The Mythmakers

Mom's Notes: This book is complementing our reading of the Hobbit, our viewing of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and our second run as a family through The Chronicles of Narnia. Add in our upcoming trip to New Zealand, and it's quite the study! These picture books were also beautiful and insightful. We are learning so much about these two great dreamers/authors/friends. John Hendrix dives deep - it's not a light read. The graphic novel style lightens it though, and gives way to whimsy that fits the subject. 

Stories of Christmas

Mom's Notes: Just as soon as Halloween was over, the kids (especially the teenagers!) were more than ready for full Christmas mode. I decided to indulge them by putting up some decorations in the basement where we read, decking the couch pillows in new festive pillowcases, and turning read aloud time over to the season completely. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. We might as enjoy it as long as we can! We read a few old favorites and a few stories new to us. The younger three and I celebrated the stories by creating Christmas cards based on the families in the books! 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - we reread this because we were just about to see the new movie. It is beautiful and truly does the book justice! The message that Jesus was born for all of us is one of the most important in any story every written. 

The Family Under the Bridge - A Christmas with the hobos and gypsies in France is always a fresh perspective for us. I teared up again at the end when Armand is picturing the dumpy apartment with its beautiful potential as a home filled with love. 

101 Dalmatians - This was charming! Listening to a brilliant British actor read it made it that much more enjoyable. We could relate to the doggy behavior with Clay exhibiting some of it even as we listened. I was impressed with the beautiful scene in the church when the puppies are drawn to the nativity scene with even more interest than they are to their beloved television. That chapter was a treasure. 

The Christmas Doll - This was a sweet book, albeit predictable! Our hearts went out to the little orphan girls. The juxtaposition of their harsh lives on the dirty London streets and the lavish doll shop was poignant. 

The Birds' Christmas Carol - This is really more of a short story, and we read it in an hour on our last school day of the year. I had heard about it over the years, and I'm glad it's now in our basket of Christmas books forever. It's carefully and artfully written. We laughed at the Ruggles in "manners training" with their determined mother! And I definitely cried with the sweet passing of young, Christ-like Carol. 

By the Great Horn Spoon

 

What do you think was the most clever thing Praiseworthy and Jack did in this story? 

Michael (10): "When they were digging at the end in the spot where people already digged. And they found the gold!" 

Daniel (10): "They used his the umbrella for planning gold."

Mom's Notes: We almost didn't read this one. We were moving on from our fascinating Westward Expansion studies to Christmastime. But I remembered how much the buddies and I enjoyed our mornings with Seaman. So we tried out a chapter. We were all hooked! (They didn't recall the story much from our first reading some years ago.) I truly enjoy sitting between my boys on the couch as they laugh out loud or beg from a few more pages. We read often in the evenings too, snuggled in their bottom bunk that is currently decked out in draped twinkly lights. Gabe even joined us for a chapter one night when he overheard us reading. ("Hey, this is a 'W' book!") Upon completion, we celebrated the story with a Gold Rush Day, complete with a viewing of the old Disney movie adaptation. It was hilarious! 

The Hobbit

 

If he had the chance to go back in time and change things, do you think Bilbo would choose to go on the adventure or stay comfortably home? 

Evy (12): "He would go on the adventure because he learned stuff... and... yeah!" 

Daniel (10): "He would go on the journey! He had so many things change... and also the ring. Well, he had a big adventure and his life changed! And who knows, Frodo might not have gone on his journey if he didn't hear about Bilbo's adventures." 

Michael (10): "He'd go on the adventure to experience new things, be outdoors, make friends, and make peace in war."

                          

Mom's Notes: This was actually a first-time read for me! I've begun it a few times over the years, but for some reason it never took. It certainly did this time! Besides the wonderfully engaging story, very clever writing, and fantastic audiobook reader (Andy Serkis), this book had a lot going for it as far as we were concerned. We are big fans of the Lord of the Rings movies, and we had a few half-lings and an elf queen lined up for Halloween. It was high-time to read it together! Coincidentally, October was a very fun month to read this tale of goblins, giant spiders, a terrifying dragon, and mounds of treasure. We really enjoyed the entire story, and feel much better acquainted with Bilbo, Gandalf, dwarf-kind, and Middle Earth in general. We made an event of the last chapter and had a little "homecoming" party for Bilbo - with plenty of hygge. (Candles and coziness are a big deal around here as the weather turns colder! Emily gave me a book about hygge for my birthday, so it's extra on my radar. I believe hobbits are masters of hygge.) Evy even made Hobbit seed cake to go with our tea. I was sad to see the end of the story, but Halloween helped it to linger. Evy was an elegant Galadriel and the green-cloaked buddies were perfect as Merry and Pippin. Clay didn't complain too much about his cloak and the ring that was his burden to bear... 

 

Seaman

 

Mom's Notes: The buddies and I are learning about the Westward Expansion of the US. We had touched on the Corps of Discovery, and I pulled this book off the shelf and considered pausing there in our study and reading this. We're all glad we did! The boys were captivated by the adventures of the explorers, and the dog's antics were relatable and had them laughing many times. This book really is a great introduction to Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacajewea, select corps members like York, John Colter, George Shannon, and of course the star of this specific retelling - Seaman the Newfoundland! 

The Wild Robot

 

Mom's Notes: I had heard rave reviews about this from friends and podcasts, so the buddies and I listened to it while we were out and about. Robots, nature, wild animals, adventure - it has the components of an exciting story for kids. And it is! But I didn't personally take to the writing or semi un-original plot as readily as those who recommended it so highly. Maybe it's because we rarely read aloud chapter books written on a very young level? (At least not many modern ones.) While it was wonderful to learn about nature and specific animals through Roz's story, I think this story might do much better as a personal read. And yes, we saw the movie in the theaters shortly after finishing the book. We really enjoyed it! (The parenting plot points were more powerful in the movie than in the book, in my opinion. I teared up a bit for sure!) 

Additional Notes: I half-listened to the second book with my my boys, and we began the third but stopped reading. Again, I am confused why the hype over this series. I don't recommend beyond the first. Better yet, in this case, just watch the movie! 

The Trumpet of the Swan

 

Mom's Notes: I read this one myself (for the first time?) a few years ago after reading an amazing biography about E.B. White. It's quirky and funny and different. So it was a great one to start out our year with! I had it in mind after we traveled to Montana, but had forgotten about how some of it takes place in Billings specifically, where we visited the Mathews this summer! That was a fun connection. But it didn't stop there. I also remembered that Louis spends some time in Boston working on the swan boats. Again, we had a visual of the Public Garden from our own memory banks! I had forgotten, however, that he also ventures to Philadelphia. So there you have it! It was very fun to relate to Louis's travels, playfully suspend our belief as he plays the trumpet and gets employed at various establishments, and laugh at his father's sophisticated speeches. Bravo, E.B.! 

Drawings by Evy