Last year my friend Heather (private blog, only really-cool-special-friends-are-allowed-to-read-it or else I would link) posted a list of the books she had read in 2009. I thought it was a great idea and kept track of what I read this year. A lot of Young Adult fiction.
- May Amalia
- Sarah Plain and Tall
- The Thief and the Beanstalk
- Charlie Bone #3
- A Statue for America (Statue of Liberty nonfiction)
- Scandinavian Humor and Other Myths
- Number the Stars
- Pebble in the Sky, Asimov
- The Magician's Elephant, DiCamillo
- Artemis Fowl, #1, 2, 3, 4 & 6
- Crinoline to Calico by Nan Heacock
- Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons, the story of Phillis Wheatley (1st African American Poet) by Ann Rinaldi
- Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools by Mortensen
- A Canticle for Leibniz
- Little House in Brookfield, Little House by the Crossroads
- Beekeepers Apprentice and O, Jerusalem by Laurie King
- Enola Holmes Mysteries 1-4
- Papa Married a Mormon
- Water Horse by Dick King-Smith
- The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
- The Book of Fred
- Girl in Blue, A Stitch in Time, The Broken Days, The Blue Door and the Education of Mary by Ann Rinaldi
- Choose Your Own Adventure #1
- A Dumb Sci-Fi Dragon Back Warrior book #2
Books on Tape
- Empire by Card
- Harry Potter #2, #3, #4, #5, #6
- Great Brain at the Academy
Some of my great finds:
1. The Enola Holmes series. The much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes runs away after her mother leaves and she is going to be put into boarding school to turn her into a lady. Enola goes to London and starts solving mysteries on her own. Love them!
2. Ann Rinaldi: She writes historical fiction books and while many of them are fluff, the ones that are based on real people (Phylis Wheatley and The Education of Mary) are thought provoking and engaging.
3. Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools by Greg Mortensen are certainly not the best written books, but have given me another favorite charity and are a must read.
What great books did you find this year?
8 comments:
I haven't read anything since last March, but I really loved The Glass Castle (author is escaping me right now.) I really connected with one of the characters and it opened a whole world of personal exploration for me.
I did go to book club today for the first time since last February... I'm hoping to get my read on again. Someone reviewd The Magician's Elephant and I thought it might be something I could read aloud to Sam. What do think? Do you have any other read-aloud suggestions for younger kids?
Mysterious Benedict Society was a fun and smart series.
Sisters Grimm is a fun twist on Fairy tales.. would be a good read aloud for kids 2-4 grades.
Blood on the River is a historical fiction of Jamestown, very well documented and taken from people's journals.
Sharon Creech is a new favorite author. She wrote "walk two moons" (newberry medal winner) but we also love "Ruby Hollar" and "Granny Torrelli Makes Soup"
We also read the little house series about Laura's daughter Rose.
And of course reread all of Shannon Hale's books
If you are going to read the Count of Monte Cristo be sure to get the unabridged version (1000+ pages versus the 500+ pages) you miss so much in the abridged one. Very disappointing.
Charlotte,
I don't know about the Magic Elephant it's not bad, but...just read it yourself first. When Emily was Sam's age she LOVED The Mouse and the Motorcycle and the unabridged Winnie the Pooh. The Fudge series is great and everyone loves Calvin and Hobbes at our house.
Erica,
I love the Sister's Grimm and read the first two at the end of 2009 but the library NEVER has 3 and 4 in, only 5,6,7. The joys of a small library.
Brian also suggests My Father's Dragon series (short chapters with lots of pictures/action/silliness).
This year I didn't keep track of the books I read but I did keep track of the ones I read to or listened to with the kids:
Get the books "the read aloud handbook" and "honey for a child's hear" both have good lists of read alouds for kids.
Some of our favorite read alouds we did this year (my kids are 7 and 6)
Beverly Cleary - especially the Ramona and Henry Huggins books
Roald Dahl- Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
"Half Magic"
"The Penderwicks"
"Pippi Longstocking"
"The Moffats"
"The Hundred dresses"
"The Boxcar Children"
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" - you need to censor out the Lord's name in vain.
"Betsy Tacy"
"Frindle"
Thanks for the recommendations. I will check out the Magician's Elephant for myself and will definitely check the library for those others.
At first glance I read Your #2 as Sarah Palin and Tall and thought... "What in the world is Leila doing reading a Sarah Palin book!" And then I read it again. Phew!
This is a great idea to keep track of the books. Thanks for sharing.
I'm so glad you love the Laurie King books--aren't they great? I totally need to check out these Enola Holmes mysteries. I can't get enough of that genre.
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