This is a new blog post idea I want to trial. I decided I wanted to better explain the types of books I read aloud to the boys so that people can see what we are reading and why. This way I can change the book portion of my weekly blog posts and make it for a purely recording aspect that doesn't require much writing. I don't really know how often or how much people scroll down (or keep reading) to the bottom of my weekly blog posts to see what books the boys and I are reading. This also gives people the opportunity to completely skip the book aspects of the blog posts.
I am currently reading both of these books to Monster. Both titles are books I was meant to read when I was in high school and did not. (I am not proud of that by the way). But, Monster and I are not THRILLED about either of these books. We will continue to read them, because they aren't horrible, but we aren't loving them either.
I am reading the entire Harry Potter series to Monkey (and Monster is listening to them as well). I read the first book in the series WAY back in 2003-2005 when I was teaching because all my upper primary students were reading the book. But then I had children and completely stopped reading independently while I was dealing with sleepless nights and breastfeeding babies. The boys have NOT been interested in reading the books independently at all, so I decided to get them hooked by reading the first book aloud. However, the two older boys and I are absolutely LOVING this series and we are really sucked in to the stories, so I have decided to read the ENTIRE series aloud to the two older boys, and then I'll read it aloud again to Munchkin in another year or so. I'm betting the two older boys will figure out a way to listen in when I'm reading them again to Munchkin too. Of course, once we have read all the books, the boys are keen to watch all the movies. I'm not sure I'll join them on that endeavour though as I often find I prefer books to movies about the book.
The next three titles are books I chose with Munchkin in mind (primarily) but all three boys are enjoying these books. This is my third read of the Series of Unfortunate Events books (I've read them once each to the older two boys) and I'm pleased to say that I'm enjoying this third reading of the series as much (if not MORE) than the first and second time I read them. The humor is dark and the series is definitely an acquired taste, but I highly recommend them.
I am also reading the Alice books to Munchkin as part of his Australian history unit study (though truthfully we started studying Australian history when Monster was about ten years old and we've never ever really stopped), and again all three boys enjoy the books. We especially like these "4 Books in One" books as there is an extra chapter at the end that gives us an idea of what happens in the particular girl's future which is not included in the series when the books are all written and published separately.
Several months ago when we were shopping at a much larger Salvation Army store then the local one in our suburb, I discovered this book on the shelf, and I grabbed it straight away. I watched the movie when I was about Munchkin's age (perhaps a bit older) and LOVED it but NEVER EVER read the book. So I decided we MUST read the book before the boys watch the movie. Munchkin LOVES it and every night he BEGS for another chapter. Some nights I indulge and other nights I leave him hanging for the next night... but I LOVE LOVE LOVE that he loves it so much that he is begging me to read more of it. I suspect he'll read and re-read it to himself after I finish reading it aloud.
Next are books that I'm reading aloud to Monster ONLY.
We haven't started reading any of the following books yet, they are what I've scheduled for the beginning of Term 2. Some we'll finish in only a week and others will take a good portion (if not all) of the term to read.
First up we have the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. We LOVE learning about him and what is even more special about this copy of his autobiography is that it was my mother's book. I haven't read it myself yet, but I absolutely treasure it. As we have learned a lot about this fabulous man, it will be really interesting to read his autobiography.
These three books are also for Monster and I've chosen them as part of his Enlightenment unit study which we started in Term 1. We read a little bit about the American Revolution so now we are moving on to the French Revolution. I never studied the French Revolution much at all in my schooling career so I'm super excited to learn more.
This is another book that I read many, many years ago (as in BEFORE children) and I've decided now that Monster is in senior high school, it is a good book to read to him.
Finally, these last two selections are also just for Monster as well... These books about ANZAC Day are much more serious and information packed for the two other boys, so I'll read them to Monster first and then again to the other two boys when they are older.
This selection is for Monkey. We started an Ancient Greece unit study last term that we didn't quite finish because of the interruptions at the end of the term. So I've borrowed this book again and we'll pick up where we left off. I also reserved the 2-3 other junior non-fiction books about Ancient Greece that we didn't get to last term and we'll read those as well before we move on to Ancient Rome.
A final selection for Munchkin for his water cycle unit study. Both he and Monkey have curriculum content that deals with the water cycle and/or water management and water conservation so I am combining this unit study as much as I can. Therefore, some of the books are a lower level of information for Munchkin while some of the books are a bit more complex and better suited for Monkey.
Cells and Classification are two units that cover curriculum for ALL three boys. Again, I'm starting with the easier books suitable for Munchkin and then moving up to the more complex books for the older boys. These are also unit studies that we started towards the end of the term but got so distracted and disrupted that I've decided to completely re-start.
These two series are absolutely wonderful and the boys and I really love them. Sometimes (like here) the topics match up and when they do we read both books simultaneously. It will be interesting to see how much information is repeated and whether one book goes into more detail than the other.
World Book has put out this AMAZING series of Natural Disaster books and they are detailed and up-to-date (published in 2018) so we are slowly working our way through the whole series. These books take 2-3 weeks to read aloud as they are absolutely full of good information.
Finally, this is a new World Book series that I stumbled on by accident and I think it is going to be really wonderful. There are eight books in the series and they each focus on a different kind of food. As you read through the book you find out about the history of the particular food and how widely it is eaten around the world. There are interesting bits of information and recipes to try so I'm really excited to read them and see if we like them.
So there you have it, my very first blog post about the books we are reading aloud at the beginning of this new term. My plan is to post each Sunday with the read alouds we'll be reading in the coming week. That way, I can continue to mention interesting stuff about books that take longer than a week to read, and also introduce new books that we start at the beginning of the week, so I hope that at least some people who read this blog find this helpful and entertaining.
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