I’ve got a brand new episode of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast for you, and it’s a good one.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- Which 3 books I’d bring with me to a desert island 🏝 (it was torture to answer this listener question!)
- Whether or not we use reading curriculum at our house 🤓 (and what I recommend)
- The skinny on what we’re reading aloud this spring at RAR (our book choices are just 😍– scroll down to see what I mean)
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Listener Guide
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast:
| 2:03 | Connect with the perfect read-aloud |
| 2:47 | American history books |
| 4:49 | Sarah’s desert island books |
| 7:32 | Do you need a reading curriculum? |
| 13:38 | Reading at whim |
| 15:19 | Book conversations |
| 18:32 | Red flag |
| 19:44 | What we’re reading this spring |
| 22:05 | Home in the Woods |
| 23:01 | Balderdash! |
| 24:31 | 9 Months and Heidi |
| 27:02 | Circle with Sarah |
| 28:38 | Little Men |
| 30:22 | Let the kids speak |
Links from this episode:
- Free book quiz or text QUIZ to 33777
- The reading curriculum I mention in today’s show is All About Reading and Logic of English (you only need one or the other, not both)
Books from this episode:
Henry Huggins
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
This book continues to delight kids for another generation. He might be an average boy, but he doesn't have average adventures! Especially wonderful for dog-lovers.
More info →
The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child
Donalyn Miller says she has yet to meet a child she couldn't turn into a reader. No matter how far behind Miller's students might be when they reach her 6th grade classroom, they end up reading an average of 40 to 50 books a year. Miller's unconventional approach dispenses with drills and worksheets...
More info →
David Copperfield (Puffin Classics)
**Description from Amazon: Based in part on the author's own life, David Copperfield is the epic story of a young man's journey of self-discovery - from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the memorable cast of characters he encounters along the way are his brutal stepfather, ...
More info →
The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids
FROM SARAH:
I wrote this book as a love note, of sorts, to the Read-Aloud Revival community. You'll find practical tips, inspiring stories, and booklists for every age. The audio book won was nominated for an Audie Award!
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
USA Today Bestseller | The stories we read--and the conversations we have about them--help shape family traditions, create lifelong memories, and become part of our legacy. Reading aloud not only has the power to change a family--it has the power to change the world.
More info →
Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children’s Books
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
The rollicking picture book biography about a pioneer in children's books: John Newbery himself. While most children's books in the 18th century contained lessons and rules, John Newbery imagined them overflowing with entertaining stories, science, and games. Nancy Carpenter's (hilarious) illustrations make reading this book pure delight.
More info →
Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle
Drip. Sip. Pour me a cup. Water is water unless...it heats up. A picture about the water cycle? Oh, but this one is a delight! Your older kids will be delighted by the many surprising ways water shows up in our lives.
More info →
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster
FROM SARAH:
Jonathan Auxier is one of my very favorite storytellers- don't miss his episode on the Read-Aloud Revival podcast. He's also a favorite WOW: Writers on Writing presenter in RAR Premium! This is my favorite of his books and also one of my all-time favorite reads. I learned so much, and my heart grew five sizes. Recomended for ages 10+. Or just read it yourself!
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived. With her wits and will, she's manage to beat deadly odds time and time again. But when Nan's Sweep disappears suddenly and then she's caught in a chimney fire, everything changes. It starts with a black piece of coal.
More info →
The Silver Chair
A beautiful hardcover edition of The Silver Chair, book six in the classic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. The full color jacket features art by three time Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator, David Wiesner, and black-and-white interior art by the series' original illustrator, Pauline Bayn...
More info →
The Screwtape Letters
**Description from Amazon: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strik...
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Home in the Woods
Based on a true story, this book tells of a brave woman and her eight children who restart their life from scratch in a ramshackle house in the woods. The power of resilience and the beauty of family shines through. A favorite. Meet the author/illustrator in RAR Premium in spring 2020.
More info →
Nine Months: Before a Baby Is Born
FROM SARAH:
A beautiful celebration of life and my new favorite gift for kids who are about to welcome a baby into their life! We've got a great RAR Family Book Club Guide for this one in Premium.
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Join a family of three who spend nine whole months waiting, from a frosty winter through a sun-dappled summer, until finally . . . a baby is here.
More info →
Ramona the Pest
**Description from Amazon: Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary expertly depicts the trials and triumphs of growing up through a relatable heroine who isn't afraid to be exactly who she is.Ramona Quimby is excited to start kindergarten. No longer does she have to watch her older sister, Beezus, ride the bus to school w...
More info →With thousands of happy members inside RAR Premium, we’ve heard a lot of great stories about how their kids are falling in love with books, and how moms like you are falling in love with homeschooling.
This is what Kameron says, for example:
“Membership here is worth more than I pay for curriculum for a year. I promise you will not regret it.”
What do we do in RAR Premium?
In Premium, we have monthly coaching sessions to help you take small, simple, important steps toward falling more in love with your homeschool.
Over the next few months, we’ll be focusing on putting first things first. We’ll:
- discover the easiest ways to ramp up our own reading habits
- dive into why curriculum is our servant, not our master
- unpack what’s really happening when we worry (which will help us come to the end of our school year in a healthier, more abundant way)
…so if you’d like to enjoy your homeschool more and teach with peace and confidence, I think you’ll want to join us!
These live monthly coaching sessions have been called “alone worth the price of Premium” and “the best thing we’ve ever done for our homeschool…“
Family Book Clubs
Each season in RAR Premium, we read 1 novel and 3 picture books as part of our Family Book Club. We choose books with kids of all ages in mind, because we believe that families connect best when they read together. 💚
Here’s what’s up next in our Family Book Club:
Premium Members also get a Family Book Club Guide to go with each of these, and we always wrap up by live streaming the author or illustrator of that book, so your kids can ask their own questions.
There’s just nothing else like it.
And then the author of our May book, Miranda Paul, will be coming to teach our kiddos a writing workshop on how to take a fact and transform it into a fascinating bit of writing or a story.
If you want to make reading aloud the very best part of your upcoming school year, we are your people and RAR Premium is your place. Come join us!
You’ll find out why our members say things like this…
Your kids can fall in love with books, and you can fall in love with homeschooling. Join us in RAR Premium.
We’re all waiting for you!
