RAR #226: Hey Sarah! Late-Night Readers, Not Assigning Books and is it OK to Read SO MANY Books?

Speaker 1 (00:00):

Hi, Sarah.

Holly (00:01):

Hi, Sarah. My name is Holly.

April (00:02):

Hi Sarah. My name is April. I'm in Melbourne, Australia.

Speaker 1 (00:06):

I have a question about-

Julianne (00:08):

My name's Julianne, and we live in India.

Holly (00:11):

I am wondering-

Crystal (00:12):

Hi, Sarah. This is Crystal from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Holly (00:15):

Can you give me a suggestion for an especially fabulous book?

Sarah Mackenzie (00:22):

Hi there, I'm Sarah Mackenzie. This is The Read Aloud Revival, and in this episode I'm answering your questions. Listeners have sent in some fabulous questions, and I'm going to attempt to tackle them rapid fire for you here and answer as many as possible. Today, we've got questions about where I get some of my favorite art prints that are based on children's books, what to do with those late readers who happily, and maybe sneakily, read till way past midnight, what to do if you don't feel like you read aloud well so you don't feel like you're a good example for your kids, if kids can really read and follow several different books at once, and how I get by without assigning books in my homeschool. So, if any of that sounds interesting to you, stick around. This episode is for you. Are you ready? Here we go.

Speaker 7 (01:20):

Hi, Sarah. I recently heard in a podcast that you had a print of an illustration from House in the Woods, and I was wondering how you can acquire any of these prints from different books that might be my own favorite other than House in the Woods. I've never seen them around and I've never heard of getting that, but I would love to have a few of my own favorites. Thanks in advance.

Sarah Mackenzie (01:46):

Yes, I love my art prints from favorite picture books. So, the Home in the Woods Print that you are referencing was purchased on the Society6 website, and I found it through the illustrator Eliza Wheeler's website. I think that's usually the best way to find prints is to go right to the illustrator's website and see if they tell you where you can get their prints. So, I went to Eliza Wheeler's website. You might all know that Home in the Woods is one of my all time very tippy top favorite picture books. I adore it. That is an understatement. And so, I went to Eliza Wheeler's website, which is, for the record, wheelerstudio.com, and then she's got a shop button and she's got art prints right there. You actually order them from Society6, but they're in all different sizes. They're super fabulous. I framed mine and put it in my office.

(02:37):

Usually, if authors provide prints of their work, I think going to their own website and figuring out where they want you to get the print is the best way to do it, and they'll often point you right toward where you can get prints. So, if you have a favorite illustrator, see if they have a website, and see if they have their prints available there. Another favorite illustrator of mine who provides prints, same way, on her website is Breezy Brookshire. She is, of course, the illustrator of our first book at Waxwing. My first picture book, A Little More Beautiful, the Story of a Garden. And Breezy has art prints and stickers and acrylic pins and just lots of fun things in her Etsy shop. So, that would be my recommendation. Think of your favorite illustrators, and then check out their websites and see if they have a shop.

(03:21):

One other thing, though, I have a ton of prints from litographs.com, that's L-I-T-O-G-R-A-P-H-S.com. Litographs, it's a play on the word lithograph,.com. And you might have seen some of these if you've ever seen me on video ,or if you've ever watched any of The Read Aloud Revival premium coaching sessions or author interviews. I have, I don't know, eight or 10 of these. I love them. They're beautiful posters where the image itself is made out of text from the book. So, for example, I have one for Pride and Prejudice, and it's an image from Pride and Prejudice, but it's an art shaped geometric artistic image, I'm doing a terrible job describing this, from Pride and Prejudice, but the art itself is made out of the text from the book. So, I have one for Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, and there the image is Winn-Dixie the dog, and he's made out of, the image itself is made out of, the text from the book.

(04:23):

It's super fabulous. Go look at them. You'll know what I mean when you see them. They're just beautiful posters, and I think they're fun. So, I have a ton of them. I could not stop. One of my favorites is my Paddington one. I've got a Corduroy one. I've got several Jane Austin posters. So, anyway, we'll put a link in the show notes. So, if you're on the road right now, don't worry. They're going to be in readaloudrevival.com/226. So, that's where you can find links to all of that. And we'll also put links to Eliza Wheeler's shop, Breezy Brookshire's shop, and just go look up your favorite illustrator. See what you can find. So fun.

Cadence (05:02):

Hi, Sarah. My name is Cadence, and I'm calling from BC Canada. I'm a homeschooling mom of four young book lovers, and my question for you is regarding lights out times for kids. I have one daughter in particular, she's 10, who would happily read until midnight every night if I let her. She's a strong character, but she's generally respectful and obedient. However, when it comes to books, she will regularly surpass any limits I attempt to set, despite the consequences I manage to come up with. It comes across to me as disobedience or disrespect, but to her it's just a case of needing to know what happens next. This feeling like having a rule is causing more trouble and it's worth. Do you have any wisdom for me? Thank you, Sarah.

Sarah Mackenzie (05:48):

Yeah. Okay, this is a good question. I think this is an area where you've got to pick your battles. It's probably a personality thing, too. This is a good time to remind you, my parenting style is very likely different from yours. So, God has given you your kids and your family, and he's giving you the grace to raise your kids and your family with your personality types and your circumstances. And he's giving me the grace to raise mine with my kids' personalities and my personality, my husband, and our circumstances and temperaments and all of that. So, I can tell you what I would do, but just remember that you know your kids best, and you can make the best decision here based on your own intuition. I will tell you since you asked me, "What would you do, Sarah?" I'll tell you what I would do. I've had kids who were voracious readers to the point where they didn't do anything else and I had to, for example, make them go outside.

(06:42):

And usually I would say, "Allison, you must go outside, and I would find her outside in the front yard pacing, reading a book." I didn't see this as a discipline issue so much as more of a, "Let me help you make good holistic choices for your own wellbeing thing." This is what parenting is in many, many cases. It's us coaching our kids to help them develop life skills they'll need later. And as much as we'd all love to read all day, we do have to develop other areas of our life, even though I would prefer to read all day most of the time. So, if my daughter was reading till midnight in her room after her lights were out, maybe under the covers with a flashlight, childhood can be so glorious, I personally probably really wouldn't worry about it unless that late night reading is impacting her the next morning. So, if she's having a bad attitude, if she's overly tired, if she's having a hard time tackling the following day, then I'm probably going to crack down on it a little bit.

(07:43):

But I would probably approach it not from a, "I can't believe you're being sneaky, and I can't believe you're reading under your covers with a flashlight," because I kind of love that. But, "I really want you to be able to also feel good during the day, and there's other things you need to do." So, I would probably curb it that way. But you mentioned that your daughter is mostly respectful, and she's just sneaking in some extra reading time, so it's totally up to you. I, personally, if it were me, would probably let it ride unless I'm seeing a lot of behavior problems. And then, I would tackle it from a different angle. I wouldn't go at it like, "I can't believe you're being sneaky." I would go at it like, "I know you want more time to read. How can we get you more time to read during the day so that you are also getting rested?"

(08:25):

I just think it's helpful for us to remind our kids, and remind ourselves, that we're actually on the same team. We're rooting for each other, we're helping them, and whenever we're "disciplining them," whenever we're giving them restrictions or guiding them, it's always in a way to help them develop the skills that they need to be successful and happy and healthy and joyful in their lives. And so, coming at it with a different tack of not like, "I'm going to catch you being sneaky," and I'm not saying that you would do that, of course. But just more from the perspective of, "How can we get you the reading time you really are obviously craving without it impacting your sleep?" Some of my kids right now read with their little lanterns.

(09:05):

I got them these little reading lanterns at a bookshop, and I pretend like I don't notice if they're reading after I've turned their lights out. I chalk it up to making fabulous childhood memories. But again, if I'm seeing overtired behavior the next day, I'll probably crack down on this a little bit. And I crack down on this. I would not attack the person, I would attack the thing. So, I'd say, "Oh, man. I know you really want a lot more reading time. Let's figure out how we can get you more reading time without it cutting into your sleep." So, something like that. I'm not sure if that helps, and I'm such a believer that what's best for your own kids. But since you asked what I would do, I thought I'd just tell you my own what I would do if it was in my house.

Emily (09:45):

Hi, Sarah. I'm Emily from Westerville, Ohio. I wanted to say thank you for sharing the author Jonathan Auxier in one of your recent podcasts. When I heard you talk about the series, The Fabled Stables, I knew we had to have it in our home. My six-year-old is an animal lover named Augie. So, I immediately went out and bought the series for him for Christmas. When he opened that first book and read the first few lines, his eyes lit up. "At the top of the world sat an island, and at the heart of that island lived a boy named Augie. Everyone is good at something. Augie was good at caring for animals." We have devoured the first three books in this series, and we absolutely cannot wait for more. He keeps asking. So, we are excited to read more books from Jonathan Auxier, and hopefully to read more in this particular series. Thank you for sharing this book that has captivated a little boy.

Sarah Mackenzie (10:47):

Amazing. I love this message so much. In fact, I sent this audio message to Jonathan Auxier, of course I did, and he loved it too. I'm going to put The Fabled Stables in the show notes for anyone who hasn't read those books yet. They are great whole family read alouds. They're chapter books, they're fully illustrated in color, really captivating. Emily, thank you for sharing.

Leah (11:14):

Hey, my name is Leah. My question is about my reading. So, when I read aloud to my children, my reading has become so poor, my words are getting jumbled up. I'm saying the wrong things. I feel like I am being a really bad example of reading skills and reading comprehension. So, they sometimes even have to correct me on which character I said. Or I'll swap the time of day, or just really odd things. Also, my eyes are not focusing, and I'm scrambling the words. I'm jumping ahead, and then throwing words I see into it. And I'm distracted, and I know it's my brain is just fried and I'm distracted. I'm thinking about, oh my goodness, just this week I'm thinking about my tag registration and birthday party planning and feeding a friend who's grieving and whether I've heard from my dad in a month or not or how to respond to this certain question that's been nagging me.

(12:29):

My brain is split and fried, and I am not able to focus and I'm not able to just shut that off and read what's in front of me. I go into this autopilot, and it's terrible reading quality and I feel really bad about it. And I guess I'm looking for, first of all, I assume that's normal for some parents. Maybe it's not. But then, what can I do? What would you recommend? How can I get on track again, get my quality of reading back? I've been reading to my kids for 10 years. I have a 10-year-old and three other children. So, I've been doing this. I've been reading to them every day their entire lives, and it's just like I said, the quality's just poor. So, what would you recommend me do? Thanks.

Sarah Mackenzie (13:23):

Leah, it's interesting you say that you feel like a bad example because my take on hearing your message is what a beautiful example this is to your kids. You are doing something hard that you don't really feel very good at. You're doing it because you know it's worthwhile, even though you've had a lot going on. You've got a lot of other things pulling on your time and attention, which I think every mom listening to this podcast right now probably feels pulled in a lot of directions, don't we? We always feel that way. Even the fact that your kids correct you, what a model is that? Really think about this. How often do our kids get to see us persevering at something we're not super good at, we're not really rocking, but we're doing it because we want to, we believe in it? I mean, they actually see this every night when we're making dinner, but they might not think about it in this way.

(14:12):

So, I think seeing you do this with books is a really beautiful example, actually. So, I just want to invite you to look at it from a little different angle. That said, you did ask for tips on getting better at it. So, I have some ideas. One is that I wonder if you read aloud some shorter stories if that would help you stay more fully present and stay really engaged. Because I know that feeling of being distracted or just not super present while you're reading aloud. I don't know. Have you ever had that experience where you're reading aloud, and you're like thinking of a grocery list and all the things you're supposed to be doing, and then all of a sudden, one of your kids says, "Who was that? Or, "What did he say?" And you have no idea because you weren't paying attention to your own self reading.

(14:54):

Yes, I have been there. I hate that feeling. It happens. And I'll go, "Let's read it again because I don't know." So, short books can help here because a short book is a short commitment, right? Picture books work beautifully here. In fact, those Fabled Stables that Emily just called about a little bit ago, those would work really well here. But the key with the short books is that you don't have to sit down and be like, "Okay, here I am. I'm going to be fully present for 30 full minutes." You can just do it for five or 10 minutes. With a short picture book, you're looking at five minutes. With a longer picture book, you're looking at 10. And you could just say to yourself, "For the next five or 10 minutes, I am going to be intentional about just staying really present in this book."

(15:39):

Your attention span, your ability to focus on something, like words or story, are going to expand the more you're doing it and the more you're being intentional about it. I just would really encourage you to do this with picture books because I think this would be great practice for this. There are some great episodes here on the show about picture books, reading picture books with older kids. We actually did a whole series on reading a picture book a day, even with older kids and teens. So, if you haven't heard those yet, or if you have, go back and listen. Those start with episode 178, Why Read a Book a Day? I think you might find it inspiring, and I would just encourage you to keep at it and to know that, actually, when you mess up or you goof or you're not paying attention, and you have to model humility for your kids and apologize and say, 'Oh, I'm so sorry. I was distracted. Let me read that again," that is actually a beautiful example. So, you've inspired me, Leah. Thank you for your message.

Grace Rich (16:39):

Hi, Sarah. My name is Melissa, and I am a third year homeschooler of three ages, 11, nine, and seven. We're in the Pacific Northwest. And my question for you today is in regards to my eldest. He absolutely adores books. He's a voracious reader, and usually you can find him reading one of maybe 5, 7, 9 books that he has going at one time. This is really hard for me, though. I don't understand how someone could read so many books, especially books that are similar in genre and keep them all straight. So, I haven't put any restrictions on his reading or anything, but I'm wondering if maybe I should, if there's any brain science or any thoughts that you have that maybe there is a max number of books that the kids should be reading at once, and how many is just too many? So, any help you could give, I'd appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Sarah Mackenzie (17:56):

Ah, thanks for your question, Melissa. Yeah, I'm going to go back to the same thing I said before, which is this is totally a personality and temperament thing. So, you are given the grace and the wisdom to make really good choices for your own kids. So, take this with a grain of salt. I personally would not worry about putting any restrictions at all on this. I tend to read, for example, several non-fiction books at once, but I only read one fiction book at a time because I feel like that's about my bandwidth for what I can keep track of. I also read non-fiction a lot faster than fiction, so I just don't want to get my stories mixed up or only get back to this fiction book by next week because then I'll completely forget what I read last week, especially if I did a lot of reading in bed because I'll completely forget what I read last night, right?

(18:46):

Our managing editor, Harmony Harkema, she literally reads dozens of books at the same time, fiction, non-fiction, tons of them. And really, if you think about the Charlotte Mason model of homeschooling, in a Charlotte Mason school and those PNEU schools and in a Charlotte Mason model homeschool, kids are going to be tracking with tons of books at the same time. They'll read a chapter of a book out of 12, 15 books at a time without finishing any of them. So, yes, absolutely, your kids can track that. It might not be your personality, but it could completely be your kid's personality. And just even on our team, just thinking about our own reading, I said I read a lot of non-fiction, but I'll only read one fiction book at a time for myself. I read different fiction for my kids, but I know Harmony reads a ton of different books.

(19:36):

Same with our community director, Courtney Garrison. She can read multiple fiction novels that are even similar in genre and style at the same time and keep them straight. My own kids can do this just fine. They can read lots of different chapter books, lots of different fantasy books. They can track with a lot of different books. So, this means the good thing about tracking with a lot of different books is that whenever you sit down to read, you can just pick up whatever you're in the mood for. So, I wouldn't worry about this or try to change it. It's very common for kids to be able to track with a lot of different stories at the same time, and it sounds like you have got a lifelong reader in the making over there. So, well done.

(20:18):

Okay, one more for today, and then I'll answer some more questions soon in another episode.

Grace Rich (20:25):

Hi, Sarah. This is Grace Rich. I'm from Colorado, and I have five kiddos. I'm homeschooling three of them right now. I heard you say recently on a podcast that you don't assign books to your homeschool kids. And my question was how do you get by without assigning books? We are a Charlotte Mason homeschool family, so we use living books, but I can't imagine getting by without having to assign certain books to certain kids based on certain time periods. So, I would love your thoughts on that. Thanks, bye.

Sarah Mackenzie (21:01):

Great question, Grace. Yes, it is true. I assign very, very few books to my kids, even into high school, like an astonishingly small number of books to my kids well into high school. I tend to, in my homeschool, focus on assigning time and not titles. So, for example, for a high schooler, I may assign that they read two or three hours a day, not all at once. But I would not probably assign very many of the titles they're supposedly required to be reading, required in air quotes because I'm not actually assigning them. I don't usually assign what's read during reading times, but I do carve out the time and assign their time. Even my nine and my 11-year-old, they have a 30-minute quiet reading time every day. They can pick whatever they read during that time. So, I assign the time and not the titles.

(21:49):

And I think doing it this way means there's not really much delineation for my kids between "school books' and "pleasure books." I think, actually, they wouldn't really know what you were talking about if you asked them about a school book. "What are you reading for school?" They would look at you like they have no idea what you're talking about. I'm pretty sure that would happen because there is not really a delineation. Everything is pleasure reading. All reading is pleasure reading, for the most part. So, how do I get my kids to read the books I want them to read for school. Because I know you're going like, "But wait, there are books I want my kid to read that tie in with our time and history that we're learning, or classics that I want them to read that they would never pick up on their own."

(22:29):

And I do have a few strategies for that. In my home, if there is a classic or maybe a complicated book that I really want my kids to read, but I don't think they'd pick up on their own, I will pretty much always read it aloud or we'll listen to it together on audio. So, I'm not assigning the book, we're just reading it aloud together. This is my top strategy for books I want my kids to read for school. So, for example, my high schooler, we're reading 1984, which, oh my gosh, I'm so ready to be out of. We also read Animal Farm and It's a Brave New World, which is a terrible read aloud just for the record. I do not recommend it as a read aloud. Oh my goodness, just way too much dystopia, negative stuff. I'm ready to go into something much, much happier.

(23:15):

We might need to move over to Lord of the Rings or something just for fun after this. But anyway, regardless of what you're wanting your kid to read, whether it's Moby Dick or Pride and Prejudice, or we're talking about younger kids and you're thinking, "Well, I want my kids to read the Prince and the Pauper, but they're not going to pick that up on their own. It's hard." Do it as a read aloud. This is a great strategy for classics because a lot of the classics have tricky language. It's just hard. It's hard to read because that's not the way we speak anymore. They also sometimes have some tricky content, and so it's a really good way that you can talk about it, and it ends up being something that is a conversation starter in your home. So, I like classics and complicated books as read alouds and audiobooks.

(23:55):

I'm a huge Mark Twain fan, and we do all of our Mark Twain always on audiobooks forever and ever. Amen. And the actors do a much better job with the dialect, and it's just a much more enjoyable experience, in my experience. So, that's the way that I tend to do. If you were thinking about literature, literature, assignment books, that's what we do. If there are some books that I want my kids to read on their own, but I don't think they'll pick them up on their own, you could do a couple of things. I usually will create either a bookshelf or a book basket, and then I'll let them choose from there. So, it's a limited choice. So, for example, I might choose five historical fiction books that I want my son to read during his seventh grade year.

(24:43):

They might tie in with our history, the history we're learning about. So, I might go, "Okay, there's five historical fiction books I really want him to read." So, I could put those in a basket, and what I would say to my seventh grade son, and this is actually what I would say to my 12th grade son for the record, "Choose any one of these books to read this month, and when you've finished, come tell me and I'll take you out for a hamburger." Because hamburgers are his love language. Then, when we go to hamburgers, I'll use some open-ended discussion prompts to talk with him about the book, even if I haven't read it. I'll ask him maybe who was courageous in this book and what did they do to show courage? I'll ask them should questions. Should he have done that? Should she have done that?

(25:22):

What stuck with you about the book? What surprised you about the book? The key here is to choose books that, even though your kid wouldn't pick it up on their own, they'll still likely enjoy. And you could even do this by having a wider choice. So, I've done this before, too, where I will pick 10 books that align with our history or whatever else I want them to read that year. Maybe they're books that go along with what they're learning at co-op or something. And then, I'll tell them, "This year you're going to pick five of these to read." So, I've given them 10. They get to pick five. "Each month, you get to pick whichever one you're going to want to read until you've done five. When you're done with a book, come talk to me about it." And then, we get to have those open-ended conversations about books, which are really, really helpful.

(26:07):

And if you have not gotten our free guide on how to have open-ended conversations with your kids about books, even books you have not read, you totally should do that. Come to the show notes, readaloudrevival.com/226, I'll give you a handful of questions, discussion prompts, I should say, that you can use to chat with your kids about books, even the ones you have not read and how to have a great conversation that turns on all this really great thinking power way better than a comprehension test, way better than a workbook. It's going to turn your kids' power thinking on, at the same time deepening their enjoyment for reading and deepening their connection for you. It's a triple win. So, definitely grab that from the show notes if you haven't yet. That's a free guide that we have, and you can use those with any books.

(26:53):

So, that's a great strategy for "assigning books" without "assigning books," right? Think of it this way. Adult readers rarely, if ever, read assigned books. I never read assigned books, and I'm one of the most voracious readers I know. I think a more important skill is to learn how to choose books because that's what they're going to be doing most often when they're grown, and then helping them have a wide variety of experiences in their readings so that they can discover that, "Man, I didn't think I was a science fiction reader, but I loved that book." Or, "Dang, I didn't think I liked classics, but the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was hilarious or really moving," or whatever it is. So, helping them expand out from their typical choices and helping them develop the habits of real adult readers by choosing their books, you're giving them the skills to do all of that when you give them a limited selection. And the added benefit is that they're getting buy-in because they're picking.

(27:53):

So, if you give them a list of, let's say, 10 or a stack of 10 books, and say, "Just pick. You're going to read five of these or seven of these," or whatever you want it to be, "over the course of this school year. Pick one to read this month." They're going to have a lot more buy-in reading that than if you just handed them Watership Down and said, "Read this," which is almost guaranteed to turn it into broccoli for them. And almost guaranteed to make it not a book that they're going to want to reread or finish reading for school and then slip under the covers with a flashlight and read into the wee hours or read it again and again and say, 20 years from now, "That book was one of my favorite childhood memories." We want that without compromising any of the opportunities we have to help our kids become readers who have a wider taste and are learning to read things that they wouldn't have normally picked up, so they're learning about themselves and all that good stuff.

(28:45):

So, you can get all of that by just giving them some options there. I've talked about this strategy, these strategies, on a few different podcasts, so I'm going to link to those in the show notes. A couple that come to mind right away, episode 165, When Reading Starts to Feel Like School. So, if you've got kids where reading is definitely something they do more for school than for pleasure, go listen to Read Aloud Revival 165. Also, 196 is a not to miss episode. It's Teaching Literature Without a Curriculum. That one actually has a free guide that helps you learn how to do literature with all of your kids, any age, without assigning it, without a cumbersome curriculum, no comprehension questions because you know I'm not going to have any of those. Don't miss that one. That free guide is fabulous, and you want to check that out.

(29:38):

So, that's at readaloudrevival.com/196 for episode 196. Or just look for 196 in your podcast app. And then, also in 221, episode 221. It's another Q&A episode, much like this one. And I talk specifically about how to not assign books to your kids and still have kids who are voracious readers. So, okay. Whew, that was a lot of questions. It was so fun. Thank you for those questions. If you have a question that you would like me to answer on an upcoming show, go to readaloudrevival.com/message. That is where you can leave me a voicemail, and I will hopefully answer your question on an upcoming show. I'm going to do another Q&A episode very soon, so I'd love to hear from you. For now, let's hear from the kids, shall we?

Harrison Roper (30:32):

Hello. My name is Harrison Roper. I'm 10 years old, and I'm from Alabama. I recommend any book from the series called And They Found Dragons. They include my two favorite things, faith and adventure. The main character, Jack, is an 11-year-old boy, who is a Christian, trying to fight evil and save the planet.

Speaker 13 (30:51):

What's your name?

Dan (30:53):

Dan.

Speaker 13 (30:54):

And where do you live?

Dan (30:57):

I'm in Carroll, Ohio, and my birthday is June 7th.

Speaker 13 (31:04):

Yeah. What's your favorite book?

Dan (31:06):

Caveboy Crush because Caveboy Crush gets some Flowers. Then, he crushes them. And then, he found a ice clump, and he cut it out into a statue that looks like the girl. And then, he takes it to the girl's house, and then he puts it right in her house. Then, she says, "Caveboy Crush."

Speaker 13 (31:42):

What's your name?

Speaker 16 (31:50):

Emma Doy. And then, my birthday is April 25.

Speaker 13 (31:51):

What's your favorite book?

Speaker 16 (31:53):

Corduroy Lost A button.

Speaker 13 (31:55):

Yes, very good. Thank you.

Elizabeth (31:58):

Hi, my name's Elizabeth. I'm seven years old. I live in Tennessee. My favorite book is Beezus and Ramona, and I like it because she throws her doll in the oven.

Will (32:17):

My name's Will. I'm five years old. I live in Tennessee. My favorite book is Dragon Masters because I like Drake's dragon.

Speaker 19 (32:24):

Hey, what's your name?

Ben (32:26):

Ben.

Speaker 19 (32:26):

How old are you?

Ben (32:27):

Three.

Speaker 19 (32:29):

And where do you live?

Ben (32:31):

Tennessee.

Speaker 19 (32:32):

And what's your favorite book?

Ben (32:36):

The Finding Books.

Speaker 19 (32:37):

The Finding Books?

Ben (32:39):

Because we can find stuff.

Speaker 19 (32:40):

We have to find stuff? Very good.

Speaker 21 (32:43):

What's your name?

Ester Cohen (32:44):

Esther Cohen.

Speaker 21 (32:45):

And where are you from?

Ester Cohen (32:47):

Chico, California.

Speaker 21 (32:48):

How old are you?

Ester Cohen (32:50):

Four years old.

Speaker 21 (32:51):

What is your favorite book?

Ester Cohen (32:55):

My favorite book, is called I Really Like Slop by Mo Willems.

Speaker 21 (32:59):

And why would you recommend it?

Ester Cohen (33:01):

Because it's so fun, and it's the funnest book I have.

Speaker 23 (33:08):

What is your name?

Hampton Everett (33:10):

Hampton Everett.

Speaker 23 (33:11):

And how old are you?

Hampton Everett (33:13):

Five.

Speaker 23 (33:13):

And where do you live?

Hampton Everett (33:16):

Alabama.

Speaker 23 (33:17):

And what are your favorite books?

Hampton Everett (33:19):

The Ranger in Time books because they present my two favorite things, dogs and saving the world.

Oakley (33:27):

My name is Oakley.

Speaker 26 (33:30):

Oakley. That's right. How old are you Oakley?

Oakley (33:34):

I don't know.

Speaker 26 (33:35):

Say three.

Oakley (33:35):

Three.

Speaker 26 (33:35):

And where are you from?

Oakley (33:35):

[inaudible 00:33:41].

Speaker 26 (33:43):

That's right. What's your favorite book?

Oakley (33:43):

This one.

Speaker 26 (33:45):

This one. The Kids' Pictures Show vehicles book, right?

Oakley (33:50):

Yes.

Speaker 26 (33:50):

What do you like about it?

Oakley (33:50):

I like all the pictures in it.

Speaker 26 (33:50):

All the pictures in it?

Sarah Mackenzie (33:58):

Thank you, kids. The show notes for this episode are at readaloudrevival.com/226 because this is episode 226. There are more questions to answer, so I'm going to come back soon to do another one of these Q&A episodes. They're really fun. I love to hear your voices. So, thank you for leaving me those messages. And again, if you want to leave me a question to answer, or if your kids want to leave a message about one of their favorite books to be aired on the podcast, you can do all of that at readaloudrevival.com/message. I'll be back in two weeks. In the meantime, you know what to do. Go make meaningful and lasting connections with your kids through books.