LaughingCat Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 What are your top 3 most loved read alouds, that you loved and the kid(s) loved? I'm sad to say that I've noticed that older books do not get the love around here. Ours: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Dealing with Dragons The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Best 3 older books (really middle of the pack though): A Wrinkle in Time The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler Ramona and Beezus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 The Chestry Oak The Little White Horse Understood Betsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Some of our favorites: The Phantom Tollbooth Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Little House series Great thread! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Narnia Half Magic Johnny Tremain or Adam of the Road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Oh man, just 3? That's tough. We all loved The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber, Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken, and, hmmmmm, I'm having trouble narrowing it down to just one for a third. I guess I'll go with The Wind in the Willows, because it's the first "literary" read aloud I did with Shannon when she first started homeschooling, and I'm reading it now with Morgan, who is loving it too. It's such a great book to read in the springtime! Although I'm going to have to say my favorite read-aloud with Shannon was The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Oh man, now I looked back at what some of y'all wrote - Half Magic, too, for sure! We still mimic the cat's half-talking. I'm sorry, I'm unable to name just 3 . . . :leaving: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Just three...OK... ;) Family: The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (This is, hands down, everyone's favorite of all time.) Little House series The Chronicles of Narnia DS12: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer My Side of the Mountain Wind in the Willows DD10: Ella Enchanted (so loved she snuck reading chapters and finally asked to finish on her own) A Little Princess Where the Mountain Meets the Moon DS9: Peter Pan The Chronicles of Prydain Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever (LOL! He has LOVED this book for years!!!) Mom: The Secret Garden The Boy on the Wooden Box I Am Malala (young readers edition) Bonus: poetry (any and all, daily) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Just three...OK... ;) Family: The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (This is, hands down, everyone's favorite of all time.) Little House series The Chronicles of Narnia DS12: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer My Side of the Mountain Wind in the Willows DD10: Ella Enchanted (so loved she snuck reading chapters and finally asked to finish on her own) A Little Princess Where the Mountain Meets the Moon DS9: Peter Pan The Chronicles of Prydain Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever (LOL! He has LOVED this book for years!!!) Mom: The Secret Garden The Boy on the Wooden Box I Am Malala (young readers edition) Bonus: poetry (any and all, daily) You are such a cheater!!! ;) :D :001_tt2: 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 You are such a cheater!!! ;) :D :001_tt2: :lol: I figure LaughingCat opened the door by subdividing new and old. :tongue_smilie: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMOm Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Clearly I need to add "Where the Mountains Meets the Moon" to my Amazon cart! I've never even heard of it before. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Momo (Michael Ende) The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Jacqueline Kelly) The third one is hard. DD LOVED Laddie: A True Blue Story, but I did not enjoy reading it aloud. I had fun reading The Thirteen Clocks, but DD didn't enjoy it as much. As a compromise, I'll go with The Invention of Hugo Cabret. If you count audio books: A Bear Called Paddington (read by Stephen Fry) Coraline (read by Neil Gaiman) either Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (read by Jim Dale) or Because of Winn-Dixie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Oh, well, if we're including audio books - Treasure Island (read by Alfred Molina) The Scarecrow & his Servant - Philip Pullman Half Magic - Edward Eager - this is where we got the endless riffs - fitz-whatever! from the half-speaking cat. Truly hilarious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Oh, well, if we're including audio books - Treasure Island (read by Alfred Molina) The Scarecrow & his Servant - Philip Pullman Half Magic - Edward Eager - this is where we got the endless riffs - fitz-whatever! from the half-speaking cat. Truly hilarious! I almost put that version of Treasure Island on the list, but Coraline barely edged it out. It's hard to find well-written books with strong heroines, which my girl prefers over "another boy story" or "boring" (read, girl who sits around and basically waits to be rescued or does chores or whatever) girl books. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 I almost put Half Magic in my list of 3 older books instead of Ramona and Beezus. But there's a few older books with one section that bothers me in an otherwise enjoyable book -- and this is one of them. (and categorize away :lurk5: just pick out the best of the best rather than a long list of good ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slojo Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I'll do recent read alouds -- top 3 all time is too hard: The Heroes' Guide to Saving the Kingdom Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Momo (Michael Ende) The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Jacqueline Kelly) The third one is hard. DD LOVED Laddie: A True Blue Story, but I did not enjoy reading it aloud. I had fun reading The Thirteen Clocks, but DD didn't enjoy it as much. As a compromise, I'll go with The Invention of Hugo Cabret. If you count audio books: A Bear Called Paddington (read by Stephen Fry) Coraline (read by Neil Gaiman) either Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (read by Jim Dale) or Because of Winn-Dixie This is our next audio book. I have a newborn and we are doing a lot of audio right now while I'm doing newborn care/nursing. Last week we did Cricket in Times Square and Mouse and The Motorcycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 We love (among many others, some already mentioned): Detective in Togas and Mystery of the Roman Ransom, by Henry Winterfeld (both set in Ancient Rome) Caddie Woodlawn Red Sails to Capri (we especially love the mother who sings and talks to the food while cooking) Best books on audio: Lord of the Rings (because I can't be bothered to read every single song and description) Charlotte's Web (read by E.B. White himself) Cricket in Times Square (because there is music on the audio version that I'm not doing in my read-aloud version) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Little House series Narnia series Just So Stories (My dc beg for The First Writing with Taffy every single time I pull out that book, which I do several times a year, O Best Beloved.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMere Academy Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Our favorites Narnia series Harry Potter series Swallows and Amazons Strawberry Girl Johnny Tremain (my adult kids still talk about this one) When they were younger the Ramona series was a huge favorite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I have to say I am jealous of all your kids' love for audio books. My kids don't love them, rarely listen to them anymore, and they NEVER let me play an audio book in lieu of reading aloud. Now, I love read-aloud time at night, and I wouldn't substitute an audio book during that sacred read-aloud time every evening, but there are some books I would love to do as audio books instead of me having to read them aloud...say during school hours. But no. I read The Hobbit and LOTR straight through (it took months), and I read the songs as poetry after doing some pretty bad singing at first. And I jacked up the elvish words pretty badly, but even then they wouldn't let me just buy the audio books, even after I played them samples with silky smooth English accents. Not only were those books long, they were the hardest read-alouds I've ever done. Some of those sentences were paragraph length, for Pete's sake! At one point, DD10, my fastest reader and best read-alouder, picked up one of the LOTR books and read a bit. She said to me, "Wow, Mom, these sentences are really long. You're doing a good job with this." LOL! Poor me. :nopity: Anyone have a killer audio book recommendation? Like one that is SOOO much better than being read aloud to by Mom? Maybe I should stop doing voices... DS12 listens to some audio books at night. But the same ones over and over. They're like white noise to him now, I think. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Anyone have a killer audio book recommendation? Like one that is SOOO much better than being read aloud to by Mom? Maybe I should stop doing voices... Winnie-the-Pooh I don't care if you kids are too old. They aren't too old. These are my all time fave audiobooks. You must get the version read by Peter Dennis. Shakespeare plays on audio...we have only done A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I am getting 3 more for next year. Love! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Winnie-the-Pooh I don't care if you kids are too old. They aren't too old. These are my all time fave audiobooks. You must get the version read by Peter Dennis. Shakespeare plays on audio...we have only done A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I am getting 3 more for next year. Love! Thanks! Definitely not too old. I still read them picture books. And let's not forget that a Mother Goose volume still makes the favorites list for my 9 yo. :lol: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Our top 3 would probably be:1. Ramona series 2. The Penderwick series 3. Wizard of Oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikslo Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 A Tale Dark & Grimm Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog the Flavia de Luce mysteries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 When my husband and I were young and newly married before kids I remember we listened to PG Wodehouse Jeeves stories on audio in the car a lot. Those were funny. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I have to say I am jealous of all your kids' love for audio books. My kids don't love them, rarely listen to them anymore, and they NEVER let me play an audio book in lieu of reading aloud. Now, I love read-aloud time at night, and I wouldn't substitute an audio book during that sacred read-aloud time every evening, but there are some books I would love to do as audio books instead of me having to read them aloud...say during school hours. But no. I read The Hobbit and LOTR straight through (it took months), and I read the songs as poetry after doing some pretty bad singing at first. And I jacked up the elvish words pretty badly, but even then they wouldn't let me just buy the audio books, even after I played them samples with silky smooth English accents. Not only were those books long, they were the hardest read-alouds I've ever done. Some of those sentences were paragraph length, for Pete's sake! At one point, DD10, my fastest reader and best read-alouder, picked up one of the LOTR books and read a bit. She said to me, "Wow, Mom, these sentences are really long. You're doing a good job with this." LOL! Poor me. :nopity: Anyone have a killer audio book recommendation? Like one that is SOOO much better than being read aloud to by Mom? Maybe I should stop doing voices... DS12 listens to some audio books at night. But the same ones over and over. They're like white noise to him now, I think. :lol: Oh, absolutely The Scarecrow and his Servant. I thought it was sooooooooooo much better as a read aloud! I tend to do voices and accents too, and then regret it if the book is really long or it's the first of a series - but even I couldn't top the audiobook on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Glad that my kids are not the only ones imitate the cat in Half Magic! I can always tell when my kids have been rereading that book because a wave of the cat's half-language rolls through our home for a week or two. Last week at the library, some people were looking at us as though we were weird while Buster and Sweet Pea shot Half Magicisms at one another. Only the children's librarian understood. She smiled knowingly and threw out a "fitz" something to join in. ;) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenmsta Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Allan Quatermain, Andrew Peterson's wing feather saga, and Benedict society books Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenmsta Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Allan Quatermain, Andrew Peterson's wing feather saga, and Benedict society books Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Ok, this is nearly impossible so I'm going to pick three favorites that I haven't seen mentioned yet. Owls in the Family Cheaper by the Dozen James and the Giant Peach 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I won't speak to top or best, but the 3 literary universes DS8 has lived in for the longest periods are: 1. Swallows and Amazons: We read aloud the entire series and he has read the entire series at least twice since then. DS6 has listened to a couple of them and really likes Roger. 2. Oz. We have read aloud the first and second book 2 or 3 times to DS6 and DS8. DS8 has read all ~12 books at least twice. 3. Tolkien. We have read aloud "The Hobbit" at least 3 times to both boys. I read aloud the whole LoTR series to DS8. DS8 has read the "The Hobbit" to himself 3 times and the entire LoTR once. All of these have been revisited multiple times and each time DS8 continues to imaginatively live in that universe for a couple of months afterwards. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (The original, un-Disney tainted version) All time favorite and read many, many times aloud. The Ghost in the Swing by Janet Patton Smith The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Pretty much anything by Roald Dahl (especially The BFG - what a blast to read outloud!) Oh, and The Egypt Game Oh, and All Creatures Great and Small (The entire series) OK, picking 3 is impossible. I will stop now and continue planning my son's high school graduation ceremony in less than two weeks with a big box of tissues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Little House Series Five Children and It The Cricket in Times Square and Mary Poppins and A Little Princess My son and I loved reading The Hobbit and The Sign of the Beaver aloud together. My daughters literally listen to all of the Beverly Cleary Ramona books on audible and then re-listen to them all over again. They can quote them. I haven't ever read them aloud but that love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I cheated, too: dd, 8: Little House Books Lord of the Rings Abel's Island by William Steig ds, 10: Little House Books Lord of the Rings Swallows and Amazons And my favorites are probably: Little House Books Lord of the Rings The Princess and the Goblin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 A poll revealed: Watership Down All of the Lang Fairy books Narnia-for one child, not the other two Audiobook: EB White reading The Trumpet of the Swan (sorry I cheated) I RA A Tale of Two Cities to one of my sons when he was a freshman in high school (it's one of my favorite books) and he also loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Impossible to pick, but I'll mention Fantastic Mr. Fox (Dahl) Chancy and the Grand Rascal (Fleishman) Caddie Woodlawn Of course, several Narnia books, most of the Little House books, and both Secret Garden and A Little Princess would make the list. Some books are much loved here, but don't make great read alouds because the sentences are impossibly long or they contain endless descriptions that are better read silently--they "take too long" to be read aloud, according to dd! So a book like Anne of Green Gables (esp the first few chapters, in which long and wordy descriptions are actually mirroring Anne's personality) or LotR would not fly here as a read aloud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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