Family Read Aloud Novels

Since nursing my oldest to sleep quit being an option, I started reading my pods to sleep each night. The time they stop nursing is also about the time they move out of the crib, under my roof, so it makes for a comfortable cuddle-and-read. Until my oldest was five, we always read picture books. I, like you, have several memorized, such as:A super favorite of mine andbecause no one can beat Seuss for goofy made-up-words rhyming. Also

because I made up a tune for the I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always part which felt like a lullaby--and because it made me cry some nights.

When my son was five, something changed in our family. We decided to home school. The very first thing we implemented in our home school curriculum was the reading of classics as a family. I tucked in our three and five year old, turned out the bedroom light, turned on the hall light, sat in the door frame, and began reading,

“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

“Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last
night.”

“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.

“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.”

They were captivated; I was captivated. After several nights, I knew this would be an integral part of our home education.

In honor of October, dark evenings and cool temperatures (because it is hard to get any of us to settle down to listen to a book when it light and hot at 9:30 pm), I want to refer you to some of our favorites. But first, a few rules:

1. Make sure everyone has done all of their evening routine such as brushing teeth, getting a drink, putting the bike in the garage and saying goodnight to the pet.
2. Children have to stay laying down--if a head pops up, I stop reading. The commotion makes it hard for the others to hear and if they sit up, soon their feet are hanging down, and then they are on your lap or playing with toys.
3. Read, don't talk too much. You know your children. You know whether they understood that last paragraph or word. If they didn't, give a brief explanation and get back to reading. DO NOT use this time to preach, teach or discuss. Preaching, teaching and discussion are necessary parts of active reading, but save that for the next day or the end of the chapter. In-depth philosophising detracts from the flow of the story.
4. Choose carefully which questions you answer. Suspense is half of why books are better than their motion picture counterparts. Sometimes you have to wait ten whole pages to find out the answer to your question. Again, try not to stop the flow the author so carefully established.
5. Make your reading time match the attention span of your listeners. If they can only listen for five minutes, don't force them to listen for ten. You don't want them to hate this. Don't worry if you don't read for long at the beginning. After so much listening practice, I'm usually the one to plead to stop because my voice starts to give out after an hour.
6. If no one likes the book you chose, quit. It's okay if everyone else in the world loves it. There are too many wonderful books to spend your time on crappy ones. Having said this, make sure you give it a good chance. I have a fifty page rule; give the author at least fifty pages to warm up. You might just need to wait a few years and try again when your children are older.

Now, put on the flannel, turn down the light, dispense with last minute potty breaks and enjoy any of these family reads.

Charlotte's Web by EB White (Always, always start with this.)
Stuart Little by EB White
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder *series*
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis *series*
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen *series*
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg
Harry Potter by JK Rowling *series*
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O'Brien
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald *series*
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary *series*
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix *series*
Little Britches by Ralph Moody *series*
Holes by Louis Sachar
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Peter Pan by JM Barrie
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
The Great Brain by John Dennis Fitzgerald *series*

This is by no means a complete list, but hopefully it will get you started or give you a few new ideas. There are many, many great books for this age that I think are too difficult to read aloud (The Secret Garden and Huckleberry Finn, for example).

Good luck and enjoy the quiet unity of reading the same story at the same time.