Favorite Holiday Books

We have a large basket of Christmas books that is taken out  the first Sunday in Advent.   We've read through the books in the basket numerous times this season.  The other night I asked my children to pick their very favorite.  


Click here to read more and find out the WINNER.   I'm at Three Thinking Mothers today talking about our favorite holiday books!  

Girls and Reading - Recommendations and Advice

This is my sweet daughter - she is 10, loves to read, and has a heart that is so big.  She is compassionate, caring, and very sensitive.   Oh, and did I mention she LOVES horses?

If there's one thing I KNOW my husband I did right, it is instill a love of reading in our children!  We read to them from birth on, and reading is an integral part of our day.   I don't feel qualified to give advice about much, but reading is an area I feel I know a bit about.     

I've had a few people ask me recently what she likes to read, and how do I get her to read so much.  

Great Girl Books for an "almost 'tween"

The Faithgirlz Series - specifically any of the books about Sophie - these are wonderful, Christian books that Miss B can't get enough of.  She downloads them to her Kindle.  One was free and a few more have just been $3.99.  She reads them over and over.  

Detectives in Togas - great history mysteries which were recommended in The Story of The World Activity Guide.   There are several of these books.

Keystone Stables Series - Miss B has read A Horse to Love and enjoyed it very much.  This fuels her love of horses.  They seem to be quick, enjoyable reads.  

The American Girl Books - she has read almost every character book, but recently discovered the larger books about each girl's world.  She gets our librarian to reserve them in other branches and has read quite a few.  I love it, because she is learning so much about history!  

Dolphin Diaries - this is also a series and allows your daughter to be transported into another world - where a young girl is sailing around the world researching dolphins - how great is that?

How To Get Your Daughter to Read

* Keep good reading material around your house - a bookshelf in their room, in the family room, or wherever you spend most of your time.  I also leave good books just "laying around" to get discovered!

*Make reading fun - we bought my daughter a Kindle for her 10th birthday - best investment ever!   She loves reading electronically and feels a kinship with her dad and I (because we do the same) She also has a book basket by her bed and lots of cute bookmarks.

*Make the library your friend - we know our librarians by name and they know my daughter's interests

*Choose friends who read - I have several friends whose daughters also love to read.  Miss B borrows books from them and even emails about the books she has read.  I love it!

*Model reading - we read All.The.Time!   We spend much more time reading than we do watching television, that's for sure.  

Care to share any tips with me?  How about some books my daughter might like to add to her reading list?  

Read-Aloud Thursday: Wisconsin and The Whipping Boy!

It's read-aloud Thursday...probably my favorite blogging day of the week!   I received a beautiful book last weekend at a luncheon with the ladies from Apologia.   Sarah Clarkson's book, Read for the Heart, is a must have for your library - it will help you choose Christian read-alouds for your family.  I have just spent a few minutes going through the book, but I've already reserved several books from the library I found out about through Sarah!  The Homeschool Village did a wonderful interview with Sarah on their blog earlier this week.  You'll want to read it - such a lovely example of what a homeschool graduate is accomplishing!  

I'm finding more and more that I need guidance choosing the books we read.  There are so many good books out there, but I just want to read the BEST.   When you think about it, we have our children for such a short time.  I want to make their education COUNT by providing them with the most beautiful, thought-provoking literature possible!  

This week's installment of Read Aloud Thursday features our favorite picture and chapter book of the week.  Enjoy!

Earlier this week I posted about the beginning of our 50 State Study.   I looked for books about the state of Wisconsin (our state this week) and we found this excellent book, which we fortunately could get on reserve at our local library.  The Legend of Wisconsin is a legend about the Giant Hare, Nanabush, and how Wisconsin got many of its natural features. We found ourselves going to the map to see the Great Lakes that surround Wisconsin and also looking up pictures natural Wisconsin.    We thoroughly enjoyed this book; it was a good supplement to our state study.   

We also listened to a book on CD over the past week - The Whipping Boy.  If you've never listened to/read this short Newberry Award book by Sid Fleischman, you really should. Prince Horace is spoiled rotten and there is a rule in the kingdom that it is unlawful to spank the prince.  So, instead of spanking him, they bring in a "Whipping Boy" to receive the spankings!  From the get-go this outraged my children, and the rest of the book keeps their attention just as well!     The bratty prince and his whipping boy change places after getting mixed up with some shady characters, and the story continues! 

  

As always, I enjoying linking to Amy at Hope is The Word for Read-Aloud Thursday!