Are you on Pinterest?
I am. I'm not terribly good at it, but I have a board called Books! where I pin interesting articles about reading and other bookly things.
This article, "Top Ten Favorite Books for Struggling Middle School Readers" piqued my interest. I'm always on the lookout for good Hi-Lo books (high interest-low reading level) for my dyslexic student.
This Top Ten List has quite a few that seem to have changed Edmund's opinion of reading time.
Take this graphic novel, Bad Island by Doug TenNaple.
Edmund woke up, on a Saturday, went out to my car just to retrieve this book, and completed it that very day! That, my friends, has never happened before.
I read Bad Island too. It's about a family that gets stranded on a mysterious island with unusual plants, dangerous-never-before-seen-animals, and other deadly inhabitants. This story is interspersed with the scenes from "another world, another time," in which aliens aided by humans are battling other aliens. The two stories are connected in a surprising way. The family learns to work together to save each other and "free" the island (that's not really an island).
The son, Reese, has some issues with obedience and had actually been planning to run away before he was forced to go on this family "vacation." His disobedience at one point allows him to save his parents from certain death. His father alludes to the fact that he knew his son would not obey the order to return to camp. But all in all, I have nothing to complain about this fun little adventure story that has given my own son a boost in confidence.
At bedtime, Patrick is reading Where the Red Fern Grows to Edmund, and sometimes to Peter too.
Yes, Peter is a high school senior. Yes, Peter is going away to college this fall. (One UD legacy from this family and counting!)
But who wouldn't want to hear again how those nasty Pritchard boys challenged Billy and his Redbone Coonhounds, Old Dan and Little Ann, to tree the Ghost Coon?
Wilson Rawl's Where the Red Fern Grows is a wonderful tale for any age. It's been awhile since we read or listened to it here. Patrick noted that he had forgotten that Billy's mother is expecting a baby, a pleasant surprise in literature.
Huge props to Laura at This Felicitous Life for introducing us to James Mayhew's Ella Bella Ballerina series!
Jill is totally enamored with Ella Bella and her ballet teacher's magical music box. In each book, Ella Bella learns the story behind a ballet. So far, we have read Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella, Ella Bella Ballerina and Swan lake, and Ella Bella Ballerina and The Sleeping Beauty.
I've learned quite a bit about these ballets myself from James Mayhew's beautiful picture books. Jill's birthday is Friday, and I *think* she might be getting a few of these titles to have and to hold.
I've been reading about Melissa Wiley's The Prairie Thief on Charlotte's blog, so I went and got it for my own self.
The Prairie Thief is a charming story about a few legendary creatures of old in a new world, the American frontier. I don't want to give anything away, but I will tell you that these creatures don't only appear to and communicate with the children (as I expected) but adults can see them too!
A fun book, I'd say The Prairie Thief is good for any kid who can read chapter books on their own.
You can also read all about author Melissa Wiley and her family at her blog, Here in the Bonny Glen.
Right before Easter, I went on a quest looking for age-appropriate Bible stories for Jill. From the depths of my memory I remembered these Little Chunky Bible Stories that Peter and Susan used to have. I think I bought them at WalMart once upon a time. We had tiny lift-the-flap books about Jonah, Moses, Daniel, and David.
It took me awhile to find them online, and sadly they are all out of print EXCEPT All Aboard Noah's Ark! (A Bible Story Chunky Flap Book. All of the titles are authored by one Mary Josephs, a fact which aided my used book search immensely.
Short, sweet, and scripturally sound (as far as I can tell) I did manage to get a few of the OOP titles used and Jill got a few new and new-to-us lift-the-flap Bible stories in her Easter basket. These books are perfect for occupying little hands in Church. I find it impressive that most pages have not one, but TWO flaps to lift.
I'm easily impressed.
That's it from me this week. I look forward to reading your WWRW posts!
The Prarie Thief looks like a fun book my 9 yo would love! Thanks for the recommendation, we'll have to check that one out.
ReplyDeleteWe also love Where the Red Fern Grows!!
I've never read Where the Red Fern Grows. But it's very nice to hear that your high schooler still likes to be read to! I wish my parents had continued that as I grew older.
ReplyDeleteOh! We just finished "The Trumpet of the Swan" over here. You know, I'd never read it before, and will everyone stone me if I say that I didn't love it? First of all, I couldn't get the rules of the world in this story. In "Charlotte's Web", people spoke to people, and animals spoke to animals, and when Charlotte bridged that communication gap, it was a REALLY BIG DEAL. Yet in Louis' world, he communicates with people and when he does, other than a momentary, "Oh! A swan that can write!" there's NBD. It's odd.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I feel like the ending was so hurried and so rushed that it was as if White just one day woke up, said to himself, "You know, I'm tired of this book. Let's end it by lunch so I can be done with it".
Oh! And the whole blithe "Serena and I will happily sell future children to secure her freedom. NBD" storyline? MY CHILDREN WERE SCARRED FOR LIFE BY THIS.
Anyway, this should be a blog post, but the train's a rollin', and I'm not going to stop it now.
A book that sends one out to the car on Saturday morning just to read? I think I'll be requesting Bad Island from the library stat!
ReplyDeleteAw, I loved Where The Red Fern Grows.
ReplyDelete