What Does Reading Aloud Look Like?

People always make me laugh when they tell me their kids don't LIKE to hear them read aloud. I feel like it's really similar to the whole, "My kids won't sit still in church," argument. Well, they may not get it the first time you read aloud to them if you've never done it before (just like they won't sit still the first time they're old enough to go to "Big Church"), but if you practice, they'll get it! (I will mention that there are times when James would rather read to himself. TOTALLY OKAY. You don't want to discourage reading here. I tell him that's fine and that Will and I will read without him. Sometimes he joins us later, sometimes he doesn't. Read-alouds shouldn't replace the reading a kid is doing on his/her own. It should enhance it!)

I started reading to both of my boys when I was pregnant with them, but that doesn't mean we haven't had seasons of squirminess! We practice how to listen well and if they seem to not be listening, I stop reading! Easy peasy! There's no pressure to read a certain amount each day at our house. I want to encourage reading, not discourage it.

{This is during me reading! Blocks, Legos, etc. keep them busy and quiet. They ARE listening even if they're playing!}

A few things will make it easier for you to begin to read aloud to your kiddos...

1. Pick really awesome books! I'll share more of my favorites with you in another post, but this is pretty darn critical for read-aloud perfection. If you pick lousy books or books that are too high or too low for your kids, they aren't going to be very interested. Know how I pick great books? I scour the internet and I think about the books I liked when I was a kid. If I read a book that we own and it completely stinks when I read it out loud, I put it in our Salvation Army box immediately and get rid of it. (Just a warning that typically the first reader/early reader books are horrible and a lot of times anything with a tv character isn't great.) (I'll also mention that just because a suggestion reading level is above where your child reads, that doesn't make it a bad read-aloud! Kids can comprehend far above their own reading level when YOU are reading it to them!)

2. Find your time! My best suggestion is to try reading out loud over several different times of the day. The BEST times for us are times when the boys are occupied with other things that they can do while they listen. A mealtime is a great time to read because typically kids are busy, but not distracted. Bedtime is also great because they're snuggly and quiet and it's time to settle down anyway. We also like reading after school while playing with blocks, small toys, and play dough.

3. Don't get discouraged! If you feel like you're fussing at your kids to sit still and be quiet you're not picking the right time (or the right book). Switch things up. If you get discouraged that they aren't listening, no one is going to enjoy it!

4. Don't be worried if they're moving around! Listening, for kids, looks active sometimes. James is almost 10 and Will is 7 and they both still play, stand on their heads, flip and flop, etc. while I am reading. As long as they aren't talking or making noises, they're welcome to do all of that!

5. Recognize that while you may find a "sweet spot" of reading aloud to your kids, it may not always look that way! We've moved reading aloud around to various times in our day, we've sat all over our house, and we've played and kept ourselves busy with lots of toys! It doesn't look the same today that it did when they were 5 and 2!

6. Audiobooks are ok! I'll talk more about this in another post, but listening to an audiobook counts as reading!!! There are some books that we've found are just BETTER when someone else reads them aloud to us. (This is especially true if the dialect is different!) Audiobooks in the car are AMAZING. You have a captive audience! Turn that on while you're driving around town AND when you're going out of town! 

There are a few things are consistently played with at our house during read-alouds. I'm linking them below for you. Please note that I am an Amazon Associate and if you purchase through the links shared, I will receive compensation.

            

We're always finding new ways to play quietly! I'll share more another time. Just keep in mind that anything kids can do with their hands (building, coloring, molding clay) where they can focus on what you're reading is the key. You can use things you have around your house! I didn't purchase these items with the purpose of read-alouds in mind. You have plenty of things already that you can use!

Our Read-Aloud Family

Friends! I feel like it has been so long since we've talked! I know I recapped recently about our family's summer break. We've now been back in school for over a week and so far it has been great! We don't have any complaints at all! (Well, very few. The early start always gets us!) We are easing back into the routine and the busy-ness of real life and we are enjoying it!

Over the summer, I tried to spend a LOT of my time reading. My Kindle Oasis (not-an-ad) is on of the best purchases I've made in a long time because it's WATER PROOF which means I could take it into the pool with me. On our last trip to the beach, I even purchased a float so that I could float and read and it was GLORIOUS.

One of the topics I read several books about was READING. I picked up a book by Sarah Mackenzie called The Read-Aloud Family.  I devoured it. I know it sounds so nerdy, but the idea that others loved reading aloud as much as I do (and ALWAYS have) and that I could beef up my kiddos brains and help improve their test scores by doing something we enjoy? AMAZING.

I want to share everything I know and love about reading aloud with you. ALL the details of how it has looked for us over the years. Eddie and I are both BIG readers. We love to read on our own when we have the time and one of our very favorite things to do is to browse a book store (especially a USED book store!).

As a child, I was also a big reader. I often had my nose in a book AND I often stayed up late to read as a child. I loved The Baby-Sitters Club, The Boxcar Children, and Judy Blume books.

I started reading to James when I was pregnant with him. I read often! Because I was already reading often to James, Will also reaped the benefits of the read-aloud in-utero! I'll share some of our favorites soon from those early years.

And in case you've never seen it, I made James do a book review of Charlotte's Web when he was 3. HERE.

So...all of this to say that we have been reading as a family for YEARS and YEARS and have read hundreds and hundreds of books. Is it something everyone always enjoys? Nope. Have I figured out what works for us over the years? YES. Am I SO EXCITED to share my tricks of the trade with you? I definitely am. I cannot wait to share all that I know and love about reading with your children! I'm hoping that you'll also share what you love about reading with YOUR kids and what your favorite read-alouds have been!

Favorite Halloween Books for Kids

Over the past few years we have collected quite the assortment of Halloween- and fall-themed books. I have picked them up here and there for SEVEN years now. Although we have a TON of them, I do have several that are my favorites that are just timeless. I also added some chapter books to our collection this year to encourage James to read books with a little more rigor. (He tends to like to stick to grade-level books even though he reads two to three grade levels higher.)

My VERY favorite Halloween book for kiddos is Room on the Broom. It is a PRECIOUS little rhyming story about a witch. It is just the cutest book and I have the sweetest memories of reading it to James and Will when they were tiny. I think we got it at Will's first Halloween.

I also really love The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. James and I had this one memorized when he was three. Again, it just has the sweetest memories tied up with it. It's a cute story about a little old lady who is walking through the woods when things start following her.

I love ANY Berenstain Bears book. We have four fall Berenstain Bears books at our house. The Spooky Old Tree, The Berenstain Bears Go On a Ghostwalk, Trick or Treat, and Harvest Festival. I love that the books gently teach lessons. They're also Christian based so they share our ideas and morals about how we should treat others. The fact that they're seasonal is a bonus for me!

I Spy A Pumpkin is one I picked up from our Scholastic flier several years ago and it (and others like it) are really fun to me! I also really enjoy these in the car. These keep the boys interest for a good while. AND they list a word and picture so even Will, who isn't reading yet, can "read" them by himself.

I added Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe to our collection this year. I remember it as a child and thought James would get a kick out of it. Santa brought it last year so I stuck it up in our Halloween bin and just recently pulled it out.

The Witches by Roald Dahl is one that I hope James will discover soon and LOVE. He has thoroughly enjoyed Roald Dahl in the past and I don't think this will be any different. We even have the movie version of this to watch at some point over the next month.

The Worst Best Halloween Ever is new to our collection (but we've read it before!) this year. Barbara Robinson brings the Herdman kids back to life in this chapter book. (Remember The Worst Best Christmas Pageant Ever?)  Hopefully this one will be a hit!

Little Blue Truck has been a favorite in our house for several years so I picked up Little Blue Truck's Halloween for the boys this year. It's a lift-a-flap book so it's a little young for us, but I couldn't resist. I think this is the fourth book that we have in the series. They are SO cute.

I grabbed a Halloween-themed AND a Thanksgiving-themed Magic Tree House for James. Those are really cute, easy readers and I hope that he loves them. If your child hasn't discovered this series but they're an early reader, pick up a few. This is one series that James has read quite a few from. He has gotten bored with reading a little faster than I've liked so we put the series down after about 15 books, but I hope he'll enjoy these two new ones!

I also picked up a Halloween Geronimo Stilton book this year. I have had people recommend Geronimo Stilton over and over to me so this was a fun way to see what all the fuss is about! They're a little more advanced than our Magic Tree House series, but still look perfect for a 2nd or 3rd grader.

One of the boys' favorites is another oldie but goodie and that's the Scary Storybook Collection of Disney stories. I've found James reading through this one several times. It's a collection of short stories of our favorite characters (and villains!) in one large book.

We have TONS more books, but those are our most favorite titles and our newest selections. What are your kids reading for Halloween? We'd love to hear your favorites!

November and December Books!

It has apparently been a WHILE since I've shared what I've read. I finished out the year SIGNIFICANTLY under my reading goal. I didn't anticipate (when I made the goal list) working four days a week AND I have been surprised at all the GO that comes with kindergarten. Sheesh! ANYWAY. I set my goal last year at a whopping 75 books and I read 32 books. Womp, womb. I lowered my goal to just 52 books this year and I've already marked off TWO so I'm hoping for better things! 

The boys and I read A Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. I really loved this one. I can remember watching the movie (I love Chuck Jones!) as a child. The book was really good and both boys enjoyed listening to it! The cricket, Chester, finds himself inside a picnic basket going by train from his home in the country to New York City. He finds two friends, a mouse named Harry and a cat named Tucker, and takes up residence in the newspaper stand of a little boy's family. This is a whole series and I think that Santa brought us the next one. I'm looking forward to reading more!

I bought an Audible subscription with a Groupon and my first book I listened to was The Heir by Kiera Cass. This was a great book for me to listen to because most of my listening time comes in the car line for James and this was a book that was VERY clean and I didn't have to worry about Will hearing it. I'm going to have to be careful about what I choose for my Audible selections. (I'm listening to Christy right now and I love it, too!) If you have favorite Audible recommendations, let me know. I have LOVED this subscription. The book itself was great, too. I have recommended the other titles (this is the Selection series) before on the blog. It is Hunger Games meets Cinderella meets The Bachelor. It is a little cheesy, but I've enjoyed every single book in the series. A new one comes out in May so I'm looking forward to how the series ends. If you need a traveling book or a beach book, these are great!

I finally finished A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the first part of the book in which Bryson decides on a whim to hike the Appalachian Trail and, because no one else will go with him, picks his old college roommate Stephen Katz to walk with him. Katz is an overweight alcoholic who, it turns out, is on the run from the law (he is supposed to do 30 days in jail but decides hiking sounds like a better deal). The second part of the book (where they leave the trail for a book tour for Bryson) is mostly about the US Park Service and it got a little dull (and that's why I say I finally finished it). Katz makes the book HILARIOUS and he wasn't in the second part. Thankfully, they do reunite at the end. It was a funny story, but it was also touching. Katz's character evolves and their friendship grows. I know it's an older book, but it's a good one! I enjoyed it a lot!

The Royal We by Heather Cocks was the cheesiest of all titles this month, but I LOVED it. This book was ripped from William and Kate's headlines and because I am a HUGE fan of William and Kate, I loved the book. It is not, by any means, high literature, but it's another one of those travel/beach books. If you enjoy reading about the British monarchy (in the tabloids...not in the history books), you'll fly through this one! Rebecca, an American college student in England, meets William...errr, Nick...on her first day at school. The two hit it off and become friends and then begin a secret romance. It is SO ripped out of the headlines, but I think that makes it even better. Ha! Just good old trashy, mindless reading!

And that finishes up my books for 2015! I have a handful already started for January. My book club is reading Dogwood Blues by Brenda Sutton Rose, I'm finishing up a Disney travel book, a book club book from months ago, and Outlander. I'm listening to Christy and I'm most looking forward to starting the Anne of Green Gables series which I have NEVER READ! What are you reading?

Playing Catch-Up. {September Books, August Fun, and September Fun!}

Will's pumpkin patch field trip was cancelled this morning from all the rain, so I'm going to spend the morning blogging, reading, cleaning, doing laundry, and just enjoying the time at home! I'm actually not even taking him to school today. He's had a pretty rough go with an ear infection {when he gets them - which is rare - they are rough...he runs fever if you look at him wrong!} so I told him to get his wubbie and snuggle up in the chair in the playroom. I'll probably get some things cleaned up and more Halloween put out. I'm a little sad that there's no pumpkin patch today - because the chances of me being able to go with him when they reschedule are SLIM - but I'm REALLY enjoying the time home and not in the mud.

This is going to be SO long, so bear with me.

First things first, September books! I only read two in September, but they were both worthwhile!

Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary. We kept on with our Ramona obsession and enjoyed the third book in the series. We LOVE Ramona. If you're looking for fun books for read-alouds, I highly recommend them. Will, especially, loves her. 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Ohhh, this was a good one that we read for book club. It was a page turner, for SURE. I wasn't sure what to think to begin with - the narrator changes each chapter and is confusing - but I was glad that I stuck with it by a quarter of the way in. I WILL say that I thought that the end fell flat. It isn't predictable by any means, but I felt like the book dragged along and you wonder WHO did it and then you find out and BAM! the book is over. It was weird to me. I would still recommend it. I thought it was great. It reminded me a LOT of Gone Girl, but without all the bad language. Similar tone, though.

And that was it! :/ I'm never going to make my goal of 75 books, but I'm still going to truck along and see how far I get.

Back in July we went to Roswell to visit Papa and YaYa and got by for a great visit with Grandmommie as well! Grandmommie is YaYa's mom so she's the boys' only great grandmother. We LOVE getting to see her and visit with her and this time the boys got to swim in her pool. It was a quick visit, but we enjoyed it anyway. Eddie and I especially enjoyed sitting and talking to her for a while.

On the same trip, we also went to see the Gwinnett Braves play. James had been DYING to go to a Braves game, but we decided minor leagues was the better place to start. Y'all, we may never get past minor leagues. It was awesome! I've been to plenty of minor league games, but I'd forgotten how fun they make it. The boys LOVED it.

School is going great for both boys! I obviously hear more about Will than James since I work in Will's school, but both seem to be having fun. One thing that James has been into lately is eating in the cafeteria. Lol!!!!! I thought that I would NEVER let him eat (I am so, SO picky about food), but it is SO SIMPLE not to have to pack a lunch and our county's lunch is free, so who am I to complain? We just check the menu and if it's something he's interested in he gets a tray. Whatever, huh?! 

Will has been doing great as well. He is learning a LOT and loving the 3 year old class. He is still a CLOWN and the other day when the "tough" teacher wasn't there he had a party. Mrs. J said he just thought he'd say how far he could push the line. He broke something and hid in the bathroom. Needless to say, he's lost a handful of stamps this year, but it's been a better year than last year! They keep them busy. It's just the CUTEST age.

Will has also played SOCCER this year. This is his first sport! I plan to do a whole post devoted to this later this week. I can't not do that for him. He and Eddie are both ready for their last game tomorrow night. His little team has been pretty pitiful. They are YOUNG and SMALL.

Aside from all of that, it's more of the same! I'll have more Halloween this month and more posts for soccer, Anna's baby shower, our visit to meet Minnie Cate, etc. all later this week.

August Books

I'm really late on this, but I use my "Books" tab to remember what I've read and help suggest titles to friends. Yay for ALL the reading in August! I am so impressed with myself!!! And then suddenly we're TWO WEEKS into September and I'm wondering how the HECK that happened?! Anyone know?

The Tower Treasure: Hardy Boys Mystery #1 by Franklin W. Dixon

I had already read this, of course, but I tried this with James. He liked it, but it was still a little too old for him so we will hold off for a few months before we try the second one. I think these will be great after he starts reading on his own, really. 

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Oh, the highly anticipated non-sequel, non-prequel, rough draft, possibly illegally obtained book. Is Atticus a racist? Will it live up to the original? Okay, so here's my take. You HAVE to go into this book with the idea that it is, first, a completely separate piece that she NEVER anticipated having published AND it is a rough draft. Once you have that out of the way, you also have to remember that the Atticus in Watchman was RE-WRITTEN to become the Atticus in Mockingbird. After you have that settled in your head you can begin. :) Lol! I have to say, I really, REALLY enjoyed the book. Did it sound a little different? Yes. It was {supposedly} her first novel AND it was a rough draft. Had she gone back and edited that instead of writing a completely different piece, she would have tidied up a lot of what people didn't enjoy {the first 100 pages or so...}. I loved thinking about how she had written these characters and then completely reworked them. I did think that it followed a similar "formula" as Mockingbird. I think that the discussion of whether Atticus is a racist or not is completely resolved so if that's your hang up, I'd say read it. The ONLY things I didn't like at all - someone IMPORTANT dies at a very young age {and this isn't really a spoiler as it happens in the first ten pages and has nothing to do with the rest of the book}, there is no Boo Radley {where did he go?! someone in book club suggested he's likely in an institution by his age because his caretakers would have died or be unable to care for him}, and the part with Calpurnia just BROKE MY HEART. I really enjoyed it. REALLY. And I didn't expect to. If you want to talk about whether or not she wrote it AND whether or not the publisher's have obtained it legally, I may not be as positive. :/ 

Let's All Be Brave by Annie F. Down

This was SUCH a great read. Annie Downs is a Christian writer from Georgia so I enjoyed knowing places she described just from a regional sense. The book is all about how that God wants us to be brave when He is calling us out, even if it is SO FAR from our own plans and comfort zones. It was a GREAT book and one that I need to do a separate write-up on because it was sent to me by BookLook Bloggers, but I will say that if you're looking for a gift for a high school graduate, this is IT. I'm similar in age to Annie but she is single and while I appreciate the ideas in the book, our places in life are not similar. GREAT for a single college girl, though! I will read more of her books for sure.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

This is just one that is laughable. I started this in May 2014. 2014!!!!! I just put it down and never finished it. I would pick it up, read 2-3 pages, and then not look at it again for weeks. I finally got determined to finish it and I am so glad that I did! Boy, is it different from the movie! All those children Scarlett had! Gracious! I enjoyed this for sure. What a sad life, though. I'm assuming you all know the basic premise of GWTW so I'll spare you the details, but I did really like it. And now I need to re-watch the movie!

This puts me at 27 books for the year, which is WAY behind my goal, but I still think pretty good! I'll keep trucking and hopefully have a handful more finished in the next two weeks!

The Day the Crayons Quit.

A few weeks ago, another blogger posted THIS about Family Book Club. Now y'all know I am all about Book Club. James is ALWAYS mad that he can't go, so FAMILY Book Club seemed liked a great alternative! I ordered the two books that Andrea had done in their FBC so far {she's since added an author study} and penciled a day in on the calendar.

The night before I moved our little children's table into the kitchen and covered it with butcher paper. I put crayons out so that they could color and put the book on our kitchen table. The boys got up and set to work coloring the paper. James {obviously} had clear ideas and rules to follow about the coloring process, but Will wasn't nearly as structured. They colored while I made pancakes {with sprinkles!}.

While the boys were eating, I read The Day the Crayons Quit aloud to them. It's a cute book about a boy whose crayons start writing letters to him about how unsatisfied they are in their work. My favorite is peach who is mad that the boy peeled his paper off and now he is NAKED. I always peeled crayon wrappers off. Does that drive any of you crazy?

After eating breakfast and reading, we settled in on the sofa to watch Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood - the episode about the crayon factory. James had seen Mr. Rogers a few years ago and LOVED it {it's on Amazon Prime if you want to share it with your kids}, but Will had never seen it. They're avid Daniel Tiger fans so they ate. it. up. We'll probably watch more! After watching that episode {that was circa 1985} James shared with me that there's a Daniel Tiger episode about a crayon factory, too! So then we watched that! It was definitely an updated version of the same thing.

The next thing on my schedule was to have the boys use blocks to build crayon factories. I took the opportunity to get a shower so while I was gone the activity kind of fizzled out. We had a few other things to do and didn't get back to playing until later in the afternoon.

Poor White Crayon is upset because he doesn't show up on white paper so we used him to color and then water colored over him! It was really a neat activity. James LOVED it.

We also did the graphing activity that Andrea mentions on her blog. It was fun, but James needed some help doing it and I started him on it when I was making supper.

Overall, this was a fun day! I'll probably follow a few more of Andrea's plans and then do some of my own! The boys loved it!

June Books.

I've read 21 books this year, but that puts me WAY behind in my goal of 75 by the end of the year. I need to pick things up in a BIG way. The boys and I have been reading like crazy together, but my own reading has stunk. SO...here we go!

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary

The boys are on a big Ramona kick. They think she is hysterical. Even Will LOVES these books. This one was about Ramona's first year at school. James is on the fence about kindergarten this year and I think this book helped. Even though Ramona would be almost 70 years old now, kindergarten hasn't changed *that* much and James liked it. She is such a character! Unlike Pippi Longstocking, though, I don't mind reading about the shenanigans that she gets in because she usually doesn't mean to be bad. (Pippi was hard for me for some reason.) We've picked up two more Ramona books from the library. We'll probably also venture into Henry Huggins (the boy character that Beverly Cleary wrote in response to boys not having any books about them in the library) soon.

Jurassic World: Special Edition Junior Novelization by David Lewman

James has begged to see Jurassic World so this was his consolation prize. (The language is not bad - I've seen it twice and I think I counted seven words in my second showing. It IS scary, though, and James would have nightmares. I just don't want to do that to him.) He has two of the Lego sets and we've watched the original so he was pumped about this book. (Hello, I'm Lauren and I'm a Jurassic Park NUT. Hi, Lauren!) The book was great! It follows the movie to. a. tee. It left out a few parts that weren't appropriate for young readers (Owen makes a joke about Claire joining him in his bungalow and another part where Gray asks Zach about their parents getting divorced.). I enjoyed reading it to the boys and they both liked it. James liked it a lot more than Will and could really follow the dialogue (it's hard to understand some of those big dinosaur/science words when you're 3!). It would be great for a pre-teen who liked the movie. Well done!

Marineland by Cheryl Messinger

I read this in a day at the beach a few weeks ago. It was a super quick read, but had some great information. I grew up going to Marineland. We went with both sets of parents to St. Augustine growing up numerous times and I know we went to Marineland a handful of times during those trips. That would've been in the early 90s. The park started in the 1930s so it was old by the time that I knew it. The book follows the history of the early days of the park and doesn't touch as much on the later history, which I felt was a little bit of a shame, but that's just because that's when I knew it. There are TONS of pictures of what the park looked like when it was first built. It's owned by the Georgia Aquarium now, but it has a GREAT history. Marineland was the first place of its kind and was really the gateway for parks like Seaworld. Built as a movie studio, it has been featured in lots and lots and LOTS of movies. The original owners really didn't know anything about sea animals, they just started collecting them and learning about them and they were almost always successful. This was definitely worth my time!

May Books.

I only finished two books in May. That's not to say I only READ two, but that's all I finished. I'm hoping to wrap up SEVERAL books {if you've been around here for long you know that I like to read about fifty at a time...} in June. I would LOVE to finish them all and have a blank slate in July. Maybe that should be my goal!

Meg by Steve Alten

I used a website called What Should I Read Next? and plugged in a few different books. Because I love Jurassic Park and Jaws {the movies, but also the books} I got lots of Steve Alten suggestions. I purchased a few and Meg was the first one I've read. Meg is about Jonas Taylor, a former Navy officer who left after a submarine mission went bad and he wound up panicking and killing fellow officers on his rapid ascent. He thinks that he saw a megalodon in a tropical trench deep in the ocean, but no one believes him. He spends the next few years trying to piece together what happened and study the possibility that the prehistoric animals are not really extinct, but just living in tropical water that is trapped miles below the surface in the Pacific Ocean's deepest canyon. When he gets called in by a friend who needs his help to do some work in the same location, he hesitantly agrees. It's his chance to prove to everyone that he isn't crazy. Once in the trench they see it - a male megalodon - and are attacked almost immediately. Jonas watches from his sub as his friend's sub is destroyed. During the attack the crew on the surface begin pulling the one-man submarine up and the male is entangled and trapped in the cables. A female comes by and begins to attack the male. Because there is blood pouring from its body, she is able to swim behind the wreckage through the colder water to the warmer water at the surface. She's free from the trench. How will they contain this 60-foot creature before she wreaks havoc on the world's oceans.

I know it sounds crazy, but I REALLY enjoyed this one. It was written in a way that didn't make it seem too far-fetched and the characters were very likable. The reviews online are mixed, but if you enjoy Jurassic Park or Jaws-type books, you'll enjoy it.

Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

The boys LOVE Ramona. This is our first Ramona book. Will especially loves her. In this book, Ramona is still a stay-at-home child who longs to be with Beezus at school. While she's at home she gets into all kinds of trouble - she bakes her doll in a cake like Hansel and Gretel, she takes a bite out of every apple in a box (because the first bite is the best!), and she secretly invites 15 children over to her house for a party. She is seriously the funniest, but she'd make me pull my hair out if she lived with me. I'm such a Beezus (as is James!). We've already started the second Ramona book and we're enjoying it even more! If you're looking for a starter read-aloud, Beverly Cleary books are great!

April Books.

This month wasn't my best in terms of reading, but I can't complain. As usual I have a TON of books started, but not finished. Hoping that after we get out of school next month I'll be able to wrap up a lot of those with some fun days spent outside.

Stuart Little by E.B. White

The boys and I read this one for a second time. We listened to it on CD a few years ago. The boys (particularly James) LOVED this one. Stuart Little is a boy (who much resembles a mouse) who is adopted by the Little family. Stuart has a brother, George, but often goes on adventures of his own. He learns to captain a boat, befriends a bird named Margolo, avoids being eaten by the family cat, and heads out on the open road in his own car. It was a great read-aloud.

Discover the Magic: The Insider's Guide to Walt Disney World by Roger Wilk

If you know absolutely nothing about planning a Disney World vacation, this is an excellent resource to use. However, if you've done some reading and are pretty familiar with the parks, this is the same-old stuff. I enjoyed reading it, and it was a quick read for a travel book, but it was not very detailed and wasn't anything that you can't find on the millions of Disney blogs on the internet.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

This was a book club read from several months ago that I didn't finish then and had to finally convince myself to wrap up this week. It follows a girl, Sarah Grimke, and her slave, Handful, from the early years of their lives well into adulthood. Sarah adamantly opposes slavery, even as a young child, but the customs of the south don't allow her to live any other way. She finally breaks away from her family and makes a life of her own. I thought it was an interesting book (Kidd bases it on two real-life characters - Sarah and her sister Nina), but I thought it was slooooooow. It dragged along for me (obviously). It has received high praise, so I may be in the minority on that, I just couldn't get into it.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This was this month's book club read. I was dreading it because I knew the basic premise of the story - a teenage girl has cancer and meets a boy, who has had cancer. I also knew that because everyone and their mama told me they wept in the movie theaters last summer that someone died. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't cry. I found the book to be a little ridiculous. The language that the teenagers used was far-fetched to me. They sounded like college professors in little teenaged bodies. That's probably a huge stretch, but I was just annoyed with the characters (probably also why I didn't cry). I didn't think it was a bad book, I thought that it was an okay book, but I certainly didn't understand the big deal that was made in these sold-out movie theaters last year. I wouldn't have been lining up to see it, but that's just me.

The Nanny Who Saved Christmas by Michelle Douglas

Shockingly, this was one of the better books I read this month. Don't let the title mis-lead you, it wasn't some raunchy romance novel. Romance-y, yes...raunchy, no. The book is set in Australia and I kind of loved that. Nicola is a woman in her twenties who is left reeling when her best friend and her fiancé wind up together. Instead of spending Christmas celebrating her marriage, she takes a job as a nanny in the middle of nowhere. I didn't LOVE this book, but it was a pretty good read. I won't be recommending it at book club, but if you're looking for something light for the beach, this would be a good one.

That's it for April! I have on my list to finish several that have been in a drawer on my nightstand for far too long. Hoping May will have 8-12 books!

March Books.

I'm going to *try* to do a little blog catch-up today during nap time and before swim team practice this afternoon. If I don't get to it today, I'll be sure to try to get some posts squished in tomorrow!

First, allow me to share a little moment and toot my own horn for a second. You may want to pick up Trisha Yearwood's newest cookbook, Trisha's Table, that's available in bookstores now. And when you do, you may want to check out pages 214 and 219. Maybe. Just saying. *ahem*

Okay, onto my books! I've probably told you before that I will read anything. ANYTHING. I read the cereal box, the boys' newsletter from school, brochures over and over just to read. So if I'm bored and there's a book nearby I am going to read it - regardless of what that is. Just a little preface for some of these titles this month. ;) 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was our book club choice for either January or February but I didn't finish it until early March. I'd read it before so it wasn't one that I needed to finish ahead of time. If you haven't read this book, GET IT TODAY. It's so good. The Help is about Jackson, Mississppi in the 60s. Integration and civil rights are buzz words and there is a lot of unrest. The book follows three women - one white, two black - through a few years as they band together to write a book about the experiences of the help in a white home. The movie is wonderful, but the book is even better! 

The New Roundabout: The Alice and Jerry Books by Mabel O'Donnell

James, Will, and I read this one at nap time. It's an early reader that belonged to my uncle who is almost 70. I've read and re-read this book over the past 20+ years. It's very similar to the Dick and Jane books. The boys LOVED it. I see us re-reading it for years to come.

Baby-Sitters on Board by Ann M. Martin

Yes. This is what I was talking about when I said I'd read anything. I was a Baby-Sitters Club reader as a child and I found this one and read it in about one sitting. I *sort of* wish that I had a little girl to read them all with. Since I don't I may just re-read them on my own. Lol! In this particular book the baby-sitters go on a cruise and then to Disney World. Oh, the drama of the teenage girl. So funny!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming

This was another nap time read with the boys. They loved this one as well. If you've seen the movie, the book is completely different. It really reminded me of a Roald Dahl book. Very similar style. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a retired racecar that the Pott family buys and fixes up. She's a magical car that can fly and turn into a boat. They drive her around the country and have lots of adventures.

Deep Trouble by R.L. Stine

This was the second, "Huh?!" book that I read all by my lonesome. I picked it up at Mama's a few months ago and had just been reading a few pages at the time. I finally brought it home and finished the last little bit and Anna came over one day and was FURIOUS that I'd taken it (not really) because she was reading it too! I need to return it so that she can finish it, I guess. The Goosebumps books were fun when I was younger, but they're not my favorite children's books FOR SURE. The writing is pretty atrocious.

The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck

This was our book club book for March. It was just okay to me. The story line was good, but predictable. A woman who is engaged buys a trunk at an auction and in it finds a wedding dress. The story flashes back and forth between the present and the past where the dress was first made and worn. There are a few parts that aren't quite as predictable, but overall it was a little hokey.

That's it for March! My goal was eight books so I fell short a bit. Hoping to read eight in April! 

February Books and March Goals.

I only finished two books in the month of February. I READ a lot more, but I haven't finished them yet. Story of my life. I'm hoping to catch up ASAP because I am WAY behind on my 75 books this year goal. I am hoping we'll have some warm, sunny days soon so that the boys can play outside and I can sit and read! I can dream, right?

This month the boys and I did a LOT of reading. We read the sequel to Bedknob and Broomstick this month called Bonfires and Broomsticks. It wasn't as good as the first one to me. The second one follows the children as they return to Miss Price's home for the summer and they meet a man called Emelius Brown. If you've seen the movie version you'll recognize the name. Not many similarities between the movie and the book version and I much prefer the movie. This one was just okay to me.

James and I also finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We read the first Harry Potter after his fourth birthday so after he turned five he was "allowed" to read this one. We won't read the next until after he's six. We have to pace ourselves with those but he loves them!

As far as GOALS for March, here are some of the ones I have. I think I'll revisit these each month and see how I did.

* Walk 10,000 steps a day. This means I have to WEAR my Fitbit every day. 310,000 steps by the end of the day on March 31st. WOW.

* Do 30 minutes of yoga daily.

* Read EIGHT books. Ahhhhhh! I think I may have that many started so I need to wrap those up.

* THREE Jamberry parties. I have one halfway finished now and one at the end of the month, but I'm hoping I'll get at least one or two more. BRAND NEW CATALOG and we can party from anywhere! Let me know if you'd like to host!

* Clean out our office! We have our office and garage left to go since moving and it needs to be DONE asap. I'm sick of stepping over boxes and we're having a yard sale in the spring so we need to get 'er done!

* Continue to eat clean - especially at supper. I'll do a post-detox post sometime this week about how it went and what we learned. The BIGGEST thing that we took away from it is the need to just READ THE LABELS. We do that for James' stuff, but we don't ever look at what else is in it. And cooking clean wasn't difficult. We'll continue to avoid corn because that was the BIGGEST problem for me (I had some gluten for the first time today and some artificial sugar for the first time last night and so far no problem from either). 

January Books.

I have a goal to read 75 books this year. That's a lot more books than I typically read in a year. I had high hopes about it and now, at the beginning of February, I'm a little nervous about it. I read three books in January. Whoops! Hopefully I'll begin to pick up the pace a bit!

The first book I finished was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Admittedly, this was a Book Club selection from months ago, but I didn't finish. {That's par for the course with me when I've read a book club selection before.} This is likely the 20th time I've read the book and it was still just as beautiful. I love this one. It's definitely a must-read. {My Facebook news feed is BLOWN UP today by the news of her sequel coming out. I'm torn on it. On the one hand, HOW AWESOME IS THAT!? And on the other hand, I've really been done with this story in my mind for 15 years. I don't want to say I hope it's done "right," because she's written it - it's not a finishing by someone else - I just...I don't know. I will absolutely read it, no question.} {5 stars}

The second book was one called In Your Dreams by Kristan Huggins. I loved this one as well. It's a romance, lovey-dovey book with a pretty good plot. If you're not a literary snob {no judgments here if you are!} you probably won't like it, but if you're like me and need a little easy reading every once in a while it's worth it. The characters were lovely and not predictable, the plot was not formulaic like a lot of romance {*cough* Nicholas Sparks *cough*}, and it's part of a series so you can continue on with the characters if you're interested. I enjoyed it! {3.5 stars}

The third book was Will's FIRST chapter book. We read Bedknob and Broomstick together {with James, too} at nap time the past few weeks. At first I thought he wasn't going to be able to listen, but he DID. I'm not sure he could tell you the character names or what it was about, but he enjoyed it. I liked the story, but it is VERY different from the Angela Lansbury movie version. The boys and I are going to have a movie night soon to watch. We've moved on to another chapter book now and Will is REALLY enjoying it. I'm so excited about being able to read to James again for more than just while Will bathes at night! {3 stars}

I have a LOT of books in the works right now {yes, this is why it takes me a sweet forever to finish one, but I can't help myself!}. Hoping to speed it up! I'm 4 behind on my pace! What are you reading?

September Books.

September was a fairly good book month! I have a LOT of books going right now as usual. I need to just wrap them up and October will be another good book month.

What Shamu Taught Me About Life Love and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and their Trainers by Amy Sutherland
First of all, this book was NOT what I expected. I totally get wrapped up in "themed" reading. When we went to SeaWorld in the spring I watched Blackfish and requested several SeaWorld themed books from the library. This was one of those books. And you'd think that because it has "Shamu" in the title it would be about SeaWorld...but it wasn't. The author followed animal trainers around and learned how they trained animals (shocking!) and then applied it to her own life. If she didn't want her husband doing something, she'd employ animal training tactics on him...and it worked! While I would never, ever, ever have picked it up if I'd known what it was I was surprised that it was fairly interesting. And I've employed some of the tactics on my children (I'm not training Eddie...he's good!). For instance, Will is in a fit-throwing stage of life and has also been saying a few fairly inappropriate things lately (definitely G-rated...I just don't want my two-year-old commenting on female body parts ALL THE TIME) so I've begun completely ignoring him when he does those things. I don't look at him, I don't flinch, I just do nothing. Hopefully it will work...

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I know that everyone and their mama's aunt has read this book but I was late to the party. I picked it up because I knew that there were all kinds of twists and turns and the commercials for the movie started coming out and I HATE finding out what happens before I read a book, so I had to read it. I LOVED IT. I won't say anything else except if you like psychological thrillers you will not be able to put it down. It's not at all scary, just weirdo mind games through the whole thing. I could not WAIT to see WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WIFE. :) Do yourself a favor and read this one.

Foolproof by Ina Garten
Yep, I read and am including a cookbook. It was one that I kept hearing about, but I am NOT a fan of Ina Garten's Food Network show so I wanted to try it before I bought it. (I am a cookbook NUT and love to collect them.) It's made its way onto my birthday list. Lots of great recipes in this one.

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Dectective by Donald J. Sobol
James LOVED this one, but I will say that it's still over his head. He thought the mysteries were very cool (we're all about cool these days), but he couldn't figure any of them out and often when I'd read the answers he would still asked me who did it. They'll be great when he's reading on his own, though.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
This is one of my favorite young adult books so I convinced James to read it with me. I think it's hilarious and clever, but James didn't get it. We have the movie, too, so I'll show him that soon...I think he'd enjoy it more. I thoroughly loved reading this with him. If you've never read it and you love words, it would be right up your alley.

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers by Donald J. Sobol
Because James loved the first one so much, and because we owned this one already, we read Encyclopedia Brown #18 in September, too. He still thought it was great, despite not really getting it.

What's on my bedside now?
Gone with the Wind - I put it down for a bit and hope to finish it SOON.
To Kill a Mockingbird - I haven't finished it from book club last month but the minimum number of times I've read this (often aloud for a group of middle schoolers) is 15. :)
Redeeming Love - our book club pick for this month.
When the Wind Blows - I {heart} James Patterson.

August Books

August was SUCH a busy month for us. So busy that we hardly read at all. James and I finished one book and I finished my Book Club book and that is IT. I suspect that since we're moving this month, September will be more of the same. My NEW house has a sweet little screened porch, though, and I suspect I'll spend many afternoons right there while the boys nap or play outside once we're organized and it cools off a bit. Hallelujah!

So what DID we read?

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
James loves the Pooh books and they are very sweet. The jury is out on them for me. I do enjoy them, but they are HARD read-alouds. Many of the stories have been put into the movies so James knows a bit about them, but they are written from the perspective of a child and some of the things that the child misses in the book, James misses that he misses...does that make since? Like the "Bakson." The Bakson was in the latest Pooh movie. Christopher Robin leaves a note that says he'll be "Back Soon," but spells it "Bak Son." The animals of the Hundred Acre Wood think that he's been kidnapped by a creature called the "Bakson." James totally missed that. He's pretty literal so that may be why he missed it, but I think that will be our last one for a bit. (He gets a little bored with them as well.)

Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project by Jack Mayer
This was our Book Club pick for the month. A friend said it's her favorite book ever. Hmmm...I suppose the story (the TRUE story) was a great one, but the book itself seemed poorly written to me. It's set in the Holocaust and a woman named Irena Sendler, a Polish woman, begins working to save Jewish children. She convinces their parents to let them go with her and finds places for them to hide amongst the Christian community. HER story was excellent. The story flashes back and forth from World War II to the late 90s where a group of high school girls "discover" Irena. Prior to their history project on her, no one knew her name. The author tries his best to write with the voice of a teenaged girl and it just didn't work. I'd say if you enjoy historical books about World War II, try it and press on! It gets good during the Irena Sendler part of the book. Otherwise, pass on it.

I am still slowly picking my way through Gone with the Wind. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but have not had the time to read it. I also have Gone Girl and To Kill a Mockingbird on my nightstand, a handful on my bookshelf, and plenty on my Kindle to get through! I'm 3 behind on my Goodreads goal for the year, though, so I need to pick up the pace!