Biography
Shakespeare : His Work and His World
by Michael Rosen
An accessible biography of Shakespeare, describing his life and the world he lived in. Very beautiful and detailed paintings, but it's much more in-depth than most picture books. My high schoolers will be reading and discussing this during our history studies this year.
Classics
Little Men
by Louisa May Alcott
The sequel to Little Women, this book recounts the adventures of Jo and her husband raising their own boys along with a number others in their school at Plumfield. The narrator of the audio book, Barbara Caruso, is fun to listen to. As much as I enjoy Little Women, I think I might like Little Men even better.
Newberry
Abel's Island
by William Steig
A Newberry Honor book in 1977. Abel is a sophisticated, recently married mouse from a wealthy family. While on an outing with his wife, they are caught in a storm and find refuge in a cave. But then his wife's scarf blows away in the wind. Thoughtlessly, he rushes out to save it, but gets swept away in a torrent. He ends up stranded on an island for about a year, learns to survive, and finally is able to make his way home, where his wife has been faithfully waiting for him. A cute story. My younger daughter picked it up from our church library, and I read it after her.
Nonfiction
Homeschooled & Headed for College: Your Road Map for a Successful Journey
by Denise Boiko
I probably should have started reading this 2 or 3 years ago, but I have been doing some of what she recommends as far as mapping out a plan for my high schoolers and keeping records. She goes into detail about how to prepare children to enter highly-selective colleges (such as Stanford, Yale, etc.) because that's what her children wanted to do. But she also explains how to tone it down for those whose ambitions are not quite so high. Highly recommended to start previewing this in your child's middle school years at least, so you won't be scrambling to put together records for your high schooler's transcript when they start applying to college.
The Evolution of a Creationist
by Jobe Martin
I originally had this tagged as a biography, but it's really more of a Christian apologetics book. Dr. Martin explains how he "evolved" from an evolutionist, to a theistic-evolutionist, to a young-earth creationist. Basically, some students of his challenged him to find prove for the evolutionary theories he believed and taught. As he started searching and digging, he found that the evidence actually points to creation. He quotes many evolutionists to show that even they realize there's not much for them to stand on.
Just For Fun
Captain Maxi's Secret Island
by V. Gilbert Beers
A series of Bible stories re-told and Muffin Family stories that illustrate the principles in the Bible stories. Read this to my little ones for bedtime stories.
Caddie Woodlawn's Family
by Carol Ryrie Brink
A sequel to Caddie Woodlawn, which I read last month. Just as good. Fun and heartwarming and instructive stories based on the childhood of the author's grandmother in pioneer Wisconsin.
Read-aloud
Paddington On Top
by Michael Bond
Book 10 in the series.
Three Cups of Tea
by Sarah Thompson
A young reader's version of a longer book Greg Mortenson wrote about his experiences getting lost while climbing K2, stumbling into a small village in Afghanistan, making friends there, building a school for them, and then building more schools throughout the region. An interesting read. Searching for more about him, I learned that he fell into disgrace for mismanaging funds and for "stretching the truth" in his book.
Listen to the Wind
by Greg Mortenson
A picture book version of Three Cups of Tea. Illustrations are very intriguing.
Stepping Into William Shakespeare's World
by Torrey Maloof
An interesting book describing life during the time of William Shakespeare.
The Shakespeare Stealer
by Gary Blackwood
Widge is a young orphan boy who is taught a special kind of shorthand that allows him to copy what people say as fast as they speak. A stranger buys his apprenticeship from his master, who had Widge go around to various churches and copy down the sermons so that he (the master) could preach them himself. His new master sends him to London to copy down the script of Hamlet. Never having been taught right from wrong, Widge goes, not realizing this is stealing. He ends up falling in with the acting company at the globe and learns what friendship, family, and honesty are all about. There is one instance of "damned" being used as a curse word, and numerous cases of swearing in Elizabethan-era style language. One character dies a bloody death in a duel. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book and thought it was a great historical fiction introduction to Shakespeare and his time. It helped that I had read Stepping into Shakespeare's World before reading this one.
Adventures of Don Quixote
by Argentina Palacios
A short, children's version capturing the main idea of Don Quixote. A clean, fun way to experience the gist of the story. (The original may not be suitable for all tastes and ages.) We will be reading this out loud during our history studies this year.
Soldier Bear
by Bibi Dumon Tak
Five Polish soldiers rescue and raise a Syrian brown bear cub during WWII. Based on a true story. An interesting account of how the bear traveled with their company getting into mischief, raising morale, helping with their transport duties, and generally making life during the war more "bearable." It does contain a few curse words, a brief section describing the horrors the soldiers have seen (people blown apart), and a brief reference to women's bare legs. Also, the soldiers (and the bear) smoke and drink a lot.
Duel
by David Grossman
Set in Israel in 1966, a young boy makes friends with an elderly man. When the man is accused by an old rival of theft and challenged to a duel, the boy sets out to find out who the real thief is. Interesting, but not super great.
The Six-Day Hero
by Tammar Stein
I hoped this would be a good novel set during the six-day war in Israel in 1967. It might have been, but the potty language turned me off, and I abandoned it after a few chapters.
Running on Eggs
by Anna Levine
Set in contemporary Israel, two girls -- one Jewish, one Arab -- develop a friendship based on their common love of running, despite the tensions from the families' distrust of each other. It's an OK book, but there is a lot of arguing/yelling in the family. Also the mom's boyfriend seems to be at the house overnight.
The White Elephant
by Sid Fleischman
Set in Thailand (formerly known as Siam). A poor young elephant keeper is cursed by an annoyed prince with a gift of a white elephant. The white elephant was considered sacred and not allowed to be used for work, but must be fed and groomed and allowed to do whatever he wants. The boy turns the curse into a blessing and makes friends with the white elephant. Enjoyed this one very much. We will be reading this out loud during our geography studies this year.
Magazines
World Magazine (2), Answers Magazine (1), Texas Parks & Wildlife (1)
