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Friday, December 19, 2014

What We're Reading :: December

Before I dive into what we're reading now, I wanted to share a list I wrote last year...


If you're like us and enjoy reading Christmas books throughout the Christmas season (which for us begins on Christmas), then it's not too late to grab these from the library to read over the next couple weeks!  You won't be disappointed. :)


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Me:
Alessandro Mazzoni's The Betrothed (January/February book club selection--I'll be working on this one for a while)
Rumer Godden's The River (a random fiction pick off my shelf)
Karen Glass' Consider This (almost done!)

Vincent, age 8:
William O. Steele's The Far Frontier (his St. Nicholas gift)
Nesbit's The Enchanted Castle (a re-read)
Seredy's The Good Master (pulling from the AO Year 3.5 free read)

Gianna, age 8:
Rachel Field's Hitty: Her First Hundred Years (her St. Nicholas gift)
E.T.A. Hoffman's The Nutcracker, with pictures by Maurice Sendak (re-reading for Christmas cheer)
Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods (buddy reading with Cate)

Cate, age 5:
If I Were Going, a vintage reader from my mom's childhood

To the Big Kids:
Crossbows and Crucifixes (for a Catholic perspective on England under Queen Elizabeth)
Wilder's The Long Winter (on audio read by Cherry Jones, which we are all enjoying)
Brink's Caddie Woodlawn (also on audio)
MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind and Kingsley's Water Babies (we'll be reading these two AO Y3 "free reads" slowly over the course of the whole school year)

To the Kindergartener:
Hutchinson and Lenski's Chimney-Corner Stories (truly, everyone always gathers round as soon as I pull this volume out)
Illustrated Catechism for Little Children (simple and clear)

To the Littles:
the Provensens' The Year at Maple Hill Farm (4yo Xavier's current favorite)
Norman Rockwell-illustrated You're a Grand Old Flag (3yo Bridget's current favorite--her love for this one has not abated)
Jane Dyer's Animal Crackers (2yo Clara's current favorite--she grabs this one and carries it to her big brothers and sisters as soon as they sit down anywhere near her)

And from St. Nicholas:
I promised I'd share a picture of the books the kids received for St. Nicholas Day.  I already mentioned a few of them, but here are the rest...

I have lots more fun new finds, but most of those will be gifted to the kids, so you'll have to wait until after Christmas for a peek! ;)

What books are you gifting or getting this Christmas?
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2 comments:

  1. AngelaDecember 19, 2014 at 1:46 PM

    I really enjoy reading your booklists, especially what you're reading to your kindergartener and preschoolers since I have a 5 and 3 year old. I've never heard of Chimney-Corner Stories, but looked it up and it looks lovely. I downloaded the pdf version and once I get my kindle for Christmas (which I'm technically not supposed to know about), I will put that on our kindy rotation.

    For our girls we're gifting Christmas in the Big Woods, Toot and Puddle's I'll Be Home for Christmas, lovely copies of Raggedy Ann Stories and Old Mother West Wind, Frog and Toad, Tumtum and Nutmeg, and a couple of Curious George books for the 3 year old who loves anything Curious George.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Angela

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    Replies
    1. CelesteDecember 19, 2014 at 3:54 PM

      Ooo--it looks like you're adding some lovely ones to your collection! My oldest daughter gobbled up Tumtum and Nutmeg last year, and they have all enjoyed Raggedy Ann and anything Burgess. And I have a 4yo who loves anything Curious George as well. :)

      Oh, and I forgot to clarify in the post, but I thought I should here: I didn't realize that there are actually two books called "Chimney-Corner Stories," one by Enid Blyton and one by Hutchinson! We have and love the latter. (I haven't seen the former, so I can't comment on that one, though we do have Blyton's Bedtime Tales book.) I hadn't realized that Neumann Press actually reprinted the Hutchinson book, but I found out when I was searching for a link today:
      http://www.amazon.com/Chimney-Corner-Stories-Neumann-Press/dp/B001ETBI66/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
      Very neat, since we have loved every Neumann Press book we have seen. Ours is just an old ex-library copy I bought from a used bookseller. I gave a peek of it here:
      http://joyouslessons.blogspot.com/2014/10/this-and-that_29.html

      Thank you for stopping by, Angela! I love hearing what others are reading too. Gives me lots of ideas for stocking the shelves of my eager readers! ;)

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