Sam (8)
Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede -- magical realism set on the American frontier. He says Wrede is his favorite author right now.
Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede -- a sequel to Thirteenth Child.
The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis. Although I am emotionally opposed to putting this book first because the series started with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was a kid, my brother-in-law has convinced me it should go first (and the set we have designates it as book 1), so I let Sam start here. He thought it was confusing at first, so we had a discussion about how it's an allegory of the creation of the world, and once he'd figured out what an allegory is, he thought it was really cool and decided to read it all over again before continuing on with the rest of the series.
Sarah (6) and Tootie (4)
Amelia Bedelia and the Baby by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat -- we love all the Amelia Bedelia books, especially the originals by Peggy Parish, but Tootie is particularly fond of this one and has been requesting it frequently.
Mother, Mother, I Want Another by Maria Polushkin Robbins, illustrated by Jon Goodell -- a cute little story of a little mouse who, when his mother kisses him goodnight, says he wants another... and she thinks he wants another mother.
Riff Raff the Mouse Pirate by Susah Schade, illustrated by Anne Kennedy -- yes, we love mice around here, and we also love pirates, so what better than a book that combines the two? These pirates have to solve some riddles and use logic to find a treasure, and the illustrations are super cute.
Aloud to All of Them
The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye -- I learned about this during Heidi's Cinderella Party earlier this year, and snatched it up when I found it at the library. We've been enjoying this immensely, and are almost finished with it. I love how it takes fairy tale cliches and overturns them, and how this version of Cinderella became a kitchen wench of her own choice -- it's sweet and funny and clever, and I can't believe I'd never read it before!
Oh, I love The Ordinary Princess! My mother read this aloud to my siblings and I years ago. Sweet memories :)
ReplyDeleteHayden, I finished reading it to my kids this morning. It was great! Might have to get my own copy...
DeleteWell, I don't want to say you're a bad parent for letting your son read The Magician's Nephew first... ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Ordinary Princess was a good, sweet book.
George, I know... I am having some guilt over this. Especially since Sam has read TMN twice now and decided he has no interest in the series at this time. I'm really kicking myself for letting my b-i-l talk me into this, because I think TLTWATW is a much grabbier book, if you know what I mean. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
DeleteI bet your son will want to read the rest of the series relatively soon :-) Even if he doesn't, that's okay--some kids just never "get into" Narnia. Depends on the kid, I guess. My oldest brother and I absolutely adored them, but I have a younger brother who didn't like them much at all.
DeleteReading TMN first destroys the magic of first discovering Narnia along with Lucy & the other Pevensie children. Plus, while I love TMN as I love all the Narnia books, LWW is the better story.
DeleteLewis allowed for the possibility of reading the books in chronological order but thought that for those reading the books for the first time it should be in publication order. I'd like to find the person who first suggested numbering the books in chronological order and slap them around a little. Figuratively speaking.
Yes. Numbering them in publication order would make a lot more sense and would (hopefully) solve the controversy once and for all.
DeleteWell, if I ever find a nice set that have them ordered the other way, I might replace mine.
DeleteThere's so much debate about which one to read first and I honestly can't remember which one I did read first as a child! They're books that I read so young I feel like I have always known the stories.
ReplyDeleteLois, that's cool! I didn't read them until I was like 12 or 13, maybe even a bit older.
DeleteI love M M Kaye, and when I discovered, a few years ago, that she had written a book for children, I ordered it for myself at once! (I think I reviewed it at my blog...I can't recall.) I really liked it. People might say the idea is overdone...but this book was published in the early 80s...was probably one of those pioneering trend-setters...or so, I like to think. :D
ReplyDeleteBread Crumb, I agree -- this book predates the fairy-tale-retelling spree we've all been on lately.
DeleteAmelia Bedelia!! I love that lady. :-P
ReplyDeleteNaomi, me too! I think of her every time I bake bread and have to punch it down :-D
DeleteI'm reading through the Chronicles of Narnia for the first time (well, I've kind of stalled because of illness, but I know I'll get back to it) and I started with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I knew The Magician's Nephew was a prequel, but everyone was telling me to start with LWW, so that's what I did. Anyway, I'm excited to read the rest of the series.
ReplyDeleteEva, I think TLTWATW is the best place to start. Have you seen the movie versions? I've only seen the first two...
DeleteNo, not yet. Fantasy isn't really my thing (though, obviously, I enjoy some fantasy stories) and after watching the trailer, I'm not sure I'd enjoy the movies all that much. Reading about talking animals is one thing, but actually *seeing* them is another and I don't think I'd like it all that much. Does that make sense?
DeleteEva, fantasy is only my thing here and there -- I don't watch or read things just because they're fantasy the way I watch or read things just because they're westerns or have superheroes. But I do enjoy some fantasy very much indeed. I did really like the movie version of TLTWATW, though. But talking animals don't bother me, I guess :-)
DeleteYay for Sam enjoying The Magician's Nephew! That's awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteKara, it's so fun watching him discover things. Though he has rather different taste from me, so sometimes things I loved he's kind of meh about, and some of the books he reads over and over and over I'm like, "Why?" Good to know he's his own person!
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