For the Littles:
The Rabbit Listened by Cory Doerrfeld
A little boy was working on a masterful block castle when it got knocked down. Various animals come to console him in various ways—let’s get angry! let’s talk about it! let’s pretend it didn’t happen!—but it was the rabbit, who sat beside him and stayed and listened who was the best help. This book is really about grief and how to be there for your friend as they are grieving—and even though the story is told with blocks and animals, the reactions are real—they are reactions I’ve seen people have in my own life, when we’ve experienced loss. I think this is an excellent book for teaching children about how to be empathetic to someone who is hurting.
Lilly’s Big Day by Kevin Henkes
Lilly thinks she will be her teacher’s flower girl in his upcoming wedding, and is dismayed to discover his niece will be the flower girl instead. Henkes’ Lilly books are some of my favorite, since she’s sassy and realistic (and I like Henkes sense of humor). This is one we’ve been reading a lot lately since my youngest daughter will be a flower girl this spring.
For the Family:
Fridays with the Wizards & Saturdays at the Sea by Jessica Day George
We finished the Tuesdays at the Castle series! Fridays was slow and my least favorite; the villain’s motives were sort of vague, but the book did get exciting about 2/3rds the way through. Celie, the main character, becomes more whiney. I think this book could have nearly been skipped, if you are the kind of person who can bear to skip a book in a series.
Saturdays was more exciting, but also started out a bit slow. Once we were halfway through the book, the girls would beg for one more chapter every night! I liked that this book did not take place within the castle—a change of scenery was needed—but Lilah’s obsession with unicorns felt a little forced—there’s a tiny bit of play up to it in the last book, but I think it was sort of a weak ploy to set the characters off on the adventure. Also, I am not sure if I love animals 1/10th of the amount that Jessica Day George does—some chapters I did feel like “oh blah blah blah about dogs, blah blah blah griffins…” (animal lovers, you may feel differently!). I continue to adore Lulath as the best character in the series.
Overall, I DO think this series is worth the read—I would recommend at least reading the first as a readaloud and maybe having your older readers take off from there and complete the series on their own. If you like this series, you may also like Day’s Dragon Slippers series.
For Me:
Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love by Cindy Rollins
WARNING: Don’t even look at this book if you get easily overwhelmed by homeschooling ideas. Cindy Rollins is a well-respected veteran Charlotte Mason homeschooler (podcaster of the Mason Jar), and “morning time” is a term used to describe a time during the day when the homeschool family gathers to learn as a group. I like Rollins—from what I’ve read of her books, she’s down-to-earth. Her Morning Time book is something you could buy and model your morning time after; the first half is a how-to, the second half an anthology with everything you need (speeches, poetry, book lists, song lyrics, EVERYTHING). If you decide to read this book, think of it as something to gather ideas from, not something you need to exactly copy, because her morning time is the most intense morning time I have ever seen! She said her’s takes a couple of hours, but I think it would take me maybe 3 hours to complete it all—my current morning time with the kids takes about an hour. She did inspire me to start working on poetry memorization with my kids again though (she’s big on memorization) and adding daily rather than weekly art study.
Mothering by the Book by Jennifer Pepito
The lady behind The Peaceful Press (the homeschool curriculum I plan to use next semester and have used in previous years), wrote a book for homeschool moms. It’s a how-to on overcoming fears specific to mothering and homeschooling by looking at examples of characters in literature. Each chapter ties to a specific book (like Understood Betsy or Charlotte’s Web), and at the end includes a list of questions to discuss or journal, a related bible verse, and other literature to read that is relevant to the topic. Pepito is completely open about her past—mistakes, trials, and trauma—and I found the book to be incredibly encouraging.
A Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer
Do you like Jane Austen books? Do you adore a tale of balls and walks in the English countryside? Then you may enjoy Georgette Heyer. She writes historical fiction set in the regency period. Her books aren’t exactly the high literature Austen would be considered, but they are fun and addictive. Annis, a 29-year-old “spinster,” is a sassy, independent woman who comes up against an infuriating “player” of a guy, the uncle of a young woman she’s mentoring. The characters are realistic and their arguments are satisfyingly snappy.
Book of Endings by Leslie Harrison
I’ve read this book at least seven times. These poems are not what I’d call very accessible—if you aren’t usually a poetry reader, they may be more difficult for you to get into. The poems typically do not have punctuation, but flow swiftly from one image to another. Reading this book feels like getting caught in a current. You can read her poem “[I would drive you to your grave]” online HERE.
First We Have Coffee by Margaret Jenson
An autobiographical story of an immigrant preacher’s family in the 1930’s, focusing on the enduring good character of the mother. I skimmed through some sentimental parts of this, but the everyday hardships that the mother endured (often cheerfully!) were well-told and inspiring.
Writing News:
3/30 @ 7PM I am taking part in a group Zoom poetry reading for writers of Belle Point Press! You can listen in for free here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84484650114?pwd=c1I2UkZtZm5zWUtMV2x2dGtSWHloZz09
4/10, 2:30PM, @ The Family Vision Library in St. Charles, MO, I’ll be giving a reading and fun author event for kids, focusing on my middle-grade novel Why Silas Miller Must Learn to Ride a Bike. It’s free and any age child is welcome—we’ll have snacks and activities.