TUAR Picture Book Challenge: September 2012 for the Bryans

 

 

 

 

I am very much looking forward to choosing TEN Picture Books every month for the Take Up and Read Picture Book Challenge.  For me, this walk down memory lane will be a delight.

 

 

And before I have even introduced the idea to my son......he has validated the plan.

 

I chose my ten books...or, rather, they chose me......  :)

 

I left the pile of books stacked in my room.  Later, my oldest daughter tells me that he comes in the room, spies Katie and the Big Snow and declares:  I just love this book! Music to this mama's ears.

 

A few days later.......he spies the stack again.  I am in the room and he shares:  I just love this book and this book and this book (two Virginia Lee Burton books...and Ping).  I knew I was sooooo doing the right thing for this boy.  I am thrilled to start making new memories with him with these books.

 

I decided that for this challenge......most months, I will choose five old favorites and five new books....probably all from my own shelves.

 

For this first month, I turned to my ultimate childhood favorite, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.  That led to just choosing all of her books....and then Ping caught my eye.  He loved doing our little Five-In-Row study on it when he was five.......and has been attached to Ping since then.  Well, that made me grab another Majorie Flack book...bringing my total to six.  When I looked at my stack of "new" books......ones I had yet to read to him or myself, I found three had the word

 king or queen in the title...one had both!.......so inspired, I grabbed one more book with queen in the title...........an old favorite around here by Mercer Mayer, a family favorite author: 

The Queen Always Wanted to Dance. I guess that means.....going with the inspiration.....I have, in the end, seven old favorites and three new.  Works for me and the crowd I am going to read to!

 

 

 

Here is is the sad realization:  no matter where I look.....I simply cannot find my copy of The Little House book. What the heck??? I have some vague feeling that the college student had borrowed it last year......but she has no memory of doing that.  I actually have to borrow a copy of my favorite book from the library???  Thank God for our library.  We almost lost it two years ago......so.......as soon as it arrives, we will read it!  My ten books are as follows......

 

 

 

 

 

 

     We have already read the first two Burton books......he was very happy to hop up on the couch and cuddle with me.  He chose Katy and the Big Snow first.  In fact, reading this book was the absolute first official schooly thing we have done this school year.  That was yesterday.  Today, he picked Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.  From across the room, on the other couch.....his 15 year old brother saw the book and said:  I have not heard that book read to me since I was a little boy.  I invited him to come sit next to me on the couch for our read.  He came over to our couch and listened in with his lap full of freshman English books. 

 

Sweet moment. 

 

I have always read Picture Books to my olders......glad to see they still like it.  :)

 

 

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Even after reading only two of the books, I have already observed that because his ability to think has grown so much since he first read these books......we are getting more out of our reads than I could have predicted.  His comments and questions are so much more mature.  Nice.

 

 

 

Picture Book Blessings,

 

                                 Chari