Books on CD and other recent reads

I will confess (even if it puts me in the Homeschool Hall of Shame) that I have never been good at reading aloud to my children. I do alright when it comes to chubby cheeked little guys bringing me the same board book over & over, but as they get older (and learn to read) I tend to leave them to read on their own. I’ve done a little better with dd, mostly because it’s fun to introduce her to my own girlhood favorites. Otherwise, I’ve been glad that our library is finally buying more books on CD instead of cassette!

The van works well for listening to books. The audience is captive, and since we live in a small town we’re often driving far enough to listen to a couple chapters. Since the older boys are in school now and not always with us, I’ve been able to choose more ‘girly’ books than usual. So far we’ve enjoyed All-of-a-Kind-Family by Sydney Taylor and Ellen Tebbits by Beverly Cleary; now we are listening to When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne.

As for ink & paper books, Larry currently has 4 in his stack. . .I’m not sure if he’s reading one, or all of them. From top to bottom:

• The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz
• The Communist Manifesto & Other Writings by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
• The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer
• Nine One One The Aftermath: The Word Works by Dean Kavouras

I’ve mostly been unwinding with a re-read of At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon; I read part of the series years ago but couldn’t remember which books I’d read or not. So, I figured I would pick up the first one again. I also keep a basket of books by my bedside for a change of pace or a quick reference; right now my basket holds:

• The Spirituality of the Cross by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
• Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster Cline & Jim Fay
• Nurture by Nature by Paul D. Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger

 C is reading his first Tolkien book; I can’t remember which one other than it’s not Lord of the Rings because it wasn’t on the shelf at the school library. I also saw a Garfield book in his backpack.

J is still working his way through the Harry Potter series; I’m not sure which book he is currently reading as to be honest I’ve not read any of them myself. He usually steers clear of fiction though, preferring science books instead.

R is also working on a series, the Kaya books from American Girl; she might be on the last one. On our last trip to the library she picked up Meet Molly for me to read to her; I think we’re about halfway through. She’s also reading Little House in the Big Woods on her own and I am reading Farmer Boy to her, having started reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to her & J over the summer.

N doesn’t sit still very long for books although he still ‘needs’ to check out a few from the library each time. He mostly grabs picture books connected to his favorite PBS shows, such as H. A. Rey’s Curious George or Marc Brown’s Arthur.

Mr. I is content listening to the same board books over and over and over. One of his favorites (which I think is missing at the moment) has pictures of all different kinds of trucks. He enjoys anything by Sandra Boynton, especially Barnyard Dance, Pajama Time, and our newest favorite Snuggle Puppy. He also likes Julie Stiegemeyer’s ‘church’ books (Things I See in Church, Colors I See in Church, etc).