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teachingmom
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My top 12 non-series read aloud books:
The Bronze Bow
The Railway Children
Caddie Woodlawn
What Katy Did
Enchanted Castle
The Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Pollyanna
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Charlotte's Web
The Penderwicks
Misty of Chincoteague (OK, this could be considered part of a series, but I liked it much better than the sequels)
And (just to fudge a little on numbers) my top read aloud series:
All of a Kind Family
Betsy-Tacy
The Chronicles of Narnia
Little House (those by Laura and by Lissa!)
Anne of Green Gables
Henry and Ribsy series (by Beverly Cleary)
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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JennGM
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teachingmom wrote:
My top 12 non-series read aloud books:
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Ahhh...but Pollyanna is a series! I have 10 volumes on my shelves to prove it.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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teachingmom
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JennGM wrote:
| Ahhh...but Pollyanna is a series! I have 10 volumes on my shelves to prove it. |
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10 volumes! I had no idea! 
Are the others as wonderful as the original?
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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JennGM
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teachingmom wrote:
JennGM wrote:
| Ahhh...but Pollyanna is a series! I have 10 volumes on my shelves to prove it. |
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10 volumes! I had no idea!
Are the others as wonderful as the original? |
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They aren't all great, and not all written by Eleanor Porter. They are older, and not all reprinted. Here's a list.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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momwise
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I can't do all 12 right now but ditto for the Great Brain series Rachel mentioned and of course many listed the Hobbit.
But since you are in CO now, you have got to read the Little Britches series! I think there are 7 or 8 in the series. Then you can go out to the LIttleton living history museum for a 1900's farmhouse experience.
I think Charlotte's Web is one of our top 12 too.
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Kristie 4
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My top 12 (off the top of my head)
Number the Stars
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Otto of the Silver Hand
The Lord of the Rings
Narnia
The Vikings (Janeway)
Curse of the Viking Grave (maybe have to be Canadian! Farley Mowat)
A Wrinkle in Time (and the rest of the series)
Charlotte's Web
The House of Sixty Fathers
A Single Shard
I guess that's a few more than 12!!
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Christine
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The read-alouds that our family has enjoyed the most, so far, are:
The Narnia books (read 2 years ago by my husband to all of us)
Lissa's Martha books
Lissa's Charlotte books
Peter Pan by Barrie
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Jen L.
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Great topic!
We have loved reading aloud:
Betsy, Tacy, and Tib (series)
The Moffats (and all associated books)
Ginger Pye (and soon Pinky Pye)
Charlotte's Web
ALL the Little House books
Canadian Summer (series)
Henry Huggins (series)
Ramona the Pest (it is best as a read-aloud, I think)
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (series)
The Saturdays (series)
The Box Car children
Okay,okay, I know it's not 12 but when I'm reading - I don't count (nor do i remember to look at the clock!!)
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amiefriedl
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I haven't seen these mentioned yet but my son really likes them...
Dr. Doolittle
Twenty-One Ballons (du Bois)
Of course, my ds is JUST now getting the attention span to really wrap his head around the flowing story lines. I haven't been able to even try many of the favorites mentioned.
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Amie
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SaraP
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Most of my picks have already been mentioned, but I'll add:
Homer Price and The Centerburg Tales (McCloskey)
Minn of the Mississippi, Paddle to the Sea and Tree in the Trail (Holling)
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Mary G
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Thanks y'all -- it's so frustrating...there are SO MANY good books and only so much time to read them; I'm so afraid I'll forget about this one or that one....
I guess that's why I reorganize my books about 2x per year -- it reminds me of the ones I have and haven't used yet (like the Holling books that SaraP just mentioned!  )
Blessings and keep those suggestions coming!
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MaryG
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teachingmom
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SaraP wrote:
| Homer Price and The Centerburg Tales (McCloskey) |
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Oh yes! Add that one to my list too! We howled with laughter listening to both of those.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Mary G
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teachingmom wrote:
SaraP wrote:
| Homer Price and The Centerburg Tales (McCloskey) |
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Oh yes! Add that one to my list too! We howled with laughter listening to both of those. |
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My kids especially liked the donut machine story -- all ages thought that would just be wonderful....
And these are exactly the kind of read-alouds I'm asking for -- the ones that create wonderful memories and maybe even generated some crafts or other wild trails.....
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MaryG
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Mary G
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OK, I've compiled the results and here are the 4Real Recommended Top 12 Read-Alouds:
- Narnia books (esp Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)
- Little House (all, including Lissa's books)
- Charlotte's Web
- Anne of Green Gables
- Hobbit
- Little Princess
- Lord of the Rings
- Secret Garden
- Five Children and It
- Alice in Wonderland
- Betsy Tacy books
- Caddie Woodlawn
These are all great books, especially as read-alouds. I'll post all the books suggested at my blog in case you need a read-aloud suggestion.
If you have one that REALLY stands out that didn't make the list (or if you FORGOT to send me your list) please go ahead and post here so everyone can share their favs!
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ALmom
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Ok, for us:
Bible
Narnia series
Hobbit series
The Winged Watchman
Beatrix Potter (more picture book)
Midshipman Quinn
any of the books from the Bethlehem living History Library.
Mine don't like sitting through books without battles or funny action so Little House was a bust for everyone but my oldest dd. Little Woman is one of my favorite to read aloud - but again it only was popular with my girls and now I have mostly boys at home.
Janet
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teachingmom
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Thanks for the final list, Mary! We've read 8 out of 12 out loud. As for the other 4, we've talked about reading The Hobbit in the not-too-distant future, but I'm not sure I'm ready for the time commitment of Lord of the Rings -- dds may have to read those on their own! Now I really want to visit Five Children and It. It's been on the list of future read alouds that I carry around in my head.
But Alice in Wonderland! I'm frankly surprised by this. I must admit that I've never read the book. But I've seen movies and plays based on it and don't like them at all. The last time I saw it in play form, I thought it seemed like Lewis Carroll wrote it while on psychedelic drugs or something. Ducking and running for cover now . . . .
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teachingmom
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I thought I'd add that I googled "Lewis Carroll" after I wrote that last post to be sure that I was spelling his last name correctly. Out of curiosity I clicked on the Wikipedia entry and found:
"However, many people regard Alice's hallucinations in the Wonderland, when surrounded by teas, mushrooms and smoking insects, as references to psychedelic substances."
So I guess I'm in good company.
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teachingmom
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Can I rant for a moment (and hijack the thread a bit)? The Winged Watchman and many other Hilda Van Stockum books always come highly recommended by homeschoolers. We are in the midst of The Mitchells right now and love it. But when I searched on my county library system's webpage, do you know how many Hilda Van Stockum books came up? Zero. Zilch. Nada. I then looked at our neighboring county's system and found only one (The Cottage at Bantry Bay). I am not talking about small libraries in rural areas. These are extensive collections in large counties in the DC suburbs. How is it that they have basically none of her work???!!! It just makes me so angry. The libraries are filled with twaddle and can't be bothered to stock great children's literature by this particular author. 
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. It's been bothering me since I did a search late last week. 
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ALmom
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Irene:
You must be a night owl like myself (though I am trying to reform not too successfully). I have noticed the same thing about libraries and really we have noticed a decline over time. When I first started homeschooling, we relied heavily on library for our read alouds. Then I found myself hiding more and more of the books that fell in and couldn't find the books I was looking for - many which I had checked out only 4 or 5 years before. Guess where they turn up --- Friends of the Library book sales!! So I got my own copies of some of these for next to nothing (only then I told too many homeschoolers about my source of books and now they get to them before I can, so I spend mega bucks on purchasing good books).
It is happening in the Catholic school libraries too. A friend of mine just bought 81 vision books (hardcover and many out of print)for 25 cents a piece. Every one of them had a donation book plate in the front to the local Catholic school. I'm happy for her, of course, and learning to try and not be too greedy - but gee I wonder what the library replaced those books with?
Janet
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Mary G
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teachingmom wrote:
| Thanks for the final list, Mary! We've read 8 out of 12 out loud. As for the other 4, we've talked about reading The Hobbit in the not-too-distant future, but I'm not sure I'm ready for the time commitment of Lord of the Rings -- dds may have to read those on their own! Now I really want to visit Five Children and It. It's been on the list of future read alouds that I carry around in my head. |
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Five Children and It is a really great read-aloud because it shows how magic and getting things for free is a nothing going nowhere! I also like the way the kids are supportive of each other and really worry about each other. It's a great book and BBC did a show of it that we borrowed from the library and the kids really enjoyed watching that too -- and it's really close to the book. Here's a link to Amazon's page on the video.
teachingmom wrote:
But Alice in Wonderland! I'm frankly surprised by this. I must admit that I've never read the book. But I've seen movies and plays based on it and don't like them at all. The last time I saw it in play form, I thought it seemed like Lewis Carroll wrote it while on psychedelic drugs or something. Ducking and running for cover now . . . . |
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I think this is how the book is portrayed in movies and live action things, but if you read the story with children, it's a very fun read. I've never thought it was that heavily drug-induced, but then I tend toward the naive when reading (this from somebody who grew up in SF on the tail-end of the Hippies and Haight Ashbury ). You might look at the copy of Alice that has Tenniel's illustrations as that is the original "take" on the book. But then again, if you don't want to read it, don't! I give you my permission 
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MaryG
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Top 12 ....
