Summer Reads.

One thing I LOVE about summer is all the time we have to read. We always require our kids to read at least an hour a day, but in the summer- it tends to happen a little more. Cade is flying through the Boxcar Children series & Canyon is re-reading some of the Magic Treehouse books. Kennedy & I are working on picture books and “light reads” she chooses from the library. Currently we’re reading Mercy Watson to the Rescue– she loves it (and the boys tend to gather ’round as I’m reading it to her, pretending they’re not interested but desperately wanting to see what happens next). Another thing I LOVE to do is read a book aloud to the kids before bed- a chapter book- usually one that’s slightly above their reading level. Currently we are reading Half Magic. I read it as a child and thought it was wonderful- I searched all over for a magic coin, but never found one. sigh.  Edward Eager is such a delightful writer (he was born in Ohio, after all. That’s says something about a person!  Oh, and he attended Harvard, which says something else entirely).  In the first 2 chapters he’s used words such as “sinister” and “talisman”  and he has made reference to the “White Queen” (anyone recognize that one?). I like that I don’t feel rushed. We can read one chapter a night, look up the words we don’t know, talk about any questions that come up, and just enjoy literature.  It’s fun to read a book as adult that you enjoyed as a child. You get a completely different story.

Here are a few other books we’ll be enjoying this summer. You may not really care, but I wanted to remind myself (you know, for later when I can’t remember what we did Summer 2009 🙂
The Curious Boy’s Book of Adventure
Billy & Blaze
Bats at the Library
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie
Baby Island

I’d love to hear any other suggestions!! Is it weird that I can’t wait for school to start up again?  My boys aren’t as excited as I am, but at least Kennedy is!