madteaparty Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 This is my perennial question I guess. We had to stop Black Beauty mid way as we found it tedious. So taking a break from animal narrations for a while. Before this, we had a good run with books featuring girl characters (Flora and Ulysses, Pollyana, Calpurnia), so would not mind a break from those either as I have a boy ;) We are reading Beowolf as well as Nordic tales as read alouds at the same time, so I want something less schooly and more enjoyable, because by bedtime we are pretty fried. Thinking of giving Sherlock another go. He did not understand every single thing in the first round so I put it aside... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We really enjoyed The Hound of the Baskervilles as a read aloud. It's creepy enough to be fun! We liked The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, too. The first 3 books of that series were great, but we didn't like the rest and evenutally abandoned the series. We loved reading The Hobbit aloud! The girls adored Tom's Midnight Garden. We all loved Thurber's 13 Clocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 We really enjoyed The Hound of the Baskervilles as a read aloud. It's creepy enough to be fun! We liked The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, too. The first 3 books of that series were great, but we didn't like the rest and evenutally abandoned the series. We loved reading The Hobbit aloud! The girls adored Tom's Midnight Garden. We all loved Thurber's 13 Clocks Thanks, we did love the first of the Wolves but were not compelled to go on. We read the Hobbit a couple of years ago and he is supposed to read it in Lit class this semester. Hound of Baskervilles is the one we started and stopped; I was enjoying it but I thought some of Holmes commentary was above DS's head...I think I will go back to it because then at least one of us is having fun, LOL. Will look into Tom's midnight Garden, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 My son loved The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald. The main characters are a rough group of boys. It's set in turn-of-the-century Utah (I'm pretty sure it was Utah). It does have some dark content, though - one of the shopkeepers starves to death...the kids bring up a lot of religious issues (the community has Mormons, other Christians and one of the shopkeepers was Jewish)...there is a new school teacher in town that the boys hate (because he's hitting the boys at school), so they try to get him fired by framing him for something... Just saying, it's not for everyone, but my son really enjoyed the book. That was probably his favorite book this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The last one we enjoyed for my son was Kringle, whole family Paddington :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Anything in the Wings of Fire series . . . the newest one just arrived here yesterday, but we have to wait for a bit before starting because it is a birthday present for one of the kids. Oh, and dd#2 & dd#3's short chapter book based on the characters in 8FilltheHeart's Treasured Conversations. ... But it was pretty short (only eight chapters). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmingMomma Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The two biggest hits for read alouds this year were Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky, both by Grace Lin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The Potato Chip Puzzles by Eric Berlin. It's a sequel. We liked working the puzzles together. I often try to do read alouds that the kids can't quite tackle on their own yet or wouldn't, but this was one they could have done, we just did it read aloud anyway and it was fun. Good series. Before that, we had a run of Chrestomanci books and we're back to another one, reading Conrad's Fate. The kids agreed that they liked The Lives of Christopher Chant the best of the bunch thus far (haven't done Pinhoe Egg or Magicians of Caprona yet - and only a little ways in on Conrad's Fate). You can read them in any order, which is nice. But I'm a Diana Wynne Jones nut, so there's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Oh, I almost forgot one of our all time favorites! The Scarecrow and His Servant by Phillip Pullman. Hilarious! We also loved Treasure Island as a whole-family read aloud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The Little Britches series by Ralph Moody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The two biggest hits for read alouds this year were Where the Mountain Meets the Moon That is a good book! We read that along with The Cat Who Went to Heaven. Both were big hits last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMere Academy Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Parallel Journeys and The Book Thief, but we are studying WWII. A general read aloud that we really enjoyed? Coraline Narnia series Harry potter series Swallows and Amazons Homesick: My Own Story (a favorite) Bridge to Terabithia The Hobbit Rascal Johnny Tremain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMere Academy Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 My son loved The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald. The main characters are a rough group of boys. It's set in turn-of-the-century Utah (I'm pretty sure it was Utah). It does have some dark content, though - one of the shopkeepers starves to death...the kids bring up a lot of religious issues (the community has Mormons, other Christians and one of the shopkeepers was Jewish)...there is a new school teacher in town that the boys hate (because he's hitting the boys at school), so they try to get him fired by framing him for something... Just saying, it's not for everyone, but my son really enjoyed the book. That was probably his favorite book this year. My kids enjoyed this one as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooksandBoys Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Winners over the last few months have been "The Hobbit" and "Owls in the Family." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We just finished reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and it was fun! I've been reading The Horse and His Boy aloud and liking it. It's a little tedious, and it's not, IMO (or my DD's opinion), the best of the Narnia books, but it's okay. She knows that Prince Caspian and Dawn Treader are coming after, and they're exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Also, if you just want something fun to read, the 68 Rooms series is an easy read, and it's not completely fluff. It is both girl and boy characters, and it's mystery, adventure, historic fiction, and contemporary fiction all in one. All of my children loved that series (four books)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Most recent easy fun read alouds everyone has enjoyed: Green Glass House The One and Only Ivan Belly Up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Taking notes! A recent one the kids loved was 'Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We are currently reading the Verily, New Hope trilogy. Its' a Shakespeare/Star Wars smash-up, extremely humorous and all told in iambi pentameter. Good, clean fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The two biggest hits for read alouds this year were Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky, both by Grace Lin. We read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon last year, loved, loved, loved it, beautiful in every way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We really enjoyed Robin Hood. It was very entertaining for the both of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Recently my kids have enjoyed: Johnny Tremain The Mysterious Benedict Society Carry On Mr. Bowditch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenie Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Inside Out and Back Again and the 3rd Harry Potter. Both were huge hits. We just started Heidi a week ago and the jury is still out on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We just finished The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin. Love, love, love it (kids love it too). :) Oops - this is animals. Nevertheless...love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshirtyogapantmama Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Animal Farm. Even my 4 year old misses it. He is always asking me to read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The first Ulysses Moore book. Dd loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We are just finishing up the Chronicles of Prydain. We are about 50 pp. into the last book. The Welsh names presented a learning curve at the beginning but we all love the story. For Christmas we enjoyed Madeleine L' Engle's The Twenty Four Days Christmas and The Gift of the Magi. Farmer Boy was a hit here in the the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We recently enjoyed The One and Only Ivan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The two we've enjoyed the most so far have been The Hobbit and The Wind in the Willows. We also enjoyed Little Britches mentioned above but I don't consider it a read aloud as I got the kids the audiobooks. 8 books was too much for me and I wanted to read other things. We are currently enjoying the annotated version of The Secret Garden very much but we're only 1/4 of the way through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Our current read-aloud is the Harry Potter series. We are in Book 3 now and we have enjoyed all the books so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I personally really liked Heidi but I think my boys thought it was a bit slow at points I am reading the Indian in the Cupboard right now and it's very fun to read. The Oz books and some of the Chronicles of Narnia books were good. We really liked The Rescuers and some of the sequels. The Jungle Book was really good in parts and slow in others. Overall I liked it. My Side of the Mountain--I think it would have been better a bit later but I loved it Some that we didn't like too much due to length mostly: Swiss Family Robinson (just too long for their age and some very difficult vocabulary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 DS1 (almost 5) and I both loved just loved a book called Caroline and Her Kettle Named Maud by Miriam E. Mason. It's like a old-fashioned frontier feminist fable suitable for kindergarteners, which sounds nuts, but somehow it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Wheel on the school... Except it makes me want to cry every time I read it for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 We have enjoyed these as recent read alouds: Charlotte's Web (July/August) -- absolutely wonderful to read aloud, especially if you use different voices for the various characters ;) Farmer Boy (September) -- all of us enjoyed this book again (they have listened to it on AB many times) The Cricket in Times Square (October) -- my personal favorite recent RA, I'm glad to have read this to my girls The Horse & His Boy (November) -- this was a bit slow in some places; not my favorite Narnia book Betsy-Tacy; Betsy-Tacy & Tib (December) -- we're not quite done yet; these books are easy to read and fun for girls Next we will be reading: Mr. Popper's Penguins (January) Caddie Woodlawn (February/March) Tales from Beatrix Potter (April) Peter Pan (May/June) Alice in Wonderland (June/July) My girls are in 2nd, 2nd, and 4th Grades. I choose what I think will appeal to all of them, not just the oldest. I have to want to read it myself, too. We also read aloud children's classic stories (even-numbered weeks) and poetry (odd-numbered weeks). We have a basket for each of these, plus the Chapter Books basket. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ofus Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 We recently read "Fortunately, the Milk." Easy, short book but BEGS to be read aloud. So Much Fun!!! I am not kidding! FUN!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmingMomma Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 We recently read "Fortunately, the Milk." Easy, short book but BEGS to be read aloud. So Much Fun!!! I am not kidding! FUN!!! I just recently bought this, and we're planning on starting it this week. It looks really fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I don't think we've had a bad read aloud. They have particularly liked recently: the Mysterious Benedict Society, True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, the Silver Chair (Narnia), Caddie Woodlawn. Right now we are reading Treasures in the Snow. It's a sweet story, but a little too.... something. The good characters are too good and the bad character is too bad and you know there's a lesson in there just waiting for you. But the kids seem to like it. I forgot to add that they seemed to like "Understood Betsy", too. There was a book a while back.... I can't remember what it was, somehow I think it was Rosemary Suttcliffe's version of The Odessey and I was reading it aloud to my oldest boy and we were at the end and he literally would not let me quit reading. I think read 5 chapters that morning, just because it was so exciting. I admit to having been sucked in, too, so I wasn't too hard to convince to keep reading. But that one was pretty exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebunny Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 "A girl in ten thousand" by L.T.Meade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 We recently read "Fortunately, the Milk." Easy, short book but BEGS to be read aloud. So Much Fun!!! I am not kidding! FUN!!! I highly recommend the audio version. Worth checking out of the library for a reread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 We've had a couple of bad read alouds that I've given up on as they were so dull. The ones we've like recently the most have been The Boy with the Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler and Sun Horse, Moon Hore by Rosemary Sutcliffe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 At that age my boys absolutely loved The Indian in the Cupboard series. I did, too. Right now I'm reading Watership Down to my nine year old and we're both enjoying it. I keep hearing about people who didn't like it at all so I'm a little worried about the second half of the book, but so far so good. I'm also reading The Road to my older boys (12 and 14). It's definitely not a typical read-aloud, but I love the language and the intensity of emotion in it and the boys and I are having some fantastic discussions about the various scenarios in the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Recently my kids have enjoyed: Johnny Tremain The Mysterious Benedict Society Carry On Mr. Bowditch The Mysterious Benedict Society was the book that turned my reluctant reader into an avid reader. He got it for Christmas when he was ten and never looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 We are just finishing up the Chronicles of Prydain. We are about 50 pp. into the last book. The Welsh names presented a learning curve at the beginning but we all love the story. I read those as a kid and they stuck with me more than any other books. I haven't read them to my kids yet, but maybe that's what we'll do next. My best friend and I wrote a song and a poem about the series and I think I can still recite them both by memory today :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 We recently enjoyed The Phatom Tollbooth and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. We are working our way through The Lord of the Rings, but it has slow and tedious sections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Our favorite ever was Momo by Michael Ende. Our LAST enjoyable read-aloud was The Rescuers. Typically, I don't keep reading a book neither of us enjoy. Some of our other favorites have been: Nurse Matilda At the Back of the North Wind The Invention of Hugo Cabret Because of Winn-Dixie A Bear Called Paddington Coraline (a little creepy, good for around Halloween) The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate We're in the middle of The Lost Princess and enjoying it. Bomb, which we're reading for school has been surprisingly enjoyable, especially considering the subject matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Tharp Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Interestingly, The Moffats. I would not have predicted that my boys would like it as well as they did. We are currently reading The MIddle Moffat. ETA to add more info. We recently finished Farmer Boy. It was about 50 pages too long for us. Another big favorite was The Hobbit. John Bellairs books have all been big hits as read-alouds. Very well written and spooky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 The Princess Bride is an excellent read aloud. There's a super long introduction and you can feel free to skip that if you want to. It's fun if you've seen the movie, it's fun if you haven't. It's fun to read parts of it and then watch the parts in the movie, then read more, watch more, etc. I'm reading A Little Princess to the boys right now (same author as The Secret Garden) and they love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 We recently enjoyed The One and Only Ivan. We just got this one for Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 My son loved The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald. The main characters are a rough group of boys. It's set in turn-of-the-century Utah (I'm pretty sure it was Utah). It does have some dark content, though - one of the shopkeepers starves to death...the kids bring up a lot of religious issues (the community has Mormons, other Christians and one of the shopkeepers was Jewish)...there is a new school teacher in town that the boys hate (because he's hitting the boys at school), so they try to get him fired by framing him for something... Just saying, it's not for everyone, but my son really enjoyed the book. That was probably his favorite book this year.My sensitive 7 yo girl loved it too, as did I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 The most recent read aloud my boys loved is The Indian in the Cupboard. Someone upthread mentioned The Wheel on the School. We read that years ago, and it was a surprise hit. I need to pull that one out again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.