Category Archives: Best Books

2012 in Review–the Books Edition (+ my top picks!)

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My dear mother-in-law had this “book lovers’ tree” waiting on us on Christmas Day. :-)

It’s time for one of my favorite posts of the year: the bookish year-in-review. I’ve attempted this year to keep a running list of the books I’ve read, and while I can’t vouch for the fact that every single title I read made my list, I feel confident that it’s mostly complete.  (By the way, I keep all my lists up under the tab marked “Booklists.”  :-) )

According to my list, this year I’ve completed (well, excepting Les Misérables, but I’m determined to complete it before 2012 is history) somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty-five books.  I hoped to read a book a week, so I did that.  In addition to the ones I read on my own, I also read about nineteen books aloud to my children, so that brings my total up to seventy-four.  At this stage in my life, that’s a respectable number.  ;-)  This year was extremely heavy on the middle grade fiction end of things, which I think I can blame on the pregnancy funk I’ve been in the last half of the year.  I just hadn’t the mental capacity to hold out for anything longer or more complicated for several months.  However, I’m finishing strong with Les Misérables, a classic I’ve attempted to read two times before.  That makes me happy.

As far as favorites go, I really enjoyed all the adult fiction I read this year, so most of that makes the cut.

1.  The book that totally swept me away (and the only one that I actually handed off to a friend this year, something I rarely do) is The City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell.  I don’t often re-read fiction, but I think this one is one I’ll want to visit again in the future.  If you like quiet, peaceful, thoughtful reads, this is the book for you.
2.  I was wowed by Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.  Although marketed as a piece of YA fiction, I would have no qualms recommending it to any adult who enjoys spy stories, World War II fiction, or adventures.  I’m eager to see what kind of accolades this one garners.

3.  I rediscovered a genre I enjoyed a lot in my younger days as a reader this year:  mysteries.  I think one of my problems in reading mysteries is that so much depends on remembering a lot of details, and my brain is not too good at that anymore.  Still, I enjoyed every mystery I read (enough that I hope to read more by the authors I read this year), but the one that stands out as a favorite is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.  I love good characterization even more than plot, so this book really tickled me.  I look forward to reading more of Flavia de Luce.

4.  You knew I’d pick Les Misérables, didn’t you?  Although I haven’t finished it and I’m a bit too close to it (and the movie, which we saw yesterday) to really be objective about it, I know it deserves a place in my top ten.  Such a sweeping tale of love and redemption!  Wow.

For the past few years I’ve tried to read a lot of new children’s fiction, mostly thanks to the Cybils.  Although by the end of the year I’m pretty well over it (that is, until the shortlists come out!), I still look book and realize I read quite a few great stories.

5.  Hands down, my favorite middle grade novel this year is Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt.  I love how beautifully Schmidt weaves the theme of hope into every chapter of this sad (but ultimately hopeful and uplifting) story.  Highly Recommended.  

6.  I also loved Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai for similar reasons, though the stories are very different from each other.  I love reading books about the immigrant experience, and this novel-in-verse succeeded in convincing me that maybe I do like this genre after all.

7.  I’ve yet to meet a Joan Bauer novel I don’t like, and Close to Famous is no exception.  Quirky characters in a story shot through with hope?  Yes, please.

8.  Laugh with the Moon by Shana Berg satisfied my need for a story in an exotic locale.  I didn’t read any Alexander McCall Smith this year, but this one made me long for the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

 9.  Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry is the only audiobook to make my list, so I’m not sure how much the narrator played a part in my loving this quiet tale of a ranching family in the state of Washington.  I have to think I’d love it just the same if I read it on my own.  Highly Recommended.

10.  Last, I have to add Splendors and Glooms by Laura Ann Schlitz to my list.  While it is very dark for a children’s novel especially, it is so well written that it stands head and shoulders above the other novels I read this year.  It’s reminiscent in style to Dickens, if that tells you anything.

I didn’t read much nonfiction, though all of it was good (or else I wouldn’t have finished it, most likely).  I hope to remedy that in the new year, but that’s a post for another day.

Check out Semicolon this week (and especially this Saturday’s Review of Books) for more lists.  

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Previous years’ top picks posts are linked below:

Read Aloud Thursday–2012 in Review & Top Picks

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This time of the year I usually feel a little out of touch with where we’ve been academically since we’ve been on break from school for a week or two.  However, I feel a tad better about it after spending some time listing and linking the books we’ve read this calendar year.  Reading aloud is the cornerstone of our homeschool.  While I’d like to think that if we weren’t homeschooling we’d still make time to read aloud a lot, realistically I know that the fewer hours we spend together, the less likely it would be to actually happen.  Actually, I still feel like we could read aloud more, and we’re together practically all the time.  :-)  Anyway, 19 chapter books (a few of which I read only with Louise) is nothing to sneeze at; in fact, it’s the largest number of chapter books we’ve read in a given year to date.  This actually surprises me because the last half of the year, during which I suffered with pregnancy nausea and lethargy, felt so unproductive and scattered.  Perhaps there is hope for us after all.  :-)

Without further ado, the list:

1.  Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

2.  Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells

3.  Maybelle Goes to Tea by Katie Speck (read with Louise)

4.  Maybelle in the Soup by Katie Speck (read with Louise)

5.  Who in the World Was the Unready King? by Connie Clark

6.  Who in the World Was the Acrobatic Princess? by Robin Phillips

7.  The Shadow of the Wolf by Gloria Whelan (read with Louise)

8.  Little Britches by Ralph Moody

9.  Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager

10.  Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor

11.  The Silver Chair  by C.S. Lewis

12.  Star of Light by Patricia M. St. John

13.  Man of the Family by Ralph Moody

14.  The Children’s Homer by Padraic Colum

15.  The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

16.  The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

17.  Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary (read with Louise)

18.  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

19.  The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster


I polled the girls separately to get their opinions on which book they liked the best.  At age just-turned-7, Louise’s  top pick is The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, despite the fact
(as she quickly pointed out to me) that she only heard part of the story.  (I had started this book as a shared reading with Lulu, but after we’d read about half of it, Louise joined us.)  Her second pick, surprisingly, is Maybelle in the Soup by Katie Speck.  She and I read this book together, and while it wasn’t my favorite, I can see why she has fond memories of it.


Eight-and-a-half year old Lulu’s top pick of the year is Little Britches by Ralph Moody, which doesn’t surprise me in the least since she was begging on Christmas Day to read the book herself.  (I’m holding off on turning her loose with this one because it has a good bit of bad language, particularly God’s name used as a curse, in certain parts of it.)  
Her second-best favorite is The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, another pick which doesn’t surprise me because she just re-read it herself on our recent vacation which involved a long car trip.  One of the definite positive side-effects of lots of reading aloud in our home has been that the girls have been encouraged to pick up books that they otherwise might not have shown an interest in and read them for themselves.  Repeated exposure to these wonderfully crafted stories can’t be a bad thing.

Picking my own favorite (or favorites, even!) is hard.  I can truly say that every single book I read aloud to my children, with the exception of the simpler stories I read aloud with Louise, was complex enough in one way or another to keep my more mature sensibilities engaged through the whole work.  Every title holds sweet and precious memories for me.  However, if I have to choose my favorites (and you want me to, right?), I think I’d pick The Little White Horse as my number one pick.  I went into it with no preconceived ideas and was delighted at the fantastical world so intricately woven by Elizabeth Goudge.
Another favorite is Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray.  I love historical fiction, so this Medieval tale perfectly suits my preferences.  I also love that we were able to make connections between it and another Medieval favorite, The Door in the Wall.  (The link is to my review when I read the book for my own pleasure, but the girls have listened to the story since then in audio numerous times.  It truly is a gem.)

I also love The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.  This is one of those books that I wondered why I hadn’t already read when I finished it.  I’d like to go back and re-read it myself, just to savor the wordplay.

An honorable mention goes this year to The Children’s Homer by Padraic Colum as the book that most surprised me for how much we all enjoyed it.  Those Greeks never cease to amaze me!  

Of course, we also read a boatload of picture books, lots of picture nonfiction, and some poetry.  The DLM has begun expressing his preferences (here, here, here, and here), and I am thoroughly enjoying revisiting old favorites with him, as well as discovering lots of new-to-me titles and authors.

I’m excited about what the new year holds for our reading aloud.  I’m still pondering what to read next.  Our last Christmas title (The Thirteen Days of Christmas) stalled out around chapter five due to our vacation and Christmas busy-ness, but I plan to pick it up next Christmas, Lord willing.  Reading aloud is one of the great pleasures of my life (though in the interest of full disclosure I should also say that it has gotten exponentially harder with a chatty, busy 2 1/2 year old boy in the house), and it’s one I plan to practice here at the House of Hope for a long, long time.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, you can find previous years’ posts at the following links:



Oh, No! by Candace Fleming

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I thought this new picture book deserving of its own post because it is a new favorite, as in we have read it half-a-million times already, here at the House of Hope.  It’s the number one pick of our resident two year old, the DLM.  He loves it so much that all we have to do to distract him from whatever it is he’s not supposed to be doing at the moment is to mention the title Oh, No! to him, and he’s ready to scurry off to his bedroom, climb into any old lap cozily situated in the platform rocker,  plop his fingers into his mouth (index and middle, a family trait), and commence to listening and reciting.  Candace Fleming has hit the toddler and preschool pay dirt with this title.  It’s a simple tale, with plenty of rhyme, onomatopoeia, and repetition, things most little ones love.  Frog, mouse, loris, sun bear, and monkey all fall into a deep, deep hole, all under the watchful eye of a nearby tiger.  Each animal makes its own distinct sound; our favorite is the mouse’s “Pippa-eeek!”   Just as tiger is ready to pounce on the captive animals, they are rescued by a kindly giant of the animal kingdom, and tiger gets his (gentle) comeuppance.  There’s a bit of suspense in the story, but it’s not too scary.  It reminds me a bit of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, a book my girls loved when they were younger.  Caldecott-winning artist Eric Rohmann‘s relief prints which accompany this story are beautifully expressive and capture the suspense and emotion of the story perfectly.  In fact, it would be hard for me to say what I love most about this book–the artwork or the lilting text.  The DLM and I both give this a hearty Highly Recommended, and we’re adding it to the list of titles he loves.  I won’t be a bit surprised if this one wins. . .something.  (Schwartz & Wade, 2012)

Related links and reviews elsewhere:

 

Read Aloud Thursday–Mitton and Parker books

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We interrupt this Cybils-fest to bring you this week’s Read Aloud Thursday.  :-)

You’re probably expecting some shiny, new picture books for today’s RAT, but no, today I have some tried-and-true favorites that most of you probably have memorized.  I’ve seen these books around for forever, but since we now have a resident two year old who loves all things vehicular, I’ve only now become intimately acquainted with the colorful, rhyming picture books of Tony Mitton and Ant Parker.  The books we’ve read are from the Amazing Machine series, and they’re billed as “an information series about vehicles.”  So far we’ve only read three of the titles, but since we’ve read them about 1,234,789, I know whereof I write.  I’ve even learned a little something about airplanes, trains, and tractors after reading these rhyming picture books!  I think these are definitely some that we’ll be adding to our private collection here at home.  Until then, next up on our library list:  the rest of the series!  Highly, Highly Recommended.  (Kingfisher)

P.S. Don’t miss my resurrected Nonfiction Monday feature.  Most of these books never fail to make terrific read-alouds, too!  This week’s entry, Ocean Sunlight, is especially good! 

What’s in your read aloud basket this week?



Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

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Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt is a book that took me by surprise.  I remembered reading some positive reviews of it, so when I saw it at the library’s used bookstore, I bought it.  I have to say that it doesn’t have the most appealing of covers, but knowing that others whom I respect and usually agree with liked it, I was willing to give it a try.  It turns out that it was just the thing for me to read during this period of extreme exhaustion and lethargy that I’ve been experiencing.  I love books that are full of hope, that have hope as a theme.  Okay for Now is that and much, much more.

Okay for Now is the story of Doug Swieteck.  It’s 1967 or so, and Doug, along with his older brother and parents, is moving to “stupid” Marysville, New York, where Doug’s blowhard of a father has gotten a job after losing his.  Doug’s dad is an abusive man, a man whose anger gets the best of him almost every time.  When Doug and his family arrive in Marysville, Doug is on the cusp–will he walk in the footsteps of his father, a path that his older brothers are gravitating towards?  Well, he might, except for a bunch of things–an entire confluence of complex things–that are orchestrated to change the direction of his life.  These things include, but are not limited to, the art of James Audubon, baseball, a Saturday grocery delivery job, a Broadway play, bad reputations, the Vietnam War, orchids, first love, and the moon landing.  Intrigued yet?

This story really defies an easy summary, so instead I’ll just write about what I love so much about it.  I love how beautifully Schmidt uses Audubon’s birds to communicate themes.  While it’s not exactly inconspicuous, it is brilliant.  I love it.  I love how Schmidt leaves not a one–not one single one–of his characters without hope.  He could easily have done than, especially considering how some of them begin, but he doesn’t.  While we might consider this a little too neatly tied-up package, juvenile literature (and perhaps even young adult, although the lines blur here, I think) needs to be hopeful.  Shoot, I’m almost forty years old, and I need what I read to be hopeful.  I love how he includes so many historical events and people–we go from the Vietnam War (which is very up-close and personal because of Doug’s brother’s involvement) and war protestors to Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poetry to Jane Eyre in just a scant few pages.  I love how Schmidt shows the power in positive teen/adult relationships.  Doug finds mentors and friends all over town, and they literally change his life.  As a former public school teacher, this book really made me go back and consider the behavior of some of my students in a different light.  What’s really going on behind the scenes with that person? The thing I love most of all, though, is Doug’s voice.  Schmidt gets it just right.  It is like Doug is telling the story.  Here’s a snippet: 

Do you know how often it snows in stupid Marysville during a winter?  Once a week.  Maybe twice.  And do you know on what day of the week it always snows?  Saturday.  Every Saturday for most of January and on into February.  Every Saturday.

You remember what I do on Saturday mornings?

And do you think deliveries stop just because it’s snowing, and blowing, and blizzarding, and the snow isn’t turning to slush like it would be on Long Island and it’s getting deeper and deeper, and the cold is so bad that Joe Pepitone’s jacket doesn’t help much at all and my fingers are starting to stick to the handle of the wagon so I have to pull Joe Pepitone’s sleeves down over my hands but I don’t have anything for my ears, which were about to snap off until Mr. Loeffler gave me this gray wool cap that Lil says looks great on me but I think makes me look like a chump but I wear it anyway because I really don’t want my ears to snap off and besides did I tell you that Lil says it looks great on me?  (229-230)

 Sherry says in this post that “Schmidt was cheated out of a Newbery award” when Dead End in Norvelt won this year’s Newbery, and I couldn’t agree more.   I thought Norvelt was weird and I hated the ending, but I love Okay for Now through and through.  I think it will make my favorites list this year.  Highly, Highly (Highly) Recommended.  (Clarion, 2011)

Read Aloud Thursday–The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

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The Silver Chair is one of my favorites of the Chronicles of Narnia, coming in after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and possibly The Voyage of the Dawn Treader–it’s definitely in the top three.  Do you know why I love it so much?  Puddleglum.  Pure and simple.  Never has a character, except for perhaps a few of those of A.A. Milne, ever captured the essence of my personality as C.S. Lewis did in Puddleglum.  Yes–there you have it, folks–I am the consummate pessimist who tries very hard to “put a good face on things,” to borrow dear Puddleglum’s own explanation of how best to approach the world and all its disappointments.   I was so excited to share Puddleglum with my girls!  I’m pretty sure they didn’t get why I love him so much, but that certainly didn’t keep me from enjoying my time spent underground with him, Scrubb, and Pole. We all love Puddleglum because of his bullheaded faithfulness to Aslan and Narnia, even in the face of overwhelming doubt and odds.  Of course, this story is just replete with all kinds of spiritual imagery, which is something I never, ever tire of even after revisiting Narnia for the nth time.   One thing I noticed is how much imagery from the Revelation, not to mention Arthurian legend (though I could be wrong here), there is in this story.  Another thing I noticed since I read this one aloud for the very first time (after having read it silently to myself several times in the past) is the wonderful assonance Lewis uses with the owls.  Glimfeather says,

Whoo!  Tu-whoo!  What a to-do!  I can’t think clearly yet.  It’s too early.  (32)

 

Imagine you’re an owl and then read that aloud.  See what I mean?  :-)  

Simply put, I love The Silver Chair, and now my girls do, too.  I’ve looked forward to reading this one to them for a long time.  I love how it shows allegorically the “many dangers, toils, and snares” (to borrow a line from a famous hymn) that we might encounter in our lives as Christians, but in the end “[our] quest will be worth all the pains it cost” (199).  What heroism!  What bravery!  What faithfulness!  What Truth!  I love it!

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge

This is the fourth of the Narnian Chronicles I’ve read aloud to my girls, all thanks to Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge.  Here are links to all my previous Narnia posts:

What have you been reading with your family?


Read Aloud Thursday–some preschoolish favorites

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You know, aside from the stress inherent in teaching two older students while wrangling a two year old, I am really enjoying this bonus shot at overseeing and observing the learning process of a toddler once again.  As most older parents who have a bit of distance between their firstborn and their lastborn know, it is so interesting and gratifying to sit back and watch the process through experienced eyes.  I feel like I might even get it right this time.  ;-)   I shared some of the DLM’s favorites back in March.  Today I’m again sharing a few of the DLM’s current favorites, ones that I realize now are ideal preschool books.  I’m not a fan of intentional academic preschool for little bitty kids, but I think the way we do it, spread out over oh, four or five years, is just about right.  ;-)

Trucks Go by Steve Light is a language lover’s delight.  This large-format picture book (it’s long and narrow, maybe about twice as long as the usual board book and about the same width) is chock full of onomatopoeia.  I bought this one for the DLM on his second birthday, hoping that it would pique his interest since he had recently begun giving his play-time sound effects–you know, the requisite “vrrrrrm” sound when he plays with cars, which no one remembers having taught him.  :-)   The book is deceptively simply–a two page spread of a type of truck on one page, and the facing page says something like this:

THE GARBAGE TRUCK GOES,

BURBABA BURBABA BURBABA

SCREECH BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

CRUNCH CRUNCH

CRUNCH

Let me tell you, nothing will take a reader down a peg or two than having to make all the distinct sounds of a garbage truck, a box truck, an auto carrier, a tanker truck, a fire truck, a tow truck, a cement truck, and a horse trailer!  The text is in all caps and gets larger, line-by-line.  The background of each page of text is a solid primary color.  All of this certainly encourages reading it with vim and vigor.  The illustrations themselves are simple, kid-pleasing watercolor paintings.  (See examples of Steve Light’s artwork on his website.)  (Chronicle, 2008)

Everybody knows Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault‘s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, right?  I’ll be honest and say that I have never loved ABC books, but I’m seeing them with new, DLM inspired eyes, and the board book Chicka Chicka ABC is definitely a winner around the House of Hope.  This sing-songy tribute to the letters of the alphabet as they make their way up the coconut tree is just plain fun.  I love the fact that all of the letters are in lower case since most words the DLM will encounter as a beginning reader in a few years will be, too.  Lois Ehlert‘s illustrations are classic.  (Little Simon, 1989)

Cleo’s Counting Book by Caroline Mockford is such a fun way for a toddler or preschooler to learn the numbers one through ten.  I love that all the numbers are listed in order across the bottom of the first two-page spread.  The next eight spreads are typical for a counting book–Cleo is pictured with a number of items as she goes about her neighborhood. The book ends with Cleo counting from one to ten again, all on one page, and then the last page has Cleo counting backwards.  I love that!  This book has lots and lots of repetition, which is just what does the trick.  I think this book plus the DLM’s usual seat in my lap while I play RightStart Math card games with my girls are what has taught him to recognize his numbers with a high degree of accuracy.  This book gets bonus points with him because it’s about a cat (which he loves) and the illustrations are bright and appealing.  (Barefoot Books, 2003)

These last couple of books are honestly not ones I really enjoy reading aloud, but the DLM will pick these over many of our other books. I’ve come to appreciate these simple concept books which basically contain words and pictures but no story or plot.  For example, the Bible book is mostly a simple collection of photographic images of things found in the Bible:  foods, animals, everyday tools, etc.  About halfway through the book it goes from being simply identification of objects to counting, colors, shapes, and sizes.  The numbers book is similar except that it also includes some simple math problems at the end.  For a two year old, learning that everything has a name and what that name is is important.  These books allow us to start at identifying some pretty interesting objects and things and then move into classifying and categorizing them.  Although we don’t have many opportunities to identify a jackal in our day to day existence, the DLM pretty much has it and other Bible animals down cold by now.  :-) (Dorling Kindersley).

Our poolside reading while the girls have their swimming lesson this week

All of these books earn the DLM’s seal of approval and a Highly Recommended from the House of Hope.  What are your favorite toddler and/or preschool books?

**Oh, and just in case you missed it, I was honored to be this week’s Homeschool Guest at Homegrown Learners.  What did I write about?  Reading aloud, of course!

Read Aloud Thursday–The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

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Reading Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth aloud to my girls was like doing an intellectual and linguistic trapeze act.  Words and phrases that mean one thing in real life take on unexpected, literal meanings in this book, and there are puns galore:  a ticking watchdog named Tock;  princesses named Rhyme and Reason who need to be rescued and returned to their kingdom for wisdom to reign;  An short policeman named (what else?) Officer Shrift; a which (not to be confused with a witch) named Faintly Macabre; and the list could go on and on and on.  Where has this book been all my life?  Seriously!  I loved it–every minute of it, and the girls were happily along for the ride.  For them it was more about Milo’s quest–to find the princesses and return them to their rightful place in the kindgom, thereby reuniting the kingdom of words and the kingdom of numbers.  The story goes from one zany episode to another, in very quick succession.  There’s no down time and not a moment to not pay attention, or you’ll miss something important.  The descriptions fairly sing in this story, and not a word is wasted.  Here’s a bit from the chapter in which Milo conducts an orchestra that literally plays color into the world:

As if understanding his hand signal perfectly, a single piccolo played a single note and off in the east a solitary shaft of cool lemon light flicked across the sky.  Milo smiled happily and then cautiously crooked his finger again.  This time two more piccolos and a flute joined in and three more rays of light danced lightly into view.  Then with both hands he made a great circular sweep in the air and watched with delight as all the musicians began to play at once.

The cellos made the hills glow red, and the leaves and grass were tipped with a soft pale green as the violins began their song.  Only the bass fiddles rested as the entire orchestra washed the forest in color. 

Isn’t that wonderful? 

My only regret, and it’s a small one, is that we read this one a bit too quickly.  I think this is one to read more slowly, to savor every twisted phrase.  Did my girls catch all this wordplay?  Not by a long shot.  I don’t think I caught it all, which is all the more reason to revisit it in a year or two. 

 The Phantom Tollbooth was Juster‘s first published work, which is absolutely amazing.  In 2006, his The Hello, Goodbye Window won the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations by Chris Raschka (whom I’ve written a bit about here).  That’s quite a career, and as of 2010, he was still writing.  Jules Feiffer drew the illustrations for The Phantom Tollbooth, and in 2010 Feiffer and Juster collaborated again on The Odious Ogre.  Wow!  This video is from the 2010 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. {swoon}, and in it Juster and Feiffer discuss their collaboration.  Their part starts at about 3:30. 

 

I’d love to read all of his books.  He is definitely a wordsmith par excellence.  Highly, Highly Recommended.  (Random House, 1961)



Read Aloud Thursday–Russell Hoban’s Frances stories

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 I haven’t highlighted an author or illustrator properly in a long time, and I’ve been wanting to pull Russell Hoban’s Frances books out and take a better look at them.  These two desires, then, are converging in today’s Read Aloud Thursday.  I am anything but a Russell Hoban expert; in fact, I first met him and his most beloved creation, Frances, when I was in graduate school to become a school media specialist.  I’ve recounted before how my beloved children’s literature professor read Frances to perfection.  I’ll never forget Dr. Atkinson reading one of Frances’ sad little songs in a lilting, sing-song voice.  I could hear Frances in her tones and timbre.  At the age of twenty-seven, I was hooked. 

Some ten-plus years and three children later, I appreciate Frances even more.  Life with little children can be difficult, no doubt about it. 
They have an agenda, and sometimes we don’t even have an inkling what it is.  Other times we do have an idea, but their desires and goals don’t always mesh with ours.  Like Frances, they want bread and jam when what we offer is a hardboiled egg.  Actually,though, for me the real stars of the stories are Frances’ parents.  I admire them so for their calm, their wit, and their patient forbearance: Frances gets out of bed a total of six times before finally settling down to sleep in Bedtime for Frances.  Father finally does issue an ultimatum, but that’s after he and the longsuffering Mrs. Badger (do they have a last name?) have

  • given Frances a glass of milk
  • carried Frances piggyback-style to bed (Father)
  • kissed Frances three times
  • given Frances her teddy bear (Father) and doll (Mother)
  • opened Frances’ door
  • reassured Frances that the tiger in her room is a friendly tiger
  • denied Frances the privilege of watching TV
  • given Frances a piece of cake
  • advised Frances how to deal with the giant in her room
  • checked on a crack in the ceiling in Frances’ bedroom whiles she brushes her teeth (this, after having been sent to bed with apparently dirty teeth three times)
  • advised Frances how to deal with the crack in her room, the possible home of many scary creatures
  • been awakened from a dead sleep by Frances staring at him (Father)
  •  advised Frances why the curtains in her room are blowing
  • sent Frances back to her bedroom four times.

While there’s no denying that Frances is anything but obedient, there’s also no denying that this scenario is entirely realistic.  I can see it happening at our house, though to be honest neither Steady Eddie nor I am as longsuffering as Frances’ parents.  Still, it’s a such a pithy, true vignette that I love reading it.  It tickles me.  


Russell Hoban wrote five Frances stories, with a sixth, Egg Thoughts and Frances Songs, being a collection of previously unrecorded songs (save the one delightful egg song) that Frances composed about her life.  Apparently this one is out of print, and I’d give a stack of Boxcar Childrens to own a copy.  Russell Hoban‘s first wife (whom he eventually divorced), Lillian Hoban, was the illustrator responsible for the very expressive badgers in five of the six books; Garth Williams (yes, the same one you’re thinking of) illustrated Bedtime for Frances.  Another notable thing about Russell Hoban is that he is the brother of the author/illustrator Tana Hoban. (I wrote about a few of her books here.) 

I love reading aloud to my children.  I love sharing books I personally enjoy with them.  When the two converge–perfection! 

Which author’s books do you particularly enjoy reading aloud to your children?

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