Today’s topic is: “What is the best book you read this month?”
I had big plans for July. I was going to read Ruth Ware’s In a dark, dark wood which was recommended by Jenna at Cold Antler Farm. I was hoping to finish Madame Bovary, the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge title that I’ve had in progress for almost a year. I was excited because my mom gave me a copy of Jewel’s biography Never Broken, and I was supposed to read our local library’s book club selection, In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume.
Well, guess what. I didn’t crack open a single one of those books this month.
Real life interfered. Instead of reading, I spent my free time writing, visiting with my parents who are spending the summer in Minnesota, weeding the gardens, baking pies, and transferring old cassette recordings of long-ago Christmas mornings into MP3 files.
But that’s not to say that I didn’t read this month. In fact, I read about a hundred thousand books to my daughters.
My girls love it when I read them chapter books. Earlier this year, we read the Little House on the Prarie series (up to the point when Laura and Mary became teenagers and were dealing with problems my young ones couldn’t relate to). We tried Matilda, The Tale of Despereaux, and the first two chapters of The Golden Compass, but they didn’t hold their attention.
But I’m happy to report that we are almost finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and it has been very entertaining for my 3-year-old. (Since there aren’t many pictures, I can’t get my 2-year-old to sit still long enough to listen, but even while rolling around on the floor, she picks up certain tidbits of the story here and there.) My oldest keeps saying things like “they shouldn’t do that” when one of the children does something Mr. Wonka tells them not to. And her eyes grew so wide and round with amazement when we read about the chocolate river and waterfall!
If you have young children and haven’t already found a copy of Jim Trelease’s The Read-Aloud Handbook, I highly recommend you get it. In it, we have discovered many fantastic titles (all borrowed for free through our local public library).
Here are a few good reads we’ve enjoyed recently.
The entire Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo
The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens
All About Alfie by Shirley Hughes
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber
Please share your top reads in the comments.
~ Phoebe DeCook
Phoebe DeCook 