Library Haul 12/9/15

I have a backlog of pictures from library hauls that I never got up onto the blog, so here is the super late picture of some of the books we used to study some earth science.

Right around this time, the boys also vetoed ancient history and decided that they would rather study American history.  I think it was inspired by the Little House audio books we were working our way through.  When I told my husband about our change of plans he complimented me on my flexibility. I tend to get "attached" to my plans.  I still tried to work through the facts in chronological order, rather than skip to the 1800's.  And these are some of the books we started with.

Library Haul 10/16/15

The kids were given a choice of topic for this one.  They picked inventions/machines and oceans.  Here's what we actually checked out.

 Reading practice.  Chosen by me, with their tastes taken into consideration.

 I thought that a couple of days measuring and recording our findings could only do us good.

 Two of the three invention books we checked out.  The other one might have made it up into the bedroom.

Three of our ocean choices.  Another one about salt marshes is probably upstairs as well.  I highly recommend any Arnosky books for nature lovers at this age.  The book Shimmer & Splash is one of his.  He also wrote the Crinkleroot books.

Library Haul 6/8/2015

Yesterday afternoon I brought one young man with me to the library.  The other two opted to stay home with my husband.

We had loved a book nearly to death and needed to drop off a replacement copy to the library.  It's a little embarrassing when you are a librarian yourself, but I guess I'm just proof that it happens to everyone.  We had no agenda as far as new books went, so my buddy just grabbed a couple of things that appealed to him from various display shelves.  He ended up with two "nature study", one "math" and one fun fantasy picture book.

We are still working on two of the Egyptian books from last week, but we picked up a few more "history" books, too.

I love that my kids don't show any real preference for fiction or nonfiction.  They are nearly always willing to snuggle up and listen to anything I'm reading aloud.  Since I only have one confident reader so far, we do all of these "school" books as family read alouds.

Library Haul 6/1/2015

These titles go along with our reading of the first volume of the Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer and The Usborne Book of World History.  This upcoming school year the boys are in first grade, so we are beginning at the beginning.  We're aiming for the standard four year rotating approach to history.

The board books above were chosen by my daughter.  Avatar, Atomic Ace and Pirates were the boys' fun picks.  I chose Seed Soil Sun as a whole family science read aloud because it coordinated so well with our summertime yard and garden projects.  Poppy and Ereth is the boys' current read aloud. While we usually try to have a family-wide read aloud, the language and themes in these are too much for my three year old daughter, so my husband has been reading her bedtime stories while the boys and I work through these.  Poppy and Ereth is the last in the series, but I'm consoling myself with the idea that she'll want to listen to them in a couple of years and we can start again.

Family Read Alouds

September 2014- September 2015

Heroes in Training Series - Books 1-10 by Holub
D'Aulaire's Greek Myths
The Magic Treehouse Series - Books 1-29 by Osborne*
Ragweed by Avi
Poppy by Avi
Poppy and Rye by Avi
Ereth's Birthday by Avi
Poppy and Ereth by Avi
Fortunately the Milk by Gaiman
The Wind in the Willows by Grahame
Stuart Little by White*
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Atwater*
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Dahl*
The BFG by Dahl*
Tales from the Odyssey Book 1 The One-eyed Giant by Osborne
Tales from the Odyssey Book 2 The Land of the Dead by Osborne
Nate the Great Collected Stories Volume 1 by Sharmat*
The Chicken Squad Books 1 and 2 by Doreen Cronin
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson*
Tell Me a Story by Jim Weiss*

September 2015-June 2016

Just So Stories
Winnie-the-Pooh
The Mouse and the Motorcycle*
Little House in the Big Woods* by Wilder
Little House on the Prairie*
On the Banks of Plum Creek*
Farmer Boy*
By the Shores of Silver Lake*
The Boxcar Children 1-6
The Littles
The Littles to the Rescue
The Littles Take a Trip
Bunnicula* by Howe
Howliday Inn*
The Celery Stalks at Midnight*
Bunnicula Strikes Again*
Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allen Crow*
Nighty-Nightmare*
The Cricket in Times Square* by Selden
Knight's Castle by Eager
The Time Garden by Eager
The Phantom Tollbooth by Juster*
The Great Cake Mystery* by McCall Smith
The Mystery of Meerkat Hill* by McCall Smith
The Magic Finger by Dahl
The Paddington Treasury by Bond
Famously Funny by Jim Weiss*
American Tall Tales by Osborne*
Mary Poppins* by P.L. Travers
Mary Poppins Comes Back*  by P.L. Travers
An Army of Frogs by Pryce
The Rainbow Serpent by Pryce
Amphibilands End by Pryce
Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor by Scieszka
Frank Einstein and the Electro Finger
Sarah Plain and Tall by MacLachlan
Bless this Mouse* by Lowry
The Spiderwick Chronicles 1 and 2* by DiTerlizzi
The Swiss Family Robinson* by Johann David Wyss

July 2016 - June 2017

The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian




Red titles indicate a book partially read.
Stars are for audio books.
Green titles indicate a reread.

Mom's Reading List

January 2015
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
To Kill a Mockingbird


February 2015
Chekhov Eleven Stories*
The Millionaire Next Door


March 2015
The Help
Total Money Makeover
Smart Money Smart Kids

April 2015
The Kept


May 2015
The Good Earth*

September 2015
A Room with a View

October 2015
The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher
The Out-of-Sync Child

November 2015
They Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Soulless by Carriger

December 2015
Anna Karenina 

January 2016
Gone with the Wind 

February 2016 
Slaughterhouse Five 

March 2016 
The Martian

April 2016
Eat to Live
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

June 2016
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

July 2016
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier

August 2017


Red titles indicate a book partially read.
Stars are for audio books.
Green titles are revisited.