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TracyFD
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I am having this problem too and feel "all read out". We need something really good for January. We made it through two or three E. Nesbit titles with my DH's help but then tried Paddington Bear and I snoozed.
I'm thinking of Tales of Despereaux, the Moffats or Mrs. Frisby. Any votes for ages 9, 8 and 6?
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Tracy
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JodieLyn
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Have you done Narnia for that age? I think that was about the age my kids were when we read those and it was literally edge of the chair reading for them.
right now my 11, 9 and 8 yr olds are really really interested in reading The Long Winter (little house on the prairie series). As in, there was no way I could keep on top of reading it right before Christmas with everythign else going on and they MADE SURE we read every night except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.. and they asked on Christmas Eve and I refused. I imagine we'll pick it up again tonight.
Old Yeller was a flop for my girls but my, at the time I think 6 yr old, boy LOVED it. I never reminded him and he'd bring it to me everyday to read.. so I was willing to let it get forgotten but not him.
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TracyFD
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We did read Narnia over the summer. They LOVED it and want it read to them again. Before Narnia we read The Secret Garden.
I'm thinking we could try more Nesbit, like Five Children and It or The Little Princess. I could put them all out on the coffee table with Tales of Despereaux, the Moffats and Mrs. Frisby and let them choose.
After the baby and the spring thaw comes I'm hoping to get to Robin Hood and Swallowdale!
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Tracy
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Pinewood Castle
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Maddie
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| Posted: Dec 28 2009 at 11:23am | IP Logged
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TracyFD wrote:
| Any votes for ages 9, 8 and 6? |
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My guys loved The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald at that age.
I thought his "At the Back of the North Wind" was a snoozer though.
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Michiel
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My ds, 8, has ALWAYS hated Polar Express, and he loves trains. The whole North Pole thing seems cultish to me. I didn't mind donating that book. I've never cared for Little Women and don't plan on recommending it to my boys. However, Wind in the Willow....I wonder if one must be older to love it. I tried it so many times as a child, and then had to read it for a class in college and finally got it. It's the friendship thing between Rat and Mole that I just love. I'll wait till boys are much older before trying it.
I ditched some Dahls that we had, because we just didn't like them. And we tried the Rescuers since we like the movie so much and didn't care for them at all.
Michiel
mom to sons 8 & 11
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Karen T
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When MIL gave us the Polar Express book years ago, long before the movie was made, it came with an audiotape narrated by William Hurt. We all loved listening to him read it, and I still use his inflection to read that part about "fix that hole in your pocket, signed Mr. C"
MIL also gave us the movie when it came out and I find it really creepy. I don't like the half real/half animated look of the characters, although I do like the kids and enjoy the Hot Chocolate scene. I have never understood the whole ghost on the top thing and the scene where the old puppet toys are handled by him is really creepy and scary for young kids.
My kids never liked Wind in the Willows either but maybe I should try it now as they get a little older. Swallows and Amazons is another that I've tried repeatedly with no luck, although I like it. And my oldest son read and loved all the Redwall books but my younger kids and I just can't get into them at all - we've tried reading it and on audio.
I'm probably in the minority but I could not stand The Tale of Desperaux. My dh read it aloud to the kids and I cringed listening to it, didn't care for the movie either. But they liked it OK. We did like Mrs. Frisby (the book, not the movie).
Karen T
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Stephanie_Q
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SuzanneG wrote:
It's interesting....I'm trying to think back....some of these we had a hard time with ME READING ALOUD....but once I got an audio version, it was FINE! Mary Poppins was DEF. one of them. And, now that I think about it....I'm pretty sure Peter Pan was FINALLY ENJOYED when I got an audio of it.
We listened to Five Little Peppers on audio CD, (I never tried to read it aloud) only because I/we like to hear a "professional" read a book when there are lots of kids in a book...the difference in the voices is more easily recognized and more fun for everyone. |
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I finally read "Five Little Peppers.." this year and thought - how am I going to read THAT aloud? I liked the story, but some books have pronounciations that I just don't quite get - an audio book is a great idea for books like this - and maybe once I hear it, I could read it.
My girls loved "Charlotte's Web" but don't like "Stuart Little". We enjoyed most of the Little House books, but "Farmer Boy" was a struggle to get through and we've been stuck "By the Shores of Silver Lake"
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SusanJ
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Karen T wrote:
I'm probably in the minority but I could not stand The Tale of Desperaux. My dh read it aloud to the kids and I cringed listening to it, didn't care for the movie either. But they liked it OK. We did like Mrs. Frisby (the book, not the movie).
Karen T |
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I also really dislike this book. My ds got it for a gift last year and after reading the first couple of chapters aloud I pre-read the rest and then got rid of it.
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SeaStar
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Stephanie_Q wrote:
SuzanneG wrote:
It's interesting....I'm trying to think back....some of these we had a hard time with ME READING ALOUD....but once I got an audio version, it was FINE! Mary Poppins was DEF. one of them. And, now that I think about it....I'm pretty sure Peter Pan was FINALLY ENJOYED when I got an audio of it.
We listened to Five Little Peppers on audio CD, (I never tried to read it aloud) only because I/we like to hear a "professional" read a book when there are lots of kids in a book...the difference in the voices is more easily recognized and more fun for everyone. |
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I finally read "Five Little Peppers.." this year and thought - how am I going to read THAT aloud? I liked the story, but some books have pronounciations that I just don't quite get - an audio book is a great idea for books like this - and maybe once I hear it, I could read it.
My girls loved "Charlotte's Web" but don't like "Stuart Little". We enjoyed most of the Little House books, but "Farmer Boy" was a struggle to get through and we've been stuck "By the Shores of Silver Lake" |
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Farmer Boy is definitely one to try on audio- a good narrator makes such a difference!
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knowloveserve
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Funny... Farmer Boy was one of the first chapter books my sons kept begging for "just one more chapter..."
We've tried to read The Borrowers twice now... it's painful. I just donated it to St. Vincen'ts...
Also... The Little Prince was a failure. We might give it another go.
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Maggie
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Ok...bracing myself here...but I really dislike Tomie De Paola's "Strega Nona". The first few pages creep me out! They refer to her as a "witch". She makes potions...gives "advice"...and it says that even the priest of the village comes to seek her advice...(shudder)...it's just downright weird and creepy, imo.
I know...I know...it's a classic...
I feel like I just went to confession!
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Michiel
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My older ds, when he was 4, was captivated by Farmer Boy. I remember he kept referring to it in preschool, and was way over the heads of his teachers. We need to do that one again soon.
Never liked the Borrowers either.
I could never get through Little Prince as a kid and just made myself recently, where I decided that it's definitely not a kids' book. Even for adults, I skimmed the last few pages.
Ellie, we must have very similar tastes.
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Michiel
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Michiel
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Maggie, although I don't have a problem with Strega Nona, I do feel that there are many way better dePaolas out there.
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Karen T
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Ah, The Little Prince. One of my elementary school teachers read it aloud, about 3rd grade maybe, and I thought it was just weird. Then, in college French we had to translate the French version - I loved it! I tried reading it (in English) last year to my kids and thought it was just weird again, and so did the kids! maybe it's the language, b/c of being a translation? I can no longer read enough French to even follow the story that way 
I also felt Strega Nona was a bit strange in the beginning, but have gotten used to it now, although we mostly re-read some of the other books about her (takes a vacation, Big anthony's story, the Christmas one, etc)
Karen T
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Tina P.
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SusanJ wrote:
| Here's a new one: none of us like the Elsa Beskow books. Maybe that's a girl thing and my dd will get into them before long? |
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I think you're right on the money, there, Susan. My 4 yo just sat through Snow Children by Sibylle Von Olfers and was happy with it. To be honest, these stories are so spare with words, *I* don't even get them. But the pictures are feasts for the eyes.
And Five Little Peppers seemed a bit to "smarmy" for my first-born (a boy). I gave up the reading suggestions from CHC (Little Apostle on Crutches and God's Little Angels) because everyone, in Alex's terms, is too "goody-goody."
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SeaStar
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Maggie wrote:
Ok...bracing myself here...but I really dislike Tomie De Paola's "Strega Nona". The first few pages creep me out! They refer to her as a "witch". She makes potions...gives "advice"...and it says that even the priest of the village comes to seek her advice...(shudder)...it's just downright weird and creepy, imo.
I know...I know...it's a classic...
I feel like I just went to confession! |
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The witch thing in Strega Nona has always made me wonder... it doesn't seem in keeping with many of his religious themes. I wonder if it's something of a fairytale he got from his Italian grandmother?
One classic that really creeps me out is Alice in Wonderland. I have never liked it, and I have never tried to read it to my dc in any form. We've never tried the movie versions, either. It just reminds me too much of a hallucination of some type. I think I remember reading somewhere that maybe it *was* one? I always get irritated when I see the Alice theme at amusement parks and other places for kids... ick 
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TracyFD
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I too think Alice is weird.
What about Mary Poppins? I hear it's a good read-a-loud, but also that the author was involved in the occult. 
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Tracy
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Karen T
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SeaStar wrote:
The witch thing in Strega Nona has always made me wonder... it doesn't seem in keeping with many of his religious themes. I wonder if it's something of a fairytale he got from his Italian grandmother?
One classic that really creeps me out is Alice in Wonderland. I have never liked it, and I have never tried to read it to my dc in any form. We've never tried the movie versions, either. It just reminds me too much of a hallucination of some type. I think I remember reading somewhere that maybe it *was* one? I always get irritated when I see the Alice theme at amusement parks and other places for kids... ick |
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I do think I read something about the "witch" idea being just an Italian story and just a name given to an old grandmother in a village who had some experience as a medicine woman or herbalist. She definitely goes to Mass in the Christmas story and reverences the Infant in the crib!
Oh, I'd forgotten about Alice - yes I have never like that - I agree about the hallucinating thing. And then there is a lot of weird, icky stuff about Lewis Carroll and little girls, isn't there?
Karen T
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Classic UNfavorites
