Reading

I am a bookworm. For as long as I can remember, curling up with a book has been one of my very favorite things to do. I taught myself to read at a very young age - I remember reading all of the Wizard of Oz books and the Chronicles of Narnia before we left Australia, which was when I was eight years old. I remember my dad telling me that reading is good, but all the very smartest people he knew read non-fiction books. I still stuck with fiction, but I am trying to make up for that now.
I would love for my own children to love reading. Emily is old enough now that she will sit and listen to me read to her. It has been so much fun choosing books that she would enjoy and reading them aloud to her and to any other kids that will sit still for long enough. In looking back through the books we have read, it is interesting to see the different time periods represented:

Little House in the Big Woods was so interesting! It is set in the 1870's, I think. Emily liked the story and Joseph and I loved hearing about how industrious and self-sustaining the family was.

 Betsy-Tacy is the latest book we have read. It is set right around 1900 and is very charming. I love how well behaved the little girls are and the little town they live in seems so safe and cozy.

 Joseph and I continually marveled at how nine-year-old Beezus is allowed to take four-year-old Ramona all around town. At one point in the novel, Ramona is left outside Beezus' art class to play in the sand box all by herself until the art class is over. Needless to say, Ramona doesn't cooperate, but the point is, it was normal and safe for a four-year-old little girl to be left outside, by herself, in the city. Emily was very entertained by Ramona's escapades in this book. I think it is set sometime in the 1950's.

 Ivy and Bean. I have mixed feelings about these books. They are set in modern times, and I liked that Emily could relate so easily to these girls. However, they are very naughty. By the fourth or fifth book I decided it was just too much and we are done with them. It was fun while it lasted, though!









We've read a couple of other books, and Joseph is currently reading a chapter of Winnie-the-Pooh to them every Sunday. I am hoping to read the first Boxcar Children book after Betsy-Tacy and I have a few others lined up. I have been concerned, though, that all of these books have been aimed at little girls. Once Caleb is old enough to sit still for more than two minutes, I plan to start reading for him as well, but I will have to change my repertoire. I am thinking My Father's Dragon, Indian in the Cupboard, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte's Web, Chronicles of Narnia... I dunno. Hopefully I will find something to catch his attention and help him fall in love with books.