Thursday, September 6, 2012

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......
 
 
The Little House
 
 








 
 
     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.  :)
 
 
+++++++
 
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

8 comments:

  1. Great books.

    I was going to try the idea of five old favorites and five library books each month. But if I don't get around to hunting through the library system in a given month, I'll just choose books from around the house or from our local library (which is tinier than a home library, if you don't count all the twaddle).

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    1. When I organized this group above, I set our old faves aside......there are so many! So, even though I am tempted to go by a theme, like autumn.....I am going to try to keep myself focused on the old favories and all of the awesome new books I have picked up over the last couple of years.

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  2. This is such a timely post around here. We have been bitten by the picture book bug again. I realized that the up and coming littles around here have not gotten the same time and attention with picture books as thier older siblings did. We are searching out autumn, and specifically apples as they are going to an apple orchard, many of them for the first time (at least that they remember.) We dug out Cay Gibson's Picture Perfect Childhood to help. We are also slated to start Five in a Row again. It's been several years since we did that. Today there were great picture books to be found at the local thrift stores as well. And, yes, we are quite choosy there and it was surprising to me how many good ones there were.

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    1. I did not know that you were reading around here, Kristin! It was such a pleasant surprise to find your comment. I went over to your blog and I sure enjoyed reading your family stories. Your children look so grwon up and so sweet. They really look like they love each other.

      """"I realized that the up and coming littles around here have not gotten the same time and attention with picture books as thier older siblings did.""""

      I hear this over and over again from myself and from other homeschool moms. We really do have to work hard to make sure those younger littles get the good books and read aloud time. We did autumn, apples and pumpkins in past falls. Enjoy!!

      I like Five in a Row.....for making us read picture books. :)

      Good finds at the thrift store! I always check out picture books first when I get to a thrift store......Almost all of my books come from thrift stores or library sales.....

      God bless you, Kristin, as you read to and raise your little ones!

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  3. The Little House was my favorite as a child and still is today. A few of those I've never heard of--will be picking them up from the library on Monday.

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    1. I LOVE The Little House! I think I will need to buy myself a hardcopy for Christmas since I cannot find my own......grrrrr.

      We just read Maybelle the Cable Car last night. Because San Francisco is like a second home to us (our best friends live there).......he and I could make nice connections during our reading. And love the pictures!

      Glad to share titles with you. I have next months all lined up.....some obscure favorites of ours....

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  4. Just had to say I was so glad you included cover pictures! I just happened to see the King Bidgood cover at the library and grabbed it after reading your post earlier in the week. My daughter LOVES this book! The big boys enjoy reading it to her, too (which is always a bonus).

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, Tracey! We still have not read that book yet, but I am looking foward to it now!

      My little guy is loving reading our old favorites! I am so doing the best thing for him.

      Enjoy!

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