What We're Reading :: Spring

Catching up on some current reads for me and gifted books for the kids from the past couple months. There are few things I enjoy talking about more than books! :)

Me

Elizabeth Goudge's Green Dolphin Street and Lord of the Rings (both finished for my local book club -- loved them both!)

The Month of St. Joseph (spiritual reading with the kids for Term 3)

The Cloud of Witness (always!)

Karen Glass' Know and Tell (finished last month with my local CM study group)

Norms and Nobility and Formation of Character (for online book groups)

On to the kids' Easter and birthday books...

Vincent, age 11

Pyle's The Story of Sir Lancelot and His Companions (total mom fail because we already own this! I was actually looking for the second book in the series. I promised him I'll switch. :))

Saint Patrick: Apostle of Ireland (a new release from my favorite Catholic publisher, St. Augustine Academy Press)

Natalie Babbitt's Jack Plank Tells Tales

Gianna, age 11

Lindbergh's The Midnight Farm (because she adores Jeffers' illustrations)

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

My Sister, Saint Therese (a biography written by the sister of her favorite saint)

Favorite Fairy Tales (love the classic illustrations)

Cate, age 9

Estes' The Middle Moffat

Cinderella, illustrated by Arthur Rackham (she is fascinated by silhouettes, and you can't go wrong with Rackham!)

Palmer Brown's Beyond the Pawpaw Trees

And for her birthday... Cate fell in love with Little Bo from the library, so I decided to get her a couple others from the series for her birthday (Little Bo in London, Little Bo in France, and Little Bo in Italy). She had no idea there were sequels, so she was so excited!  

Funny enough, she also received A Nest for Celeste, one of Gianna's old library favorites that we didn't yet own; we noticed after the fact that all the books are illustrated by Henry Cole! Such an odd but fun coincidence.

And I just love the watercolor bookmark Gianna made her for a birthday gift. :)

Xavier, age 8

Carolyn Haywood's Little Eddie and Robert Rows the River

Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Anthony of Padua from the Footsteps of the Gospel series (I knew these were out of print, but it looks like they aren't available used on Amazon either!)

...and his birthday books:

Cooper Edens' Robin Hood (Edens always compiles the most fabulous illustrations!)

For the early reader non-fiction shelf: Animals Do the Strangest Things, Insects Do the Strangest Things, Fish Do The Strangest Things, Reptiles Do the Strangest Things, Plants Do Amazing Things

And more of the Eddie books: Eddie's Green Thumb and Eddie and the Dog Holder

Bridget, age 6

This beautiful set is from St. Augustine Academy Press -- a new release and it is just perfect for Bridget! Beautiful pictures and thick, durable pages. The content is delightful.

Clara, age 5

Burgess' Old Mother West Wind (we have this in hardcover, but I found this paperback at the thrift store to meet her desire for her own copy)

Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin

The Little Golden Mother Goose

The Baby Boys

Virginia Lee Burton's Choo Choo (one of the only Burton books we didn't have in hardcover)

Five Little Firemen and Tootle (I'm a sucker for the vintage Golden books)

Fletcher's The Big Book of Cowboys

and then some tiny books for tiny hands :)

And newly-4yo Drew's birthday books ...

Richard Scarry's Funniest Storybook Ever (my little boys loooove Scarry)

Smithsonian Handbooks: Horses (an illustrated "field guide" for my horse-loving boy)

Yankee Doodle, illustrated by Ed Emberley (we love folk song picture books!!)

Marjorie Flack's Angus Lost (finally found this in hardcover -- it is one of my favorite series!!)

For the Family

As usual, my kids get a stack of books at our exam celebrations. Some for the free read shelf, some for reference. Here are the books from Term 2...

Daughtery's The Magna Charta (Year 2 tie-in)
The Art of Chinese Paper Folding (for my boys' handicraft for Term 3)
Ryan's Echo (Year 6 tie-in)
Morpurgo's War Horse (Year 6 tie-in)
an abridged version of Kipling's Jungle Books (for the illustrations by Nicola Bayley-- Year 3 tie-in)
Animals Marco Polo Saw (we just finished Marco Polo this term for Form I)
Seal Pup Grows Up and Manatee Winter (reminded us of the White Seal in The Jungle Books -- to add to our Smithsonian nature book collection of hardcovers)
The Atlas of British History and The Atlas of European History (references for my Form II kids' mapwork)
Diane Stanley's Leonardo da Vinci (Year 3 tie-in)
Draw 50 Buildings and Other Structures (related to our architectural sketching)
and a bunch of Dover coloring books connected to this year's time period (given by a friend -- these have useful line drawings for the Book of Centuries!)

In the Mail
First, a friend went thrifting and brought me home this! (Great friend, right?)

In the mail: The Oxford History of the American People. A friend is using it with her high schoolers and I wanted to give it a look-through. Seems like a great one to have on the shelf even if I don't schedule it formally.

And I was excited when I saw a lovely (and affordable) copy of Amy Steedman In God's Garden, which we have read off of my tablet during Morning Basket. Aren't the plates beautiful? (You can buy the paperback sans-plates here.)

Last but not least: The First Book of the Great Musicians came in, thus completing my set!

I loooove seeing previous owner's names in the cover, especially when they're old. Aren't the scripts charming? I love how they used to sign and date their books.

So, that's a lot of books! But it's summer break here, so we have all been doing quite a bit of reading -- these new books have sure come in handy.

Did I mention I got four new bookshelves too?! :)

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