RAR #10: The Art of Choosing Books (and starting a book club!) with Heidi Scovel
Heidi Scovel admits that she isn’t a read-aloud superstar. Reading aloud can be hard to fit in when you’re a busy mother of four! But she does know how to choose great books and has had a lot of success starting a book club for her kids called the Book Detectives.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- her kids’ favorite books
- how she developed her taste for the best literature
- and the ins and outs of her successful Book Detectives group
You’re going to love her. :)
Books from this episode:
(All links are affiliate links.)
Links from this episode:
- Heidi’s blog: Mt. Hope Academy
- Heidi’s posts about picture books, about what her kids read on their own, and what they read together
- Heidi’s posts about her Book Detectives group
- 1,000 Good Books List
- Story Warren: Allies in Imagination
- The Rabbit Room
- Heidi likes books recommended by Sonlight and Exodus Books
I’m listening to this one now. So glad to her that you guys struggled with reading Swallows and Amazons aloud as well! We put that one aside & I felt awful about it.
Hi Sarah~
In this podcast, you referred to a talk by “the two Andrews”– Kern & Pudewa, I believe– and how they used the ANI method on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Can you please provide a link (if there is one) to that talk?
Thank you!
~Stacy
Yes! You can find a DVD of that seminar here:
http://iew.com/shop/products/two-andrews-writing-and-teaching-writing
I saw that seminar live when they came to my area.
Yay! Thank you, Sarah!
Also, I am so appreciating your Read-Aloud Revival podcasts, even though I’m a little behind in listening to them. Thank you so much!
~Stacy
Sarah!
Thank you. Thank you . Thank you for doing these podcasts. They. Are. Awesome. I am loving all the book recommendations and the plethora of resources I am discovering all because of you! You are an invaluable resource to my homeschool. Thank you, just doesn’t seem to truly express my gratitude for all the effort and time you are putting in to this endeavor. Thank you Sarah.
Sincerely,
Megan Lyons
This is one of my favorite Read Aloud podcasts yet and I love all of them. Thank you for so much wonderful information and for introducing me to Heidi’s blog.
I am loving listening to this episode, and I promise it’s not because you guys so generously mentioned me (the totally delinquent blogger!) but because I count you both as friends, and it was like being a fly on the proverbial wall while two friends chatted about something we all love: books and sharing them with our children. You have given me that extra push to re-start a Book Detectives chapter now that we’re back from England (although that chapter over there was fun too!).
Can’t wait to check out all the other recommended links!
I used to run after-school book clubs in my teaching days, and just yesterday I joined in a friends’ first mother/daughter book club. So excited to listen in!
When my oldest daughter and reluctant reader was 15 or 16, I read The Mitchells Five for Victory and she took off and hasn’t returned! The problem now, 6 kids later, is that I have so many little distractions (4 yr. old twin boys & almost 2 yr. old boy) and like prayer time, I’m experiencing an “overwhelmed so don’t do anything syndrome.” Any advice?
I understand that overwhelmed feeling! I love audio books, stories, and poetry in the car or for quiet time or bed time so that my kids can still share stories and hear words aloud even when I’m overwhelmed. We also enjoy some poetry together. It’s not as intimidating to consistently make time for just one or two poems aloud every day as it is to read chapter books, but it may help to dip your toes in the reading-aloud water. :)
Loved this episode! BTW, it wasn’t on the podcast page, had to go to Heidi’s blog to get here.
My son, who is 3, got hooked on Magic Tree House. Ugh. My fault, too; I didn’t realized how bad these books were. Is there a good series that has a similar story idea (time, place traveling children) that aren’t too long — early chapter book length? And general tips for weening children off twaddle would be nice; he’s not reading on his own, but I think he recognizes some words and pictures for sure (I’m beginning to suspect a photographic style memory!) So, he knows what each book is about, and knows the names, etc. And asks specifically for them! Ugh.
My youngest son reads a ton of Magic Tree House books. I don’t read them aloud, but I think they serve a purpose for independent reading. For other educational, time-traveling children in short chapter book form, my son has also enjoyed the Treasure Chest series by Ann Hood and the Imagination Station series (Adventures in Odyssey by Focus on the Family). Or, if you’re in the mood for some humor, you could try Jon Scieszka’s Time Warp Trio. :)
It’s getting really hard to pick a favorite read aloud podcast. They are all so great!! I can’t wait to check out all these links. Thank you so much!
I can’t wait to listen! I love Heidi…. and I love your podcast. Thank you for this gift!
I’m listening and can relate to what you are saying about a child that needs to follow along. I have a son like that — and he loves it when I will stop when I am reading and he can show off that he knows where I am. It keeps him following along! Thanks again for this podcast!
Thank you so much for introducing me to Heidi and her beautiful blog! I am loving all of the wonderful inspiration and book ideas. I feel so encouraged in my love of reading with my children and beginning our homeschooling adventure for the first time this year. Sarah, you have come to mind so many times this week as we have started our school year. I have three boys and one girl, all five and under. My oldest will be six in a few weeks and is in kindergarden, then I have a three year old, 13 month old, and newborn! Whew, sometimes I think I am crazy to even dream that I could make this happen with so many little ones under foot but then I think of you and know you are “making pigs fly” too, that it may be messy but that it is possible and oh so worth it. It helps to know we are in the trenches together :)
Another great episode! Thanks! I took notes, especially when you both talked about asking questions about books, turning those into “should” questions, and the ANI chart. That was extremely helpful!
Thanks for this podcast. It was the first one I’ve listened to and I really enjoyed it. It was helpful to hear other people making what I do seem normal. :) the concept of some books being good for read aloud and some for reading alone was good to know because we struggled with phantom tollbooth as a read aloud and it went against my “we will finish what we start” tendencies to put it away and admit it wasn’t working. The book detective idea is so interesting that I will definitely look more into it. Sarah, thank you for posting all the books and links mentioned. So helpful!
I love this podcast SO MUCH!!! If I can’t talk to someone about books, the next best thing is listening to other people talking about good books! I think pretty much after I finish listening to each podcast, I click over to my library’s website and start putting books on hold. I even requested a few audiobooks from this podcast. As always, thanks so much!
Oh PS I also told my husband of my intent to homeschool when we were dating…actually maybe it was before we were officially dating, but still!
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one. ;)
Ah, another good one! (they’re all so good)
Thanks for all the wonderful bookish links, I can’t wait to check out a few of these older mid-grade books. I hadn’t heard of a lot of them.
Sarah M
This podcast is perfectly timed for me! I am hosting my first Book Detectives book club for my 6th grade daughter and friends tonight. It was great to listen to Heidi give advice and encouragement. I can’t wait to see what we all learn this year through literary analysis together.
I hope you have a fantastic experience with your first Book Detectives, Erica!
Sarah, that was so fun! That was my first of your podcasts to listen to (guess I needed to be getting back in the swing of school to be inspired) and I so enjoyed hearing your voice — your enthusiasm comes right through to my iPad! ;-)
I was so glad to hear that I’m not the only parent who abhors taking my children to the library for all the junk reading they want (or wanted because all but one is an adult now) to check out. Admittedly, however, I am not always picky because of the quality of the story, but more often because I just couldn’t read ugly books. ;-) For the same reason I refuse to take my daughter to the mall! Haha!
Thanks for all your hard work at inspiring us to read aloud to our children. You have definitely inspired me — and I’m an old dog!
PS I’m listening to The Reading Promise and being inspired as well.
I Love Heidi’s blog!! She was my first intro to Classical Education and Classical Conversations. Can’t wait to listen to this one!