foote did a audio book of the Civil War. Excellent!
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