Read-alouds for school (third term 2019-2020)

We just had 3 weeks of school this time, then took 2 weeks off for the holidays, which included piano recital, gathering with family, a trip to the planetarium, and time for various personal projects.

This month, I picked a few picture book biographies from Sarah MacKenzie's list on Read Aloud Revival.

Manfish : A Story of Jacques Cousteau

by Jennifer Berne

A beautifully illustrated story of Jacques Cousteau, the inventor of SCUBA diving, and all the wonderful things he saw underwater.

Papa is a Poet : A Story About Robert Frost

by Natalie Bober

Told from the perspective of one of Frost's older daughters.  Includes quite a few of his more well-known poems in the back.

Step Right Up : How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness

by Donna Bowman

A former slave learns about herbs and medicines that help people and animals.  He rescues an abused Arabian mare from a circus and hopes her colt will be a great racehorse.  The colt isn't build for that, but "Doc" shows kindness to him anyway and ends up teaching him amazing tricks, seeming to read, spell, and do math.

Trombone Shorty

by Troy Andrews

An autobiographical sketch of this jazz player's life growing up in New Orleans, filled with music.

Dare the Wind 

by Tracey Fern

A beautifully illustrated story about Eleanor Prentiss and her ship The Flying Cloud which set a record for sailing from New York to San Francisco in 89 days.  She learned about sailing and navigation in a time when women sailors were unheard of.

Snowflake Bentley

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

The story of a farmer-scientist who loved snow and devoted his life to studying snowflakes, even taking pictures with a microscope camera.

Big Machines : The Story of Virginia Lee Burton

by Sherri Duskey Rinker

This was an EXCELLENT book about the author of some of our favorite stories, such as Mike Mulligan, Katy and the Big Snow, Choo-Choo, etc.  Engaging illustrations tell how she wrote these books for her two boys who loved big machines.

A River of Words

by Jen Bryant

A picture book biography of William Carlos Williams, a doctor and poet in the early to mid- 1900s.

We've also been on a Bill Peet kick, so we've read several of his books recently:

Cowardly Clyde

by Bill Peet

Clyde is a knight's war-horse who is afraid of everything, though his master is always wishing for some great heroic adventure.  They find it in the dark woods one day, and Clyde finds his courage.

Ella 

by Bill Peet

A spoiled elephant runs away from her circus after being asked to do work she felt was beneath her.  She runs into worse circumstances, and returns to the circus with a better attitude.

Farewell to Shady Glade

by Bill Peet

A group of animals must leave their home because of approaching destruction by monster machines.  Led by an old racoon, they jump on a passing train and finally end up in a place just like home, only better.

Huge Harold

by Bill Peet

Harold is a rabbit who grows too big to live with his family.  He heads out to find a place of his own, but is rejected and hunted to exhaustion.  He finally holes up in the loft of a kind farmer's barn.  The farmer feeds and cares for him through the winter, and then finds a good use for him pulling his carriage.

Smokey

by Bill Peet

An old train engine is discontented with only moving trains around in the yard.  When he overhears that he is about to be discarded in a junk pile, he decides to take off on his own adventure.  He meets with near-disaster before being rescued and given a new lease on life teaching school children their letters.

The Whingdingdilly

by Bill Peet

A dog is dissatisfied with being a dog and wishes to be something more important, like the horse next door.  He runs away and gets turned into a strange mix of creatures.  He gets captured and put on display.  He is miserable until he is returned to his normal self.  He then is content with who he is.

We also read several books about hospitals and emergency rooms:

The Berenstain Bears Hospital Friends

by Mike Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears get a tour of their hospital, learning about x-rays, surgery, physical therapy, etc.

The Hospital

by Aaron Carr

A basic picture book introduction to the hospital.

Maisy Goes to the Hospital

by Lucy Cousins

Maisy the Mouse breaks her leg on a trampoline and goes to the hospital to get it treated.

What If I Need Stitches?

by Therese Stea

An informative picture book about when and why stiches are needed and how they are done.  The day after we read this, my 11 year old had a bike accident and gouged a quarter-sized hole in his knee.  I took one look at it and knew, from reading this book, that he was going to need stitches.  At least we were a little more prepared for it because of this book.

December Books

The total for December was 15 books and 7 magazines completed, and 0 abandoned.
That brings the total for the year to 217 books, 68 magazines, and 5 abandoned.

I currently have 297 books on my "to read list".  If I can repeat this pace next year, and not add any more books to my list (yeah, right!), I should be done in less than two years.  :-)

Mary's Song

by Susan Count

A lame girl tries to save a lame foal.  The story moves quickly with some character development, but not a lot.  The main character faces some consequences for dishonesty and disobeying her father, but I'm not sure if the overall lesson isn't "the ends justify the means."  The theology is a bit off.  It's an OK story, but the writing is ... I don't know...kind of flat?

Selah's Song

by Susan Count

A sequel to "Mary's Song", though I think this one was written first.  Mary's granddaughter is spending two weeks in the summer on her grandfather's ranch, longing and begging for a horse.  She finds and helps rescue a horse that was lost in a traffic accident two years before.  The horse is injured and wild, but begins to learn to trust Selah.  Then they take her to a trainer friend of her grandpa's and make an amazing transformation in just six weeks.  The timing of all these events seems a bit far-fetched to me.  The girl is pouty and bratty when she doesn't get her way, and the trainer is so impatient and rude with people, I can't imagine how he could possibly manage to work wonders with the horses in such a short time.

Plain Promise

by Beth Wiseman

Romance novels aren't my usual genre, but my daughter received this at a white elephant gift exchange and I wanted to be able to have a conversation with her about it.  The writing is well done, with suspense and cliff-hangers at the end of almost every chapter.  It was hard to put down, and I read it in less than 24  hours.  The characters are complex and well-developed.  They talk about their faith in God and how it is not always easy to trust him when things don't seem to be going the way we want them to. There is a bit too much time spent alone between unmarried people and too much physical affection before any commitment is made, for my taste.  It was interesting to learn some of the Amish ways and thoughts, especially in light of recent Bible study lessons at our church discussing how Christians should be separate from the world (and how not to be).  Some of the Amish characters in this story express that nobody seems to remember why some of the rules they follow are there, but they must follow them because it's part of the their faith.  But their relationship with God seems to be based on keeping the rules, not on faith in Jesus as their savior.  I don't know how realistic it is for an "Englischer" to convert to being Amish, as several characters in this book have done.  I did appreciate that the Englischer considering it in this story was advised that he could know and have a relationship with God anywhere, not just by becoming Amish.

Family Patterns

by Kristin Eckhardt

This is the first in a series called the "Patchwork Mysteries."  The main character is a woman who restores old quilts.  Her grandmother disappeared without a trace one night 90 years ago and her grandfather was always the prime suspect.  She finds an old baby quilt that belonged to her father (who was 6 when his mom disappeared) and had been missing for 90 years.  She begins tracking down clues, attempting to find out what happened to her grandmother and clear her grandfather's name.  The story was clean and full of suspense.  It had me guessing right up to the end.  Only one caution: There is one character who is being stalked by an ex-boyfriend.  I didn't feel there was anything graphic or too scary, but it might possibly bring up bad memories for someone who has been in that situation.

Voices of the Alamo

by Sherry Garland

Free verse poems and detailed paintings describe different people and groups who lived, worked, fought, and died at the site known as the Alamo.

The Boy in the Alamo

by Margaret Cousins

Historical fiction about a 12-year-old boy named William Campbell who followed his older brother and Davy Crockett to the Alamo, survived along with the women and children, and went on to fight in the battle of San Jacinto with General Sam Houston.  I picked this up in the used section at a homeschool store without really knowing anything about it.  It was very readable, with numerous pictures, not too gory with the battle scenes.  We will be reading this out loud later in our course of Texas history.

One of Fannin's Men : A Survivor of Goliad

by Isabel Marvin

Another used book store find.  Historical fiction about a Mexican family who rescues a soldier shot during the Goliad Massacre.  Based on a true story.  Excellent story and well-written.  This is also on our read-aloud list.

The Fifer of San Jacinto

by Lee McGiffin

This old book sells for $30 or more on Amazon.  I got it for $6 at the homeschool store.  It is a historical fiction story about a boy who moves with his mom from Virigina to Texas.  His father, who was planning to be a schoolteacher in Texas, dies along the way.  They spend nine months getting settled, planning to go back to Virginia as soon as they've saved up the cash to pay the way.  But then, they get caught up in the events of the Texas Revolution.  The boy ends up in the battle of San Jacinto, and then decides Texas will be his home, since he's fought for it.

Davy Crockett

by Janet and Geoff Benge

A biography of David Crockett, as he kept moving westward in Tennessee and finally into Texas to die at the Alamo.  A typical Benge biography.  

Six Feet Six

by Missie Rowland James

A 1931 biography of Sam Houston.  This copy belonged to my great grandmother.  It was a readable, thorough biography.  It was interesting that this book mentioned a few details on which some other books I'd read were based (i.e. The Boy in the Alamo, and the Fifer of San Jacinto).  There's one paragraph toward the end of the book that some might find offensive, or at least politically incorrect, these days (regarding slavery and the civil war).

Retreat to Glory: The Story of Sam Houston

by Jean Lee Latham

I remember starting to read this in my 7th grade history class but was interrupted and never got to finish it.  The title has been stuck in my head for all these years.  I looked for in years past but never could find it anywhere.  I finally tried again recently, and now I see it all over the place.  I managed to get my hands on a copy for a reasonable price.  This is by the same author as "Carry On Mr. Bowditch", which I absolutely love, so I was extra eager to read it.  I think it would be considered historical fiction rather biography, and although it was perhaps not quite as engaging as Mr. Bowditch, it was very interesting and fun to read.  A few "d---" and one or two vain uses of the Lord's name, but otherwise clean and not gory.  If I don't read it aloud to the kids, I will definitely encourage them to read it for themselves.

Juan Seguin : A Hero of Texas

by Rita Kerr

Historical fiction biography of Juan Seguin.  His father was a friend of Moses and Stephen Austin. Juan had gone out from the Alamo as a messenger a few days before it fell, so he was spared and went on to survive the battle of San Jacinto as well.  I assume that the town of Seguin, TX is named after him and his family.

Texas Cavalier

by Rita Kerr

Historical fiction biography of James Butler Bonham, who was a friend of William Barret Travis.  He was famous for riding out of the Alamo as a messenger, and then returning though he knew it was certain death.

The Story of the Christian Church

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

A history of the Christian church from the time of the New Testament apostles until about 1970 or so.  Growing up, I don't remember being taught about church history and I was always puzzled as to how the church got from what was described in the New Testament to the all-powerful Roman Catholic church of the middles ages to the multitude of denominations seen today.  Reading this book through quickly helped me start to understand just a little bit.

Christian History Made Easy

by Timothy Paul Jones

This covers much of the same territory as the book above, though this one is written in a bit more of an engaging and conversational style.  There are lots of pictures, sidebars, internet links, and review questions.  He seems to treat all the different characters throughout church history with fairness, neither vilifying nor idolizing any one.  I would rate it at least PG-13, if not more, for some graphic descriptions of atrocities committed against and by Christians and for frequent mention of sexual sins.  There is a companion set of DVDs (which I haven't watched yet).  Reading these two books back to back helped me understand more than I did before about church history, though I still get lost in all the names and dates sometimes.

And the usual assortment of magazines:

Field trips, fun, and family

We've been taking a week off from school every 5 weeks or so.

During our first break in October, we had several fun outings.

We started off with a day trip to hike at Huntsville State Park.  While eating lunch near the nature center, we listened to a park ranger talk about squirrels and alligators. We learned why not to feed the wild animals and how to tell how old an alligator is.

Then we took a trip to the Houston Police Department Mounted Patrol barn to feed the horses carrots and apples.  One of the officers even let the kids help hose off his horse.

After oldest daughter got her braces off, we visited with some good friends, eating pizza, playing ping-pong, Lego, and video games, and petting the dogs and talking:

We spent an evening canoeing and fishing at a local nature preserve.

We learned about building the transcontinental railroad and had a race to see which side could finish first.  We were on the team that had to blast a tunnel through the mountain...

And we took a hike around the lake at another local park.  God was gracious to give us beautiful weather for being outdoors during this week!

We took our second break during the week of Thanksgiving.  We celebrated oldest son's baptism, youngest son's 6th birthday, took a quick trip to Goliad, Texas to explore some Texas history and canoe on the San Antonio river, and spent time with family on Thanksgiving Day.

The birthday boy made his own cake, with the help of older sister.  They made it in the shape of his favorite stuffed panda bear.

CAmpsite at Goliad State Park.

Cactus in a tree.

The mission at Goliad.

Someone needs some help before he can be a legitimate conquistador....

A layout of the mission and outbuildings.

The chapel at Presido La Bahia.

The Fannin Memorial, where Col. James Fannin and his soldiers are buried.

Launching the canoe on the San Antonio River.

Enjoying a cousin's beagle at Thanksgiving.