I love to read. Seriously. LOVE it.
My kids love to “read.” I read to them and then they “read” to me – we’re not quite there yet but the in between is fun too.
A girlfriend of mine just recommended Honey for Your Child’s Heart which just came in the mail and I’m super excited. It has WONDERFUL book recommendations for children based on their ages and interests. I’m neck deep in the 4 – 8 recommendation list and am going to have to get to the library so I don’t bankrupt us by buying fifty more kids books!
As for me, I’ve got a stack going on as usual. My reading time has recently been allotted to plane trips and not much else, but I’ve managed to down several books this summer.
I started reading My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir to prepare for our Yosemite trip;
I polished off Undone and Every Bitter Thing is Sweet in the faith category, and they were both incredibly powerful;
I’m just beginning John Acuff’s Do Over and Donald Miller’s Scary Close;
I inhaled Marisa de los Santos The Precious One, and she is far and away my favorite author these days, I’m always so sad when I finish her books, I’ve read them all right now;
I’ve finally talked myself into tackling Ken Follett’s Edge of Eternity – it’s the third in the Century Trilogy, and I loved the first two, but they are SO big;
And of course I’ve always got a couple of biographies, but those take me forever because I end up desperate for fiction.
Up next, after I wrap up Scary Close and Edge of Eternity are several in the stack: Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Story of Hannah More; Yes, Please by Amy Poehler (because I LOVED Bossypants); Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan; For The Love by Jen Hatmaker, and I am desperate for some new good fiction.
So what are you “grown ups” reading? Fiction especially would be appreciated (no sci-fi or graphic sex or violence for me).
Also, what are YOUR favorite children’s books in the 4 to 8 age category? In my Amazon basket after beginning Honey for Your Child’s Heart are these (what should I add?): Margaret Wise Brown’s Little Fur Family (we already have her classics like Goodnight Moon), William Steig’s Doctor De Soto, Virginia Burton’s Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (I remember this from my childhood), Don Freeman’s Corduroy, any assortment of Paul Galdone’s classic renditions, Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day, Mercer Mayer’s Just Me and My Dad, every dadgum thing by Charlotte Zolotow (how is she not all over my library) but I’m leading with The Sleepy Book.
Oh I love books so much and I’m so excited that my kids seem to love them like I do. Sound off! I love suggestions.
Miranda suggests The Ladybug Girl and Ivy +Bean Series for Lil Bit.
we have the ladybug girl but ivy & bean I will check into now!! thanks Miranda.
For a great kid read, my kid loves the Spirit Animals series, Mrs. Frisby and Rats of Nihm, A Wrinkle in Time, Peak, the Naria books, Lion Witch and Wardrobe series, and Flora and Ulysses. And of course we ADORE the Harry Potter books. For me, lately I’ve loved A Little Life, The Goldfinch, The Serpent of Venice, The Secret Place, and Euphoria. I also highly recommend A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing, and it has won a ton of awards, but it is very modern and experimental in style and is so not for everyone. People either love it or hate it, so fair warning.