What My Kids Are Reading: September 15, 2017
The 39-Story Treehouse
Well, the school year has started, and while our school is awesome about not assigning too much homework (none yet, really), our days have still been busy with school, sports, Scouts, and being exhausted. We’ve still managed to fit in reading almost every day, but sometimes it really is only 10 minutes. The result of that is that the kids are reading a lot of different books right now-they each have their own series that they read on their own or that I read to them, and we have a couple of books that I’ve been reading to both of them. (Even though they each listen to the other one’s book as well.) I’m passing on the habit of reading multiple books at once, and I think I’m ok with it! Let me know what you’ve been reading with your kids this week!
The 6-Year-Old
The 39-Story Treehouse
The Cat on the Mat Is Flat
My 6-year-old still loves the Treehouse books, and we are on the third in the series. There are now 39 stories, and Terry and Andy have to deal with an out of control once-upon-a-time machine, an un-inventor, and re-creating their treehouse (and the entire world) from scratch. These books are ridiculous in the best way possible, and this one is no exception. My 6-year-old can’t wait to read about what happens to Andy and Terry next every night (my 8-year-old loves them too), and this is definitely “his” series. Not surprisingly, The Cat on the Mat is Flat is also a big hit with him. It just so happens to be written and illustrated by the same author and illustrator of the Treehouse books. Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton make a great pair, and if I didn’t know that they met as adults, I would assume they’ve been friends since childhood. Their books are dreams come true for kids who love being silly and wild, and they are wonderful examples of how it’s ok to be creative to the point of absurdity. The Cat on the Mat is Flat is excellent for beginning and emerging readers-the text is simple enough to read, but there are some challenging words and it is, of course, a wacky good time.
The 8-Year-Old
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Y’all, we are up to our eyeballs in Harry Potter over here, and I’m ok with that! My 8-year-old is reading the fourth book at home (usually with me), but he checked out the second book at school (even though we own 2 copies) so that he can re-read it in his free time. We are also listening to the second book in the car (Jim Dale is an incredible narrator), and you can guess what I’ll be ordering for his Halloween costume. The one caveat I have here is that we might take a break after the fourth book, depending on my son handles it. This one is really where the books take a darker turn, and I’m not sure how well he would comprehend the last 3 in the series. However, it’s taking us quite awhile to get through The Goblet of Fire, so it might not be an issue at all.
What We’re Reading Together
Benji and the 24 Pound Banana Squash
The Wizard of Oz
I won a copy of the Benji book from a PR company through Shelf Awareness, and it is such a cute book! It’s about a little boy named Benji who plants a squash seed and waits . . . and waits . . . and waits for it to grow. The illustrations are beautiful, and the story is very sweet, and shows how good it feels to grow something yourself. I would recommend this for younger kids.
This version of The Wizard of Oz is not my ideal. I grabbed it off of one of our bookcases one night because it was too late to read all of their regular books, but they were begging for something, anything, before they went to sleep. I can’t say no to books! The illustrations are nice, but this is a condensed version of the book. I think it’s actually going to work out well for us, because we’ll be able to finish it fairly quickly, but if they like this version (and so far they do) you can bet I’ll be reading the REAL version to them soon after. If you want a sort of entry-level version of Oz, or you have a younger reader who is interested in the story but not ready for a long book, this would be a perfect start.