Abby: more on The Mouse and the Motorcycle

I was just remembering that The Mouse and the Motorcycle is the first of three books about Ralph. Next is Runaway Ralph and third is Ralph S. Mouse.

Abby: Read-alouds for Lulu

If you can find The Mouse & the Motorcycle at the library, get it! Or buy it if you can. :) The girls loved that one. The girls like I, Houdini but it was a chore for me to read. I think I mentioned this in my post about I, Houdini.

Of the ones Lynness mentioned, we have read:
The Cricket in Times Square -- we all loved it
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -- we all loved it, and we read it a few years ago actually, I think Autumn was 4. She still remembers quite a bit. I think we'll re-read it so we can move on to Prince Caspian. (They've also now seen the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and they make it almost all the way to the end before losing interest.)
Little House in the Big Woods -- the first in the Little House on the Prairie -- we just started this one and Autumn is excited about it. She is especially excited that it's a true story.
The Wizard of Oz -- we are on chapter 6 of something like 12? They love this one too!

We have also read the first, second, and third (I think!) books of the Series of Unfortunate Events. That was a couple of years ago, definitely while we were still in Utah but I can't remember when exactly. Some of them we actually listened to on CD in the car. I discovered the girls were scared too. They knew it wasn't real, they know the difference between fiction and non-fiction, but they wanted to keep hearing the story -- they liked being a little scared! ;)

We started Alice in Wonderland but haven't finished it yet...can't remember why we put it down. We probably just got distracted. But the girls were enjoying it.

Also, Autumn loves to read The Magic Treehouse books. She reads them on her own, but I read the first one to her the summer before kindergarten and she's loved them ever since. You might find it a little less fun for YOU in the reading aloud department (some imperfect grammar usage...), but I'm sure Reed would love them.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas to run with.

Lynness: More possible solutions

I just took a quick look at my shelves and came up with a list you might
consider...

Mr. Popper's Penguins- Richard and Florence Atwater
The Phantom Tollbooth- Norton Juster
The Castle in the Attic- Elizabeth Winthrop
The Indian in the Cupboard- Lynne Reid Banks
The Island of the Blue Dolphins- Scott O'Dell
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler- E.L.Konigsburg
The Enormous Egg- Oliver Butterworth
The Cricket in Times Square- George Selden
King of the Wind- Marguerite Henry
The "Little House..." books- Laura Ingalls Wilder (we started these
after talking about pioneers around pioneer day last summer)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- C.S Lewis
The "Oz" books- Frank L. Baum
maybe some Beverly Cleary (although I was never big into these for some
reason)
and I'm sure I'll think of more...

some of these may be a bit old or a bit intense, but maybe soon...

Definitely the Mouse and the motorcycle, etc.

For everyone else- any humor authors I might try? I'm going to try to
read this month- I haven't read as much lately b/c during Ruth's naps
(a.k.a. seminary prep time) I've mostly been napping myself. Growing a
baby and teaching seminary are both tiring! Anyway- I checked 2 books
out of the library yesterday. One on motherhood was just crude, and the
other book I chose just isn't very funny.

Lulu: Some Possible Solutions

Phill heard my frustrated sighs here at the computer and asked me to let him in. He had a few suggestions, mostly what he liked reading when he was little, and I was pleasantly surprised! I also looked at what we've read as a book club and realized that there were two suggestions there--I, Houdini and Babe.

Phill thought of:
Pippi Longstocking (he says he LOVED these books. I think I didn't like them when I read them, but it's sure worth a try)
Alice in Wonderland (?)
Peter Pan (Isn't this a much older story than it seems? Older as in mature? As in probably too much for Reed right now?)

Lulu: Help?

For a humorous read this month, Abby suggested P.G. Wodehouse to me. I will definitely check that out at the library, but I was curious if the rest of you have any funny suggestions, too. I just finished re-reading the entire Harry Potter series, which was lovely to escape to (again). I'm now reading The Host, which I like infinitely better than the Twilight series.

I'm having issues finding something to read aloud to Reed each night. We have read: By Roald Dahl: The BFG; The Witches; The Minpins; George's Marvelous Medicine; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator; part of Matilda and part of The Twits; Fantastic Mr. Fox. Also: The Tale of Despereaux (a junior novelization); and part of Inkheart (which I decided might be scary for him, as he is really responsive to suspense and I could actually hear his little heart thrumming away next to me one night while I read). The issue I'm having is that the books are either too old, too young, or we've already read them! Out of no other choices on my bookshelf, I started reading the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events to him tonight, but it was definitely too scary for him. We started reading Stuart Little, but I found myself totally bored, yawning, annoyed by the wordiness, and wondering why I had ever read it and enjoyed it. (Reed was also incredibly bored by it, and was rather dismayed that a book about a talking mouse wasn't more interesting to him.) I think we'll see if the library has The Mouse and the Motorcycle, but at the moment, that's all I can think of to read to him. (Rae, didn't you suggest that to me?)

Rae gave me the coolest book to look at--The Barnes & Noble Guide to Children's Books. It has been helpful, but not as much in this particular vein. (Stories to read out loud to Reed at night....) It has plenty of suggestions for chapter books that he himself would read, but very few as far as me reading to him. He has plenty of picture books and a few chapter books, and basically many books overall. Many classics, as well as a hefty helping of oddball gems.

Anyway, I might be really over-thinking this, but I was just curious to see what response I could get from sending out a little S.O.S. to this oh-so-literate family of ours. :) I'm not AS concerned with hard words or long sentences or advanced reading levels as I am with subject matter. (We did start reading the first Harry Potter, but after 3/4 of the way in, I stopped, noticing that Reed seemed a little shaken by the story in general. He's not fragile, but he is extremely imaginative, and I could see the detailed scenes unfolding in his mind while I read. That can be great and worrisome at the same time when I'm selecting subject matter.)

Raehink: January Read

Yes, I'm a day or two behind, but what with all that's been happening around here, it's amazing I even know what day it is! I don't know about the rest of you ladies, but I need a little lighthearted reading this month. Accordingly, your assignment is to find something HUMOROUS...it doesn't matter what genre or whether it's truth or fiction. Just find something that makes you smile, giggle, snicker, laugh or guffaw as the need may be. Enjoy!

Abby: November, December, and Side-reads

Hi Family! It was wonderful to see so many of you this last week. I hope you all had a good Christmas. And Lynness, congratulations on your new bundle that's cookin'! Between you, Jennica, Samantha, and me, we're adding four more great grandchildren in about 6 months. Awesome.

I just wanted to share what I'm reading right now. Nothing specific to say about any of them yet, but I'm enjoying all I'm reading.

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (finished this one a few weeks ago - it was fun. Again, not Harry Potter calibre, but fun all the same. There will be one more book in the series.)
John Adams by David McCullough (for my November read although it may be February before I've finished it!)
My Life in France by Julia Child
Helping the Thumb Sucking Child by Rosemarie Van Norman
Mommy Mantras: Affirmations and Insights to Keep You from Losing Your Mind by Bethany E. Casarjian, Ph.D., & Diane H. Dillon, Ph.D. (I blogged about this one. I'm really loving it. It's a very easy, enjoyable read so far. I like the tone and the humor and it's full of helpful ideas.)
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (for my December read)