Biography
Shadow of His Hand
by Wendy Lawton
A children's biography about Anna Dittman, a young girl growing up in Hitler's Germany. Her German father rejects her and divorces her Jewish mother under pressure from the Nazis. As persecution intensifies, Anna begins to go to church and becomes a believer in Jesus. This faith sustains her through continued persecutions during the Holocaust.
Classics (or at least older books)
Animal Farm
by George Orwell
Listened to an audio version from the library. The animals of Mr, Jones' farm, under the leadership of the pigs, revolt and set up a new "free" society without humans. Their motto becomes "four legs good, two legs bad." After a while, they come to find out that this "free" society isn't as free as they thought. I've heard of this story, of course, and knew its basic premise, but this was the first time I remember actually reading it.
Sir Percy Leads the Band
by Baroness Orczy
by Baroness Orczy
The sequel to The Scarlett Pimpernel. A fun book to read, and a vocabulary booster -- I had to start a little notebook with all the words I had to look up (5-6 every few chapters).
Newberry
Sign of the Beaver
by Elizabeth George Speare
by Elizabeth George Speare
A twelve-year old boy is left to guard the family's new homestead in Maine while his father goes back to get the rest of the family. The boy meets a local Indian boy, whose grandfather asks him to teach the boy to read English. The Indians provide food for the boy and teach him how to live off the land. He learns to appreciate the Indians and their culture and feels the tension between their people groups. A re-read for me. I have enjoyed all of Elizabeth George Speare's books.
Nonfiction
365 Manners Kids Should Know
by Sheryl Eberly
Daily readings about etiquette in various situations : telephone, table, written communication, friendships, etc. A little bit dated, but not too much. Good starting point for discussing how to behave in different situations.
Read-aloud (Geography)
We learned about Mongolia with Let's Go Geography and the following picture books:
My Little Round House
by Helen Mixter
A picture book showing the different places a Mongolian nomad family lives throughout the year.
Sorghaghtani of Mongolia
by Shirin Yim Bridges
A picture book biography of the mother of Kublai Khan. Tells how she ruled and kept peace among and power for her sons after her husband's death. There's a main story, with sidebars giving more information about dress, food, and other customs in Mongolia at the time.
Sparrow Girl
by Sara Pennypacker
Based on a true event in Chinese history when the leaders decided that sparrows were bad because they ate a lot of grain. The leaders made the people scare or kill off the sparrows. Later, they discovered that without the sparrows, the insects got out of control, destroying crops and causing widespread famine. In this story, a little girl and her brother rescue seven sparrows who then help save the village from starvation.
Daisy Comes Home
by Jan Brett
A favorite author and illustrator tells the story of a hen in China who is bullied by the other hens in the coop. One night, she is washed away in a basket in a flood. She learns to stand up for herself during encounters with various scary animals along the way. When she finally is able to return home, she applies her newfound skills to her fellow-hens, earns their respect, and enjoys peace in the coop.
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain
by Arnold Lobel
Ming Lo and his wife live in the shadow of a mountain in China. They get tired of rocks falling on their house and crops not growing because the mountain blocks the sun. Ming Lo goes to the local wise man to find out how to move the mountain. The wise man suggests various ridiculous things. Finally, he tells them to dismantle their house, face the mountain, close their eyes, and do the mountain-moving dance (really just walking backward). After several hours of doing this dance, they will find that the mountain has moved far away. Believe it or not, it worked!
Picture books about Japan:
How My Parents Learned to Eat
by Allen Say
The author describes how his parents -- an American sailor, and a Japanese school girl -- met, dated, but were mystified by each other's way of eating. Before asking her to marry him, the sailor went to a Japanese restaurant and learned to eat with chopsticks. The girl went to her uncle, who taught her to eat the "Western way" -- which turned out to be "English", not "American." A fun book. This author has written several picture books about Japan (see below).
Grandfather's Journey
by Allen Say
The author describes his Japanese grandfather's trip from Japan to America, where he fell in love with America. He went back to Japan to marry his sweetheart, but brought her back to San Francisco to raise their daughter. Later they moved back to Japan, where the author was born, who in turn returned to America. He then understood his grandfather's love for both countries.
The Bicycle Man
by Allen Say
Two American soldiers stop by a Japanese school on sports day and amaze and delight the crowd with their tricks on a bicycle. Seems to take place while American soldiers were occupying Japan following World War II.
The Boy of the Three-Year Nap
by Diane Snyder
A Japanese tale of a very lazy boy who never worked, but napped all the time. He envied the luxury of a wealthy merchant who moved in nearby and devised a scheme to marry the merchant's daughter so he could be rich and not have to work. His mother, however, devised a scheme of her own and not only obtained the marriage, but a job for her son.
Manjiro : The Boy Who Risked His Life for Two Countries
by Emily Arnold Mcully
A picture book biography of a Japanese boy named Manjiro (also known as John Mung) who was shipwrecked while fishing and later rescued by an American whaling ship. After spending many years sailing and living in America, he returned to Japan and helped open the country (which had been tightly closed for over 200 years) to trade with outsiders. A more detailed historical novel of the same story is The Heart of A Samurai by Mary Preus.
The Perfect Sword
by Scott Goto
A Japanese swordmaker and his apprentice masterfully craft a very special sword and then searches for someone worthy of it. Many samurai and others come to try to purchase it, but none is deemed worthy -- too cruel, arrogant, selfish, etc. Finally, in the marketplace one day, they encounter a young warrior who confronts a thief, disarms him without using a weapon, and humbly refuses a reward for returning the stolen goods. The swordmaker invites this man to his home, and after an interview, gives him the sword, knowing that this one is worthy of it.
Thirty Minutes Over Oregon
by Marc Nobleman
Tells the story of a Japanese pilot who flew over Oregon twice during World War II, dropping bombs in the forest in an attempt to start a huge forest fire. Both attempts failed. Many years after the war, the nearby town in Oregon invited the pilot and his family to come to Oregon. They showed compassion and forgiveness and brought about healing and reconciliation between people of the two nations. Based on a true story.
Read-aloud (History/Literature)
by Argentina Palacious
An adapted version of Don Quixote for children. A fun read-aloud.
by Edith Nesbitt
Summarized and adapted tales from a number of Shakespeare's plays. Useful for getting the general drift of some of his famous stories. Listened to the audio book. Every time we got in the car, the kids would ask if we could listen to more of the stories. We stopped about half-way through because I got tired of the murders, jealousy, and conniving. After a while, they all start sounding the same.
Energy Makes Things Happen
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Another Read-and-Find-Out Science book. As we started our study of physics, we read one about how forces make things move. This one is about how energy is the ability to do work, illustrating the difference between kinetic and potential energy and highlighting some different forms of energy (wind, solar, geothermal, fossil fuels, etc.)
Marie Curie
By Mike Venezia
A picture book biography of Marie Curie : her education (first woman to receive a doctorate from the University of Paris) and her work with radioactive elements. Contains photographs and some humorous cartoons.
Sounds All Around
by Wendy Pfeffer
A Read-and-Find-Out Science book about sound energy.
Read-aloud (other)
Under, Over, By the Clover : What is a Preposition?
by Brian P Cleary
Another parts of speech book as my younger ones learn and practice with these.
Cool! Whoa! Ah and Oh! What is an Interjection?
by Brian P Cleary
But and For, Yet and Nor : What is a Conjunction?
by Brian Cleary
All about conjunctions.
Fantastic! Wow! and Unreal! A Book About Interjections and Conjunctions
by Ruth Heller
Another book about Conjunctions and interjections. Fun.
History (pre-reading)
Cecile : Gates of Gold
by Mary Casanova
Historical fiction about the time of Louis XIV of France (the one who built the palace of Versailles and set up conditions for the French Revolution with his excessive taxes and disregard for the peasants). Cecile is a peasant girl living in a village with her doctor father. One day she finds and helps a noblewoman who fell off her horse and was injured during a hunt on horseback with the King. Her father helps set a dislocated shoulder and asked the woman to find a place for his daughter in the king's court. This is what Cecile had always dreamed of. But she finds that reality is far different from her dreams. A captivating story (I read it in two days) that gives a glimpse into the times of Louis the XIV. There is some description of attraction between Cecile and a boy page and some matter-of-fact mention of the rampant immorality in the palace (the king's many illegitimate children), but nothing that I found inappropriate for the targeted audience.
The Salem Witch Trials
by Michael J. Martin
A graphic novel about the Salem Witch trials, suitable for probably 8 and up. Fairly reasonable and factual.
Snow Treasure
by Marie McSwigan
The children of a village in Norway use their sleds to sneak a large amount of the country gold bouillon out of the country under the very noses of the occupying Nazi soldiers. A very enjoyable story. Listened to the audio book.
Just For Fun
Windcatcher
by Avi
A boy spends the summer with his grandmother in Connecticut, learning to sail a small boat. He learns of a legend of a shipwrecked treasure and spies on a couple who is looking for it. He ends up unlocking the clues to finding the wrecked ship and its treasure.
The Adventures of Jason Ashley
by Nellie Frisinger
Jason Ashley is a 12-year old boy who wants to be a missionary so he can tell people how to "straighten out their lives." Kind of obnoxious and proud, he finds that nobody really wants to be friends with him. He and his family go on a two-week mission trip, where he learns some things about humility, love, and jumping to conclusions without having all the facts.
Yo-Yo and Midnight
by Jerry Jenkins
An adopted girl suddenly finds that her new family is in turmoil. Mom is miffed at dad, older brother is mad and everybody, older sister and another brother are irritated with the older brother and they all take it out on Yo-Yo. She responds by deliberately breaking the rules about where she is allowed to ride her bike. She meets a humane society worker picking up some strays and decides she wants one of the dogs he picks up. The rest of the story is about how she ends up getting the dog. It's supposedly a Christian book, but I found it pretty shallow and light. The family does have a family council meeting during which they discuss their various irritations, frustrations, and bad attitudes and ask forgiveness from each other. But that's pretty much the end of any Christian talk. The rest is about getting the dog. And the dog talk is annoying, because the way the author portrays how a humane society works (the way they catch animals, process adoptions, etc.) is inaccurate. He also uses inaccurate terminology regarding dogs : he calls a purebred a "pure thoroughbred" (thoroughbred are horses, not dogs). And he called Newfoundland a country (it's a province in Canada). Overall, I wasn't impressed.
Sheriff at Waterstop
by Andy Thomson
Llamas on the Loose
by Jeri Massi
Two siblings and a friend spend their weekends helping out on the llama farm belonging to a vet friend of their dad's. But someone seems to be out to get the doctor and his llamas. The kids try to solve the mystery while working through jealousy with each other. The kids are Christians and try to witness to the doctor who doesn't want to hear anything about religion or God. It doesn't have the typical ending of everything working out the way they want. It tries to combat the idea often portrayed in Christian children's books that if you just tell people about Jesus in the right way, they will become Christians.
Beans on the Roof
by Betsy Byars
The kids in the Bean family each go up on the roof of their house to try to write a poem, some more successfully than others. A simple story with short chapters for younger children.
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