children's books I love.

classic picture books that are worth buying (to read over and over again):

The Giving Tree
The Little Red Hen
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Aesop's Fables
The Emperor's New Clothes
Anything Dr. Suess
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstock
The Little Engine that Could
The Ugly Duckling
The Princess and the Pea
Three Billy Goats Gruff
Rumpelstiltskin
Three Little Bears/Pigs

These books each have a moral or value to teach the kids. There are hundreds more, but that is a quick list of our favorites.

Classic chapter books we've read together in the last year:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
*Great Expectations
Where the Red Fern Grows
*Rip Van Winkle
Pinocchio
Winnie-the-Pooh series
The Wind in the Willows
Little Women and Little Men (my boys liked Little Men better, I favor Little Women :)
The Christmas Carol
*Oliver Twist
Chicken Little
Robin Hood
Anne of Green Gables (a favorite of all of ours... yes, even the boys!)
The Swiss Family Robinson
Fabelhaven Series
*Robinson Crusoe
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Black Beauty
Ender's Game
The Chronicles of Narnia (we only read one and two)
*Gulliver's Travels
The Hiding Place
Laddie
*Moby Dick
Stuart Little
Peter Pan

I chose to read books this year that I had never had a chance to read myself... it made it more enjoyable for me because I wanted to know (along with the kids) what would happen next! The books with the * weren't the original works, but children's adaptation from the classic book. We've found them to be awesome-- and they usually have pictures to go along. We use the Great Illustrated Classics given to us by my mother.. After you read the story from these books, the originals are much easier to tackle!

Last night we started The Secret Garden. Because the weather is just so warm and breezy, we headed out to the trampoline with blankets, pillows and a flashlight. I was only planning on reading the opening chapter, but we couldn't stop until chapter four. Ben said in the middle of chapter three, "This is better than I thought it would be. I was worried it was only going to talk about flowers." After reading, I remembered I had extra glow sticks in the kitchen and decided now was the best time as any to use them. The kids partied all night out there. No, literally... they fell asleep and slept outside. Well, Ben came in around midnight because he wasn't comfortable and Zack came inside around 3 am. Luke made it until the sun came up this morning.

Our master bedroom window is directly above the trampoline in the backyard. As we turned off our lamps, Aaron and I could hear the boys giggling outside. It reminded me of all the sleepless nights my siblings and I had on a trampoline just like this one. My parents would sleep with their deck door open and my dad would always stick his head out and tell us to "Be Quiet!" I rather enjoyed going to sleep to the sound of giggling, rambunctious boys. This is exactly what childhood is all about. Too bad I am too old and pregnant to sleep with outside with them.



Hope this list helps, Terica!
*ps. We never, ever, ever read with the baby awake. I also have been known to exclude any child (zack) who is being naughty during reading time. It's a mean punishment to send the to bed while the rest of us are having a reading party, but it's been a quick cure to bad behavior. Sometimes I still have to give warnings, but they are usually very quiet while I read...