What We're Reading

It's been quite some time since I talked about what we're reading so I thought I'd post an update on the books in each of our hands lately.  As a family, we're reading through Little House on the Prairie.  The older 3 kids seem alternately intrigued, bored, apprehensive and captivated as we move through the story.  I'd forgotten how much detail is given about things like the front door Pa builds and how spooky it felt during the description of the cabin surrounded by wolves.  In all, it's greatly enjoyed so we'll probably watch the pilot episode of the Little House show when we're finished since it follows the book fairly closely.

Paulie has been informed by his third grade teacher that his reading skills surpass the level of books he's been choosing to read lately so in an effort to push him a bit, Paul picked out a Wrinkle in Time, which he remembered enjoying quite a bit as a kid.  I can't say that Paulie was thrilled when he started, but he's enjoying it more now that he's further into it.  I think finding the balance between pushing him a bit on his reading choices while still letting him read Diary of a Wimpy Kid books on a regular basis is going to be key in avoiding giving him a distaste for forced books while expanding his horizons a bit.

Elizabeth received The Hundred Dresses for her birthday and decided to pick it up last week.  She was intrigued, of course, by the notion of 100 dresses, but within 2 chapters confronted me saying, "I thought you said this was a good book?  These girls are mean, mean, mean to her; they just tease!"  I, of course, encouraged Elizabeth to keep reading to see if the story would get better.  By the end, Elizabeth still wasn't sure if she liked the book or not.  She was relieved the girls weren't as mean anymore but still concerned about Wanda.  Maybe a less heavy book is in order next.

Our fledgling reader, Philip, has immersed himself nearly every night this week in Go, Dog, Go and similar Dr. Seuss easy readers like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  His teacher mentioned a few weeks ago that he's one of the better readers in his class and we've seen his reading soar since the beginning of kindergarten.  He's just starting to get to the place that books with common words, like Go, Dog, Go, can be read with some fluency.  I think he's pretty thrilled with his new reading skills.

Finn has 2 favorites that have been frequent readers over the last week or two.  He's really been fascinated with colors lately and trying to name the colors so the concentration on that in My Many Colored Days has captured his attention.  He's also been very partial to reading Time For Bed every evening as part of his bedtime routine.  Mama rather enjoys reading that one as well.  Elizabeth also adored this book at this age so it's partly sentimental and partly just a really sweet book.

What books are in your kids' hands this week?