How to find quality books to read to your children

Ramona recently asked a question in the comments about how we find quality books, whether we're at the library or in a thrift store.  My approach depends on where I'm at, so I'll break it down:

 In the library:
When I'm in the library, I sit cross-legged on the floor and pull books off the shelves until I find a book that appeals to me.  (Notice I said me, not my children).  The reason for this is two-fold:

1.  I will have to read that book over and over and over and over again in the course of that two-week period we will have it at home, so I'd best like it and not be annoyed with it.  :)
2.  Part of my role as a parent is to shape what my children like, so I am intentional when they're young about presenting them with beautiful illustrations and meaningful stories.  I want them to grow an appreciation for the beauty of both quality artistry and a good story.  (This doesn't mean that I never choose books just for the sake of silliness.  I do.  Just not as often as I choose other books.)  And as the kids get older, we do check out books based on their interests.

from Emily and Daisy, Elsa Beskow

Another library note:  When my young children bring me random books off the shelf I always read them first, and many times I will say "No, we're not bringing this one home." It's very helpful now that my older kids will bring me books they've found, because they'll often act as a filter for me. 

My system for finding good books has morphed a little over the years.  I used to rely primarily on book lists.  I own some books that are essentially bound book lists.  I've mentioned my favorites here in an older post.  (And you are welcome to borrow them, Ramona!)  Here is another online book list that I've visited over the years: 1000 Good Books List.  Or you could check the titles from the Caldecott Medal list.  My friend Elise used to do a series on her blog called Children's Book Mondays, where she reviewed picture books, so there are some great picture book recommendations if you follow that link.

Some of our favorite books for little ones:

Sandra Boynton books
Dr. Seuss books
Richard Scarry books
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Gossie & Gertie books, by Olivier Dunrea
Beatrix Potter books
Robert McCloskey books (Make Way for Ducklings, One Morning in Maine, Blueberries for Sal)
Sarah Stewart/David Small books (The Gardener is our favorite; I love Small's illustrations)
Winnie the Pooh
Robert Louis Stevenson (poems)
Obadiah stories by Brinton Turkle
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall

(And, oh!  There are SO MANY more.  There are so many wonderful books and this is just a small sampling of the ones that are most familiar to me only because we own them.)  

classic Garth Williams

Some favorite illustrators: Garth Williams (probably my all-time favorite illustrator), Tasha Tudor, Gyo Fujikawa, Barbara McClintock, Barbara Clooney, Elsa Beskow, Lois Lenski (she has many books for older children, but the Small series is for the younger crowd), David Small, Lisbeth Zwerger, Freya Blackwood, Tricia Tusa, Diane Goode.  (I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting, but those are just off the top of my head.)

And that brings me to how I FIND books.  If we discover a book that we like, I hunt down what else they've written. Same for illustrators: I find out what other books they've illustrated.  This takes some time, but the internet makes it easy to do a quick search, and then I can put them on hold at the library and pick them up to peruse them.

After a few years of doing that, you'll build up a pretty good list in your own head of the authors and illustrators you like (they may not be the same as mine), and then when you go to the thrift store or library book sales, you look for those names.  :)

In a thrift store:
This is pretty simple, really.  I look for older, hardcover books almost exclusively.  I skip right on over the newer paperbacks and just look for the gems mixed in with all the other stuff.  Or, I'll scan the spines for authors or illustrators that I recognize.

***

I think it's great to start with what you remember enjoying as a child.  That's why we have Dr. Seuss in the house.  I don't remember enjoying those books at all as a child (the illustrations don't exactly appeal to me), but Mark liked them, so they became a fixture in our library.  Your kids will usually like what YOU like, so that's a good start. 

I hope this helps.  This is sort of a scattered post of thoughts and ideas so I hope it's not too all-over-the-place.

I know there are so many more books I'm missing (feel free to comment with your favorites!)

A Bookish Post

I have to smile at the title, "A Bookish Post" because of how much it reminds me of my Audra, who regularly adds the ending -ish onto her words.  She says things like, "Mommy, did you see what I drew? How it's kind of blueish and greenish?" Or she'll tell me that she is feeling "hungryish" or "tiredish" or other such Ish words.

I love her.

So. We're reading a lot lately, and as it's been awhile since I've told you what we're reading aloud, and since that's one of my favorite things to tell you about, here is that post.

In the picture book category, we're reading Mr. Putter & Tabby books.  I am VERY fond of these books.  I think Cynthia Rylant (author) and Arthur Howard (illustrator) are a brilliant combination.  If you're unfamiliar with these, do pick some up the next time you're at the library.

For those of you who don't know who Mr. Putter is, he's a kindly elderly man with a cat named Tabby.  They like to drink tea and eat snacks and generally stay calm, napping as often as they can.  However, Mr. Putter has a spunky neighbor named Mrs. Teaberry, who, along with her lively dog Zeke, is always looking for a new adventure and often invites Mr. Putter and Tabby along.

The characters are so likeable and the stories humorous, but what I appreciate the most is simply that these are books written for kids about elderly people, which seems such an unlikely idea, and yet it works.  They are engaging and funny and my kids love them right along with me.

This morning we read this one:

My favorite is the part where Mr. Putter, in an effort to ready himself for a marathon (Mrs. Teaberry's idea, of course), decides to work out by touching his toes several times a day.

But, alas- Mr. Putter can only reach his.... knees.  So he touches his knees each day and feels quite good about himself... until he gets to the starting line and sees all the other people touching their toes.

Here's a funny part from Mr. Putter & Tabby Spill the Beans.  Mrs. Teaberry signs them up for a cooking class and cheerily tells Mr. Putter that they are going to learn one hundred ways to cook beans.  From the book:

Mr. Putter looked at Tabby.

He did not want to learn one hundred ways to cook beans.

What he wanted was an ice cream soda.

He wanted an ice cream soda and a cherry on top.

See?  Hilarious.  Tell me you love Mr. Putter as much as I do.

I have been reading Mara, Daughter of the Nile aloud to the kids- because it's set in Egypt which goes right along with the Ancient History we're studying this year.  The kids are enjoying it and the plot is good.  I never intended on it being a read-aloud.  It was on Ella's Assigned Reading List, but she was having a hard time getting into it what with all the Egyptian names and places, so in an effort to get her interested, I began reading it aloud.  Once she was hooked, I was ready to pass it off to her to resume reading, but by then the boys were into the story and wanted me to keep reading it, so it became a read-aloud.  Before that I'd been reading The Swiss Family Robinson aloud, so we'll get back to that after we wrap up Mara.

Mark always gets to read the best books, though, in my opinion.  He began the fall with Man of the Family (book two of series by Ralph Moody).  It was just as good as Little Britches.  I have such an affection for these books.  I told Mark recently that when the kids are grown and I remember our evenings of reading aloud, these are the books I will likely remember him reading.  We loved this book.  Maybe it's because it was the second book, yet with the same, now-familiar-to-us characters.  And by now Mark has the voices of each character down- especially Ralph's, and the cadence of his voice as he reads is just.... familiar in a comforting sort of way. 

When he finished Man of the Family, he began Where the Red Fern Grows, which is what we're currently reading in the evenings.  (Another gem.  We read Rawls' Summer of the Monkeys a few years back and enjoyed that one tremendously, too.)  Ella and I knit while we listen, Adelia snuggles up next to Mark or myself- usually with another book in her lap that she's looking at, the boys play on the floor, and Audra colors or finger-knits.  The fire is often crackling and we're all cozy and hanging on every word.

Oh!  And for my own self I'm reading Sir Gibbie, by George MacDonald.  George MacDonald has long been my mom's favorite author, so I read all of his books as a teen, but I'm gradually re-reading them again, and I love them.

Hooray for good books!  (What are you reading?)

Poetry for October

Here's what we're doing for poetry this year:  I've selected two or three poems per month that are season-specific.   I read them aloud when I remember to (usually about once a week) and I've told the kids that I'd like them each to choose one poem to recite at the end of each three-month period.  We've never recited poetry so I'm excited about it!

Here are our poems for October:


Nature, Poem 28: Autumn

The morns are meeker than they were,

The nuts are getting brown;

The berry's cheek is plumper,

The rose is out of town.
 
The maple wears a gayer scarf,

The field a scarlet gown.

Lest I should be old-fashioned,

I'll put a trinket on.
 
~Emily Dickinson


             ***


Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

~Christina Rossetti

Picture study: John Singleton Copley

We drew today for Picture Study:

Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley, age 40

Paul Revere by Audra, age 4

Paul Revere by Isaias, age8

Paul Revere by Isaac, age 10

Paul Revere by Ella, age 11

 

Today

Today was a perfect kind of fall day- blustery and not raining.   I was driving this afternoon and spotted this strip of grass with gloriously big trees and a carpet of leaves (!) on the ground.   I promptly called Mark and told him to get everyone ready because I was coming home to pick them up so that we could go play in the leaves. Here are some photos:

my new favorite place to play in the leaves

handsome husband.  i love him so much!

i think it's funny that when i suggested we get a picture by the lamppost, those three kids decided they should be climbing said lamppost during the photo. 

cute ella kate.

We threw piles of leaves at each other, made huge piles and buried ourselves in them, caught the falling leaves when a gust of wind came along,  played tag, found grasshoppers, raced around to touch all seven huge trees, laughed and had a lot of fun!

audra (4)

adelia (5)

(blurry.  but the only one we got, so i'm posting it.)

cutest, sweetest kids i love so much

love this boy

Then we got back into the car to go home and saw the beautiful sky- so we drove toward the water for a better view, and then tried to capture a photo of all the beautiful oranges and grays and pinks and blues and yellows.... and this is all I ended up with (which of course doesn't do it's beauty justice):

sunset

But I'm so thankful for today.  For the wonder of the seasons, the beauty and familiarity of where we live, and especially for God who created all this beauty!

Remembering grandma (Part 3)

Welcome!  I'm doing a series of  posts about my grandma, who recently passed away.  I've been writing down memories of grandma in my journal, and as I have the time, I'll share them here on the blog.  I admired her so much, and her life was one well lived because she loved Jesus.

* * * 

I can most easily picture grandma up at the stove, making breakfast.  Breakfasts at grandma's house are one of my fondest memories.  There was always homemade white bread for toast, with butter and strawberry jam she'd made.  She made eggs just perfectly.  She would ask how you liked your egg and then make it just so, and deliver it to you at the table. (I never liked eggs anywhere else, but grandma made them so yummy- soft and with the yoke oozing out and delicious!)

Their kitchen table is a small one which comfortably sits four, and directly beneath it on the outside are the flower beds.  If you're looking out the window to the right, you can see their small front porch, with grandma's beloved hummingbird feeder hanging there.  If you look straight out the window, you'll see the front pasture with some trees and then the main road beyond that.  And if you crook your neck toward the left you can see their vegetable garden.  Grandpa, Stef and I would be sitting at the table, and grandma would be up at the stove across the room.  (That was one thing about grandma- she was always up, on her feet, serving (usually by way of feeding) everyone.  She wasn't happy until you were eating.  Truly.  And then she kept feeding you until you assured her about seventeen times that you were positively stuffed.)

Grandma's other popular breakfast offering was Swedish Pancakes.   She would carefully pour the pancake batter into the pan and then lift the pan and slowly tip it this way and that so as to spread the batter thin.  Then she'd set it down and watch it until it was just the perfect time to flip it.  Then she'd deliver the pancakes to the table one by one- as she completed them.

We still make Swedish Pancakes in our home, though I don't do them individually like grandma did.  I use my griddle because I can do more at a time that way.  But I still pick up the griddle and tip it back and forth to get those thin pancakes.  My kids love Swedish Pancakes and always prefer them to regular pancakes.

The morning after her funeral I was up early, making Swedish Pancakes in honor of grandma. And then I cried as I ate them.  I just love her and miss her.  And I can never eat Swedish Pancakes without thinking of her, up at the stove, making them for us.  But I'll keep making them, because it's a gift, that recipe-- but especially those memories- and I am certain that someday my kids will make them for their own kids, and they will know that it's grandma's recipe, and if they don't remember her, they will remember what I've told them of her.

Here is grandma's recipe:

Grandma's Swedish Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
Mix dry ingredients

Beat:

2-3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

Mix wet & dry ingredients together

Stir in at the end:

1/4 cup oil

(I usually forgo the traditional butter & syrup combo and eat these with plain or vanilla yogurt and a bit of jam.  Mmmm!  Oh, and one more thing: you must ROLL UP the pancake and then slice it.  That's important.)

After breakfast Grandpa would open up his Bible and read from it- and from Our Daily Bread, and then they would pray.  I say "they" because when grandpa prayed, grandma would join in right along with him, tagging onto his prayers with her softer "Yes, Jesus" and "We praise you, Jesus" and the like.

I loved this, and I will miss this.

At the funeral one of my cousins stood and shared his breakfast memories-- so very like my own, and he described their praying as like a duet, and I thought that was such a good description of it. 

* * *

Other posts in this series:

Remembering grandma, Part 1

Remembering grandma, Part 2

Remembering grandma (Part 2)

Welcome!  I'm doing a series of  posts about my grandma, who recently passed away.  I've been writing down memories of grandma in my journal, and as I have the time, I'll share them here on the blog.  I admired her so much, and her life was one well lived because she loved Jesus.

* * *

Snippets of memories from my time on grandpa and grandma's farm:

-pulling on boots with grandma before heading out to the barn.  There was always a collection of boots- all different sizes- in the garage, so grandma would suggest a pair or we'd simply try on until we found the best fit.

-walking that familiar stretch of land from the house to the barn.

-feeding (and searching for) the barn kitties.   There were many throughout the years, and grandma had names for them all and knew their quirks and personalities.

-coming round the corner to see all the calves, waiting to be fed.  Grandma taught us how to hold two or three fingers out, upside-down, and let the calves suck on our fingers, and it was my favorite thing to do in the barn.

-walking through the field- stepping carefully over those cow pies- to see what grandpa was up to on his tractor, bringing him food or riding with him for awhile.

-haying was a highlight-- riding on the back of the wagon and "helping" to stack the bales high or taking turns on the tractor with grandpa.

***

The driveway to grandpa and grandma's house is a curvy little road through the woods, and it was grandma that taught us to sing,

Over the river and through the woods, 
to grandmother's house we go. 
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow- oh!

Over the river and through the woods
Oh, how the wind doth blow!
It stings the nose and bites the toes, 
as over the river we go!

There's another road, too- a shorter road that goes straight to their house, but grandma wanted us to go through the woods.  It mattered to her.   She loved that road, and in these later years she was proud grandpa kept it well tended so that we could still drive it.

My kids know that as soon as we turn from the main road onto the little road through the woods, we will all hush whatever conversations we're having and break into that song.  My goal is always to complete the song just at the precise moment we come out of the woods, so we have to pace the song with the length of the drive.

We'd walk through the woods, too- on the way to the park across the street, or through the woods on either side of their fields. 

* * *

Grandma loved to sing, and whenever we came she wanted to know what songs we sang at church, and then she'd ask us to sing them to her.  When my sister and I were little girls, she recorded us  singing, and she'd pull out that cassette tape and play it for us in later years.  When I started bringing my own kids, she always asked them to sing to her, too.  I think more than the songs themselves she loved to hear children singing songs.  

* * *

Grandma loved children.  In recent years when I brought the kids out, I was always a little anxious that they'd be too noisy or get into something they shouldn't or break something or make a mess.  Grandma just delighted in them.  She always wanted them close- snuggled right up next to her or- preferably, in her lap.  Once I noticed the kids had left fingerprints on her glass doors overlooking their deck, so I mentioned to grandma that I wanted to clean that up before we left, and she said something along the lines of "Don't you dare.  I'm keeping those prints up there just as long as I can so that I can keep on enjoying them."