Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Reading to Boys Part 2


We've been blasting through books this summer, so I wanted to share a few more read-aloud favorites with you.

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald - yes, One agreed to a book with the word "princess" in the title. And loved it. Well, there was one kiss, and he squirmed and hid his head under the covers, but otherwise it was a fairly adventurous tale. As you probably know, MacDonald was one of C.S. Lewis' mentors and friends - a much better recommendation than my own, I dare say.

The Wind in the Willows - an obvious choice but a good one. Probably good to wait for a while on this - One and I tried it when he was 6 and it was too long-winded. Sort of Henry James for kids. But we're trying again now and so far it's working out.

Others on our bookshelf for the summer are:

2 Edith Nesbits: The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet. If you've read Five Children and It these 2 are a must.
The Oregon Trail, by Francis Parkman. This is a wait and see. I'll let you know how it goes.

When One gets his dad back (once Two is reading on his own and we switch bedtime-partners) they will dig into:

The Swiss Family Robinson (I had no interest in this one, so One agreed to wait for dad)
White Fang - One tried this on his own after he read The Call of the Wild, but this was a little over his head. He did Call on his own, though, and loved it.

All of these are older read-alouds - nothing Two (at age 5) is really interested in yet. He is, however, so into Narnia he's taken to calling himself Reepicheep. He and Husband have finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and have moved onto Prince Caspian. Two is completely addicted. When our visits to Narnia are complete, Two has Three Tales of My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett, and Kipling's Just So Stories in the bullpen. One enjoyed them both at 5 or 6, and I know Two will as well.

I will post on read-alones later on today, and maybe also on what's sitting on my bedside table waiting to be read. We've been bookstore pigs lately and have a lot in our troughs to devour.

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