Children's Book Monday {Read Alouds}

Reading aloud has such magic about it.

And in our house, there's more than just a family read-aloud being enjoyed at one time. There's Mama and sons, Daddy and sons, and a Mama-daughter read aloud as well- a quiet time every day when the reading levels shift and comprehension grows; we've also learned that intimacy in location provides very well for sweet questions to be answered, and spiritual applications to be discussed and applied (i.e. Eliana's bedtime chapter enjoyed in her pink cloud of a bed, or The Hiding Place read on the couch, smooshed between two very big, extremely riveted boys.)

We finished our last read-aloud, mostly enjoyed during lunches, and when we chose the next and I pondered collecting all of our current read-alouds into one basket, I was surprised at the size of the pile!

Family:

Laddie
by Gene Stratton Porter

We have a lovely, ancient (well, ninety-five years old anyway!) copy that's been water-stained and sun-dried, but every time I creak it open and renew our reading, we are captivated by the timeless descriptions and lessons Mrs. Porter imagines for us. Her incredible affinity for nature makes me want to keep this book on the nature table (oooh, perhaps I shall!); while A Girl of the Limberlost remains my favorite book by this author, Laddie is fast becoming like another old friend, as the character of Little Sister in the story is teaching me and my family lessons I never knew we needed, but oh, what a lightning bolt those moments are, for all of us! Highly recommended. (If, that is, you can muddle through some of the grammatical and sentence structure difficulties. Note: British accents are helpful in this, but only for characters not from America in the story, of which there are several. ~smile~)

Daddy and Sons:

The Lord of the Rings {Return of the King}
by J.R.R. Tolkein

They began this one over a year ago, beginning with the Fellowship of the Ring, and now they are chapters away from the end; the slow, steady pace has only served to build an intimacy with this incredible story not to be gotten from just the movies. (Although they are very much looking forward to enjoying those again when the book is done.)

Mama and Sons:

All Creatures Great and Small
by James Herriott

My mama says she read this book while nursing me as a newborn, and laughed so hard at night she was afraid she'd wake my Papa. And I? Did the exact same thing as I nursed Eliana in those early winter months; Mr. Herriot's stories are so rich in humor and warmth, his observations so sharp and clever, I couldn't wait to share them with my children. But wait I did, and now we are laughing and crying our way through this first book in a classic series. (sans a few choice words that are indicative of the culture Mr. Herriot worked amongst as a veterinarian in the mid-twentieth century.)

Mama-Daughter:

Betsy, Tacy and Tib
by Maud Hart Lovelace

We draw her curtains, switch off the light and on the lamp and snuggle on her bed, ready for another chapter in the lives of these three, sweet friends. Eliana, in all her five-almost-six-year-old wisdom laughs and shakes her head at the girls' antics: Mama, really, people don't FLY!" when the friends are inspired by a traveling circus, and "I KNOW those things wouldn't taste good together!" when they spend an afternoon "baking" in Betsy's kitchen.
I loved these stories as a girl and I'm loving them even more now, sharing them with my girl.