Favorite Children’s Books ~ Take 2

Read the first installment here.

Early Readers

• The Fire Cat was first published in 1960. Pickles is a cat who wants to do big things!

“One day Mrs. Goodkind said,
'Pickles, you are not a bad cat.
You are not a good cat.
You are good and bad.
And bad and good.
You are a mixed-up cat.
What you need is a good home.
Then you will be good.' ”
― Esther Averill, The Fire Cat

 

Beginning Chapter Books

• Jenny and the Cat Club, also by Esther Averill, tells about the adventures of a sweet and shy black cat with a red scarf. Classic (the first stories were written in the 1940s) and lovely—my boys enjoyed the whole series. (Pickles, the fire cat, even makes an appearance!)

 

Chapter Books

• Emily's Runaway Imagination, one of Beverly Cleary’s lesser known books, is set in Pitchfork, Oregon in 1920.
  
• I loved reading The Saturdays aloud to Levi several years ago, wishing that I had read it as a child. I know I would have loved it! Be sure to check out the rest of the books in the series!
  
• The Moffats was published in 1941. Be sure to check out the whole series and more by Eleanor Estes.

 

• The Freddy the Pig books by Walter R. Brooks are hilarious and full of witty adventure and rich vocabulary. The books make great read-alouds because the parents will enjoy them as much as the kids! The 26 books in the series were first published between 1927 and 1958.

 

Chapter Books from My Childhood

• The Cricket in Times Square—about a mouse, a cat, a boy, and a cricket in New York City—was a favorite from my childhood, and I was excited to share it with my boys! And I discovered that there were more books in the series!
  
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a deliciously haunting book (not too scary, or I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as a kid) about two little girls who are left in the care of an evil governess. And there are more book in the series! (Am I the only one who gets excited about series? It’s tough to keep kids in books when you have voracious readers, and series are a blessing!)

 

• I Am David, the story of a 12 year-old boy who escapes from a prison camp in Eastern Europe, had me mesmerized! I loved it just as much when I read it as an adult. (And the movie is wonderful, as well.)
  
• I read several books by Meindert DeJong as a child, and The House of Sixty Fathers was one of my favorites. The story follows a young Chinese boy and his pig who get separated from his parents during the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s.

 

Fantasy and Adventure

(from literary artists who happen to be Christians)

• My husband read The Wingfeather Saga aloud to the boys, and they’ve been begging me constantly to check on the status of book four for months. They’ll be on pins and needles until July. This series is written by singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson, who has a gift of words and imagination!

• I'm having a little love-affair with N. D. Wilson’s books lately. I was swept away with delight while reading Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World, and the boys have read all of his children’s fiction. In particular, they enjoyed the 100 Cupboards and Ashtown Burials series.

 

Young Ladies

I had a lengthy Facebook conversation recently with a couple friends/blog readers. One asked about book recommendations for a sensitive 12-going-on-16-year-old girl who has exhausted the regular feminine book-list classics (and then some), but isn’t quite ready for more mature fare. I had to think beyond boys and fantasy books and relive a bit of my own childhood and early adulthood, but we came up with a long list to keep her busy all summer long. (P.S. I love my Facebook world.)

So, for young ladies who have exhausted All-of-a-Kind Family, Understood Betsy (adore!), The Railway Children (by E. Nesbit, one of her only non-fantasy books), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Heidi (of course), Cheaper by the Dozen (and sequel), and books by L.M. Montgomery, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Louisa May Alcott, and even Jane Austen, may I suggest:

• George MacDonald's Romance Novels. If you are not familiar with George MacDonald, I highly recommend reading a bit about him. C.S. Lewis considered George MacDonald to be a strong influence in his life. These romance novels were written in the late 1800s and more recently edited by Michael Phillips. Most of the books are set in MacDonald’s native Scotland. If you have younger children or romance novels aren’t your style, be sure to check out The Princess and the Goblin and sequel (reported to be one of Tolkien’s childhood favorites), At the Back of the North Wind (also available in a radio theatre adaptation), or The Complete Fairy Tales.
  
• The novels of Gene Stratton-Porter. She was an American author, amateur naturalist, and wildlife photographer at the turn of the century.
  
• Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. This is a side-splitting-hilarious memoir of the European travels of two young ladies in the 1920s.
  
• The novels of E. P. Roe. Roe was a preacher and avid horticulturist who also happened to be a highly successful author during the 1800s. Many of his titles are available free on Kindle!

The novels listed, most of them romance novels, are certainly idealistic and occasionally preachy. But I loved them as a sensitive young lady who did not enjoy tragic or dark stories, and I still enjoy a clean romance story!

Have you read any George MacDonald, Gene Stratton-Porter, or E.P. Roe novels?
What were your favorites?

Adventures With Friends

Camping, BBQing, Fishing, ATVing, soaking up the gorgeous sunshine, spending time with friends (the swim coaches from Albany and Lebanon and their families)—yes, lovely.

This is the Willamette River.

(Leif is on the right. He was so cute. And sooooo slow. But his mother did not complain. His dad finally told him that he should go at least as fast as he would ride a bike—instead of walking speed.)

Riding off into the sunset…

Life is good, so good.

A Little Bit of Everything

And everything always includes Lola. Of course. She and I spend a fair share of our time waiting on boys. And now I have a smart phone. This could be a dangerous combination. I love the pictures my Nikon takes, but I sure hate lugging it around…

No words can express my love for this little girl.

I should also be honest and say that the boys spend some time waiting on us. At exciting places like Costco. I apologize for the gently used “new” books.

I adore my boys.

Char, my dearest best friend of 25 years, knew that I would need a break from studying, so she planned an afternoon at a spa for both of us (a belated 40th birthday celebration), topped off with dinner and dessert at a fancy restaurant—and hours and hours of uninterrupted conversation. Bliss. Her husband agreed to watch all 6 of the kids (their 2 and my 4) until Russ got home that evening. AND he did the pile of horrific dishes in my sink. Seriously?!! I have the best friends, evah!!

 

I spent the rest of the week on a picnic blanket with this view:

Not only did I get some studying done, but my legs were not fluorescent white when I put on a skirt and stood to speak in front of a crowd. My dear, brave friend Cheris watched my kids for two days while I lay out in the sun worked like a crazy woman getting everything ready for practicum. She also snapped this picture while I was distracted:

The three days went very smoothly, considering it was the first Oregon practicum of the season. I found out just how much I could not fit into a morning’s presentation. You would think that in roughly 16 hours of content/discussion I would be able to cover everything I needed to cover. Nope. And you would think that weeks of prep would have meant that I didn’t have to go home after a full day of speaking and finish prep for the next day. Nope. So I had several nights of nowhere near enough sleep. And Tuesday evening/Wednesday, Levi and I were fighting off a bug that seemed to be making its rounds through the practicum. I crashed into bed as soon as we got home on Wednesday evening. And I’ve been there a lot ever since. Ha!

A HUGE shoutout to my husband who took three days off work to be at the practicum with me, handling all the technology and completely taking charge of my PowerPoint presentation (I didn’t have to touch the computer once—wahoo!!). All 4 of the kids were with us, so he helped parent as well. Levi attended Logic camp, Leif participated in Geodrawing camp, and Lola hung out in Play camp. Luke didn’t want to go to a learning camp, so he spent all 3 days in the main session. Most of that time he was in a corner reading, napping, or playing on electronics, but the trade-off was that he performed three speeches in front of the crowd—one each day: The Gettysburg Address, Marc Antony’s speech from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and one of Shakespeare’s Henry V speeches. That kid is fearless.

Russ and the boys went camping with friends yesterday and today. Lola and I joined them for a few hours yesterday. The afternoon was gorgeous, and the boys (fishing and ATVing) were in heaven. I have more pictures to post coming up.

We have a bunch on the to-do list this week, including a 10th birthday (and I have NOTHING planned yet). Then Russ is out on a business trip. Then I’m out speaking at the Hillsboro practicum. Whew!

I think that catches us up for now!

Favorite Children’s Books ~ Take 1

Welcome to all who have clicked over from Amongst Lovely Things and the Podcast with Tsh Oxenreider! I hope you stick around for a little while and explore Mt. Hope Chronicles. If you are searching for book lists, they are scattered throughout all posts and are usually tagged with Literary Buffet, Reading Aloud, The Reading Child, or Picture Book Picnic. To make it easier for you (and to share some of my favorites all in one spot), here is a list of a few of our favorites. I’ll be adding more book posts in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Board Books

• Cozy Classics are fun for both parents and children. Twelve words (one on each page) from classics such as Tom Sawyer, Les Miserables, Oliver Twist, and Moby Dick are paired with exquisite photographs of expressive felt figures. Jane Eyre is Lola’s favorite.

Picture Books

• Barbara Cooney is my favorite picture book author and illustrator, and I think Miss Rumphius is my most favorite. Roxaboxen and Ox-Cart Man are absolutely lovely as well.

• Amos & Boris by William Steig is a celebration of both unlikely friendship and fantastic vocabulary.

Beginning Chapter Books

• Speaking of William Steig, many people do not realize that he also wrote chapter books. No child should miss reading The Real Thief, Dominic, and Abel's Island. These three books are excellent read-alouds due to the delightful and sophisticated vocabulary.

• Little Pear is an adventurous little boy living in a small village in China. Don’t miss his continuing story in Little Pear and His Friends.

• For a slightly darker, wild celebration of words, try James Thurber’s The 13 Clocks, or The Wonderful O. Be sure to check out Thurber’s picture book Many Moons, as well!

Chapter Books

• Half Magic by Edward Eager was published in 1954, and my boys adore this whole series. Don’t miss!

• Every child needs to meet Pippi. Hilarious and endearing.

• The Little Britches series by Ralph Moody is an excellent family read-aloud. Tears will be streaming—from laughter and heartache. Be sure to have the second book on hand. Father and I Were Ranchers ends on a sorrowful note and you’ll want to move on through the story.

• For older children and their parents, I highly recommend The Squire's Tale series. I can’t say when I’ve been more entertained and delighted by a book series. The books are easy to read, but surprisingly profound, and several friends who have read them loved them. Full of strong characters, both male and female, the adventures appeal to both boys (mine!) and girls (me!). These are Arthurian legends, however, and the books don’t shy away from male and female relationships (Lancelot and Guinevere or Tristan and Isolde, anyone?), but the author tells the stories in an appropriate manner and never makes wrong actions seem appealing.

 

Come back tomorrow for more book recommendations!

A Mother’s Arms

She Makes My Heart Sing

And for your entertainment while I am MIA (can you not see how she makes our lives sunshine and rainbows?!):

 

Uh…to[o] hard..P.S. I mean It!

The last two weeks of April were a bear! Good stuff, but golly! This is more than you ever wanted to know…

We celebrated Easter and then turned around the following morning to head out for outdoor school with the boys for three days. (The above picture is of the worksheet the boys were asked to complete prior to outdoor school. Leif apparently decided it was above his grade level. Ha! That kid cracks me up. He has a ton of personality.) I picked Lola up from my parents’ house when we returned home on Wednesday, and she was feverish and not well at all.

Thursday Russ called and asked if I wanted to drive the family down (45 minutes south) for “bring your kids to work” day at his office. All four kids and I toured his office building for a little while that afternoon, then Russ took the boys to swim practice and I went shopping in Eugene with Lola.

Friday I decided I didn’t have enough on my plate (or had so much that I needed to be fueling my body well) and started a round of “paleo-ish.” (I’m now finishing day 13.) I should also mention that for the past eight weeks—ever since my Energy Begets Energy post—I’ve been consistently working out about two times each week. It isn’t as frequent as I’d like, but it is a tremendous step in the right direction. Friday is also the day we had to finish our writing work samples and get them mailed, without an hour to spare. (And swim practice.)

 

Saturday I was up early to help Russ and boys get ready for a morning swim meet. Then I had an online meeting. Then Lola and I went to the store to pick up some food. Then we went to watch the end of the swim meet and have a potluck lunch with the other families. We were invited out to the movies with another couple. It has been longer than I’d like to admit since Russ and I had been out without kids, and they offered their daughter as a babysitter, so I agreed. But the house was a disaster, so I ran home to tear through it with a rag and a garbage sack. My in-laws stopped by to visit. Then we went out for a quick meal and a movie. We arrived home to a son with the stomach flu. Not. Good. Timing.

Sunday was a true day of rest. Levi and Luke headed to church with my parents, but Russ and I stayed home with Lola (still nursing a lingering cold that appeared after her feverish day) and Leif. I did absolutely nothing.

Monday I finished editing some pictures and made a dessert. That evening was our end of the year celebration program for Classical Conversations.

 

Tuesday the boys and I took a scenic drive to Champoeg State Park (about an hour away) for a living history field trip with our charter school. It was a gorgeous, warm day.

 

That same evening I had a senior photo shoot for my nephew Daniel.

 

Wednesday morning the boys had a choir performance at a local assisted living facility (I did take pictures of the boys’ choir events, but I don’t like to share pictures of other kids without asking their parents first.) I spent the afternoon reading in the glorious sunshine. Then Leif had his end of the year program at AWANAS (picture above). (And swim practice for Russ and Levi and Luke.) I wasn’t feeling well that night so I left chores undone (and the house a disaster) and went to bed early at 10ish. I woke at 11 to the sound of puking (Levi). I’ll spare you the details, but it was a disaster that I spent a long time cleaning up. After which Levi spent the rest of the night in the bathroom and I couldn’t fall asleep until 4am—only to be awoken several times by children before I drug myself out of bed a few hours later.

I crept through Thursday at a snail’s pace. Now Luke and I were battling head colds. I managed to escape that evening and attend a much needed and quite lovely book club meeting. My sister Shannon had made paleo fudgesicles. Seriously? LOVE. MY. ChocLit Guild!!

 

Friday afternoon was choir dress rehearsal.

Saturday was a long swim meet (Russ coaching, Luke swimming in the morning, Levi swimming in the afternoon). Lola and I visited for part of the day.

Sunday was crazy. I really wasn’t feeling well. The swim meet continued. I had to juggle getting everything ready and packed for the day, transporting boys and trying to watch a couple events while keeping track of Lola, then heading a half hour north for a family bridal shower, and then leaving early to meet back at the pool with dress clothes for the boys to change into. Levi swam right after I arrived, they changed quickly, we grabbed a quick snack, and we headed straight to the church for the boys end of season choir concert. I was half dead by the end of the evening, but a bunch of friends were going out for frozen yogurt. Russ wanted to treat the boys. So we did. And then I crashed.

Monday my mom offered to take the kids. Yes. Please. I was shaky and weak and sick, so the disastrous house went unattended, but I used the time to read and study.

Tuesday my dear friend Cheris offered to take the kids. Yes. Please. And by now I was feeling a bit better so I cleaned up my office. It was impossible to think in that disaster. And then I spread the feast in the sunshine. Thank goodness for paleo-ish chocolate mug cake!

 

And this is where you will find me for the next 11 days—prepping to speak at the Salem, Oregon Classical Conversations 3-Day Parent Practicum on May 19th-21st.

I apologize in advance to my husband who will graciously ignore the disaster of a house and pizza for dinner.

If you don’t hear from me for a while, you’ll know why.

(P.S. I purposefully do not keep our schedule like this on a regular basis. This was an unusual couple weeks. Thank goodness! Other than studying and speaking, our schedule for the rest of May and June is much lighter!)

(P.P.S. I have finally caved and subjected myself to a smart phone. So far, it is causing me to feel quite stupid. But I can now text. And post pictures from my phone to Facebook. Yes, I know my grandmother mastered those skills years ago.)

Outdoor School ~ Day 3

[Finally. It’s been a busy two weeks. I’ll post more in an update tomorrow.]

Yes, we awoke to snow on our last morning of outdoor camp. Snow, and rain.

After a hearty breakfast of potatoes and pancakes, morning chores, packing, and preparing sack lunches, we gathered to head out on the hike back to the trailhead.

We were soaked by the time we reached our truck, and we felt sorry for the new school group heading in. At least we had a lovely, leisurely hike on the first day!

I was so glad we went. And so glad it was over.