Reading: Books Read to Us...

Our father has tried to keep a list of books that he read over the years and adds notations to the list when he read the books to any of his children or our mother. At my request, he went over that list and edited it down to the books that he read to his children and the years he read them.

Books Read Annual Record

 1986

Milne, A. A. When We Were Very Young. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1946.
Read to Emily.
 
Milne, A. A. Winnie-the-Pooh. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1961.
Read to Emily.


1987

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Emily.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1935.
Read to Emily.

1988

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. On the Banks of Plum Creek. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Emily.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. On the Shores of Silver Lake. London: Lutterworth Press, 1964.
Read to Emily.


1989

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Farmer Boy. London: Lutterworth Press, 1976.
Read to Emily.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. The Long Winter. London: Puffin Books, 1988.
Read to Emily.


1990

Milne, A. A. When We Were Very Young. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1946.
Read to Anna.
 
Milne, A. A. Winnie-the-Pooh. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1961.
Read to Anna.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little Town on the Prairie. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Emily.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. These Happy Golden Years. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Emily.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. The First Four Years. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Emily.


1991

Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Little Princess. New York: Children’s Classics, 1990.
Read to Emily.
 
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. New York: Children’s Classics, 1987.
Read to Emily.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Anna.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1935.
Read to Anna.


1992

Milne, A. A. When We Were Very Young. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1946.
Read to Katharine and Juliana.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. On the Banks of Plum Creek. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Anna.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Farmer Boy. London: Lutterworth Press, 1976.
Read to Anna.


1993

Milne, A. A. Winnie-the-Pooh. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1961.
Read to Katharine and Juliana.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. On the Shores of Silver Lake. London: Lutterworth Press, 1964.
Read to Anna.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. The Long Winter. London: Puffin Books, 1988.
Read to Anna.


1994

Herriot, James. Cat Stories. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1994.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Spyri, Johanna. Heidi. Parsippany, New Jersey: Unicorn Publishing House, 1986.
Read with Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little Town on the Prairie. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Anna.
 
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. These Happy Golden Years. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1971.
Read to Anna.


1995

Lewis, Clive Staples. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1951.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Horse and His Boy. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1954.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1950.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Silver Chair. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1953.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1952.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Last Battle. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1956.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Magician’s Nephew. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1955.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.


1996

Christopher, John. The City of Gold and Lead. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Christopher, John. The Pool of Fire. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Christopher, John. The White Mountains. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Christopher, John. When the Tripods Came. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.


1997

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.
 
Wilkes, Maria D. Little House in Brookfield. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1996.
298 pages. Clothbound.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.


1998

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.


1999

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.


2000

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Read to Anna, Katharine, and Juliana.


2001

Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1989. 
Read with Katharine and Juliana.


2002

Christopher, John. The White Mountains. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Christopher, John. The City of Gold and Lead. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Christopher, John. The Pool of Fire. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Christopher, John. When the Tripods Came. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988.
Read to Nicolas.



2003

Lewis, Clive Staples. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1951.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1950.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1952.
Read to Nicolas.


2004

Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1989.
Read with Katharine and Juliana.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Horse and His Boy. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1954.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Last Battle. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1956.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Magician’s Nephew. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1955.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Silver Chair. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1953.
Read to Nicolas.


2005

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Read to Nicolas.


2006

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966.
Read to Nicolas.


2007

Sachar, Louis. Holes. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf Books, 1998.
Read to Nicolas.
 
Tolkien, J. R. R. Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham. New York: Ballantine Books, 1970.
Read to Nicolas.


2008

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2005.
Read to Nicolas.


2009



2010

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007.
Read to Nicolas.

The Reading Promise...

I found out about The Reading Promise through Sarah's Instagram account and immediately checked the library for a copy.  I borrowed it a few weeks ago and read it very quickly.  It is such a well-written memoir and it really encouraged me to re-double my efforts to read aloud to our children!  

Growing up, my father read to us every night that he didn't have to work.  Papa would only read Classics to us and I remember laying on the floor of our bedroom (it had to be cleaned up prior to reading time) drawing and coloring while we listened to him. 

 I try to read to our little ones before bedtime each night, but we have a wide variety of different choices:  spiritual reading, poems, chapter books, magazines, and picture books.  Something that has helped me a lot is to keep a basket by my bed with all of our current reading material in it.  I also try to have our older children practice their reading aloud at this time as well.  We've had to start bedtime a little earlier than we used to so that we can read, but it has been a good change! 

Reading: Emily of New Moon

Without realizing it, I chose the perfect book to read while nursing my brand new son Sebastian. 

When I read Emily's father's description of the night she was born, I couldn't wait to share it. I read it aloud to Pete as he dozed. It captures how I feel about my children--especially in those first few intoxicating days of their lives--so well. 

"And we were so happy--oh, Emilykin, there never were two happier people in the world. You were the only child of that happiness. I remember the night you were born in the little house in Charlottetown. It was in May and a west wind was blowing silvery clouds over the moon. There was a star or two here and there.  In our tiny garden--everything we had was small except our love and our happiness--it was dark and blossomy. I walked up and down the path between the beds of violets your mother had planted--and prayed. The pale east was just beginning to glow like a rosy pearl when someone came and told me I had a little daughter. I went in--and your mother, white and weak, smiled just that dear, slow, wonderful smile I loved, and said, 'We've--got--the only--baby--of any importance--in--the world, dear. Just--think--of that!'"

-Emily of New Moon