See that list over there in the sidebar that’s titled “Lulu’s Booklog”? Well, I’m removing it as soon as I get a minute to fiddle with my widgets. (Isn’t that fun–fiddle with my widgets. Ha!) There’s no way I can keep up with all the stuff that Lulu reads and re-reads. It just can’t be done, at least not by this mama of three who has more balls in the air right now than she can possibly juggle. That girl is a reading machine! I try to have her read aloud every day, in addition to all the silent reading she does. She doesn’t necessarily like to do this, but I insist. It’s just a part of her daily work. I try to make her slow down and really read her words, pronounce them correctly. She has a tendency to speed through and get the idea of what she’s reading, without noticing the particulars of the actual words. While this probably works well for her pleasure reading, it’s not a habit I want to promote in her reading aloud. In addition to this, more challenging material will require closer attention. Most of the time for her read-aloud, I just have her read from whatever she’s reading at the moment. However, I saw 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie DePaola on the shelf at the library and remembered that Heidi @ Mt. Hope Chronicles raved about this one sometime in the past. I figured with a Newbery honor to its credit (not to mention being written by such a well-loved and prolific writer), we couldn’t go wrong, so I picked it up for Lulu to read aloud to us, cover to cover.
Well, Lulu didn’t love it, but Louise and I surely enjoyed it. Actually, I think Lulu probably enjoyed it way more than she let on; it’s more an “I’m going to play this off as a pain so I don’t blow my cover” situation. What’s not to love? It’s the story of Tomie DePaola’s life as a five year old, the younger son of a family living in Meriden, Connecticut, in the late 1930s. The main problem in the story is the protracted building of the DePaola family’s house on 26 Fairmount Avenue. Through all of this, though, we get to know the whole family, from Nana Upstairs (Have you read his picture book about her? To quote one of my favorite movies, “Read it with a box of Kleenex.”) to his grandpa Tom. In the story, Tomie does lots of things that should make a kid smile: he and Nana Upstairs eat chocolate candy, only it isn’t chocolate candy. (Hint: he finds it in the medicine cabinet.) He goes to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the theater, only he is incensed that the movie doesn’t follow the Grimm’s version closely enough to suit him. He decides that since he can’t learn to read at kindergarten, he might as well go home. The chapters are episodic and short, usually seven or eight pages. Black and white drawings by DePaola are found on every page. Really, this is just about as close perfect as you can get for a read-aloud or silent read for a young child who tires easily. I give it a Highly Recommended and am eager to read the rest of the books in the series.
Related Links:
- My review of The Cloud Book by Tomie DePaola
- My review of Tomie DePaola’s Book of Bible Stories
- My review of Clown of God by Tomie DePaola
- My reviews of The Legend of the Poinsettia and The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie DePaola
- Tomie DePaola’s website
- Tomie DePaola’s blog
Who does the reading aloud at your house? Do you always do it, or do you hand over the reins to your children sometimes? Tell me about it in the comments, and don’t forget to link up your RAT posts, as well.
Happy Read Aloud Thursday!
I had my son do more reading aloud last year. We’ve gotten away from it this year although he will read to his siblings when asked.
I’ve been wanting to try the Fairmont Ave. series. I saw it in the library and tried to get my son to read it but he wasn’t interested. This summer I’ve been thinking about doing some more assigned reading with him and this might go on the list.
I wrote about three of our recent chapter book read-alouds, all historical fiction. http://supratentorial.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/read-aloud-thursday-from-egypt-to-england/
Yesterday the boys started reading books from the Christian Heroes Series. Jonathan is reading Cameron Townsend and William is reading George Muller. They are still a bit daunted when the see a chapter book like that coming at them but after assuring them they don’t have to read them in one setting, they seem to enjoy what they are reading.
We were reading about birds this week. Our post can be found at http://thelintonacademy.blogspot.com/2011/04/current-read-alouds.html
With all the pictures in that one, maybe we’ll read it soon!
We have been reading Easter related books this week. http://livelearnlove226.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-read-alouds.html
My son is only 3yrs but he has started “reading to himself”- he sits on the sofa or in his room and “discusses” the pictures. Very cute!
We have been reading Hooray for Fish this week http://www.redtedart.com/2011/04/20/kids-get-crafty-fairy-fish-magic/
Maggy
We read this whole series aloud a couple years ago. My girls love them, and re-read the books to themselves all the time.
P.S. On Tuesday I blogged about two picture book, inspired by folk tales that we read and loved.
http://thickandthinthings.blogspot.com/2011/04/picture-book-read-alouds-inspired-by.html
Hi,
I have a list of four of our current read alouds here:
http://peacecreekontheprairie.com/homeschool/read-aloud-thursdayapril-21fun-reads-and-science
Thanks!!
I am SO HAPPY to have found Read-Aloud Thursday. This series you are reading looks great… we have a de Paola book on our list this week as well. I have done a post today with our current read-alouds. Thanks so much for doing this — can’t wait to read tomorrow!
http://www.homegrownlearners.com/2011/04/read-aloud-thursdayhow-we-choose-our.html
Ooops — I also meant to tell you I keep a running list at my blog of what we’ve read this year, in case you’re interested!
http://www.homegrownlearners.com/p/our-2011-reading-list.html
Sounds like a very interesting and subtly informative book. I don’t know much about DePaola’s background but, for the most part, enjoy his stories. My favorite when I was little was “Charlie Needs A Cloak.”
Today we featured a cute bedtime book, Good Night, Little Sea Otter by Janet Halfmann. Halfmann is a Wisconsin author, so I like to help bring attention to her work. After reading the book, we decided to extend our reading by learning more about Sea Otters. I never realized the species is threatened.
http://www.brimfulcuriosities.com/2011/04/good-night-little-sea-otter-by-janet.html
This is one of his that I’ve not read! Usually I do the main reading aloud, but of late, when I need to nurse the baby, N1 has been known to take over the book while my hands are full and has done spledidly – even with our bigger chapter books. I need to make her read alout more and am working on a way to get her to read to the little girls (and boy) which I think will be taken better than just plain ole reading to Mama. : )
Yes, I think Mara would be a bit old for your girls. It is right at my almost 10 year old’s level, and there are some “relationship” issues that we are having to talk about as we read! I will look into the other myth book…thanks for the tip!
Wow! We do a lot of reading aloud, too, but I don’t post about it very often. Perhaps that will change. Currently we’re reading The Burgess Bird Book, Little Women, and Eight Cousins. I need to add a history read aloud for my little girls, too.
Annie Kate
Annie Kate–We’d love to have you join RAT!