Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

I remember that Beverly Cleary books were quite popular when I was a child. But I never read any of them. I am not sure why. I didn't learn to read untill 1st grade. However by 3rd grade I was reading books like
Anne of Green Gablesand its sequels. I only had a short window of interest in books at the reading level of Ramona. I do vaguely recall my parents not encouraging me to read Ramona, but they didn't forbid me from reading them.

We read
Henry Hugginsand really enjoyed it. I hope to review that later. But we just finished
Beezus and Ramonalast night, so it is fresh on my mind.

Beezus is nine years old, and her little sister Ramona is four. Ramona is constantly causing chaos in Beezus' life. We did enjoy reading this book. The situations they got into were hilarious at times. But I found myself needing to frequently comment on the story. The ways of Ramona's family definitely differ from our household. I found this occasionally annoying as well. I am glad I am not a part of Ramona's family.

First of all Ramona's behavior is atrocious. She behaves very much like a spoiled two year old. This is often excused because "she is only four". My youngest daughter is three so the idea that that type of behavior is excusable in a four year old doesn't really fly here. I frequently felt the need to point out how the consequences for such behavior would be quite different in our home.

My other concern with the book was the ending's emphasis on conditional love. Now I realize to some extent this might be semantics. But the conclusion of the book is that it is OK for Beezus to not always "love" Ramona. It is not ok for my girls to not "love" each other. I don't always expect them to like each other. And certainly "love" cannot be enforced. But I want my girls to strive to love others unconditionally.

I am glad I read this book with my girls. Even though they are young I want to lay the groundwork for critical thinking. I hope that having briefs discussions about how our views of a situation differ, will prepare my girls to interact with books on a different level. As they grow older I don't want to shield my girls from different ideas, instead I want them to learn to be discerning readers.

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

We adore this book. It is currently our favorite read aloud. It won a Newberry Honor in 1945. I had never read it as a child, so I got to experience it for the first time with the girls. Holly says she loves it. Heather liked to look at the illustrations for a long time. This book has many fascinating color illustrations. We read the book in one long sitting on a Saturday afternoon.

I really enjoyed the story. It is told simply. The girls followed it very easily. But it gives one so much to think about. One girl from an immigrant family is different and poor. She wears the same dress to school everyday. But she is the center of a "game" the other girls play since she says she has a hundred dresses in her closet. It is only after she leaves that the girls discover the beautiful truth about her hundred dresses, and face the truth about their own behavior.

One of the things I like about this story is that no one, not even the grown ups are perfect. Fault can be found with everyone in the story, as is usually the case in the real world. There are redeeming characteristics in everyone as well. Yet the story remains gentle, not gloomy, dark, or preachy. I am sure we will read this book again and again. I borrowed it from the library, but think it might show up under the Christmas tree. There is so much to talk about in the story. For now we can analyze it simply. But I believe our discussion can grow and deepen as the girls grow.

This is a quick book, but a must read if you have little girls. I very highly recommend it.

The Boxcar Children

This was our first read aloud. I picked it up at a garage sale because I fondly remembered it from my own childhood. I can't remember how old I was when I first read it. But I remember enjoying the adventure by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

The story opens with 4 orphaned siblings running away from being adopted by their grandfather. They don't know him and assume he is unkind. They eventually find an abandoned boxcar and make it their home. They are resourceful and hard working. They are very loyal to each other, and these siblings never fight. My girls, ages 3 and 5, were entranced by the story. We read it in 3 sittings.

It is funny to read a book you loved as a child as an adult. These kids were so very good. It is a bit implausible. And the book is simplistic and idealistic. But simple idealistic adventure is great for young children. I still enjoyed the story, and found myself reading ahead to find out what happens next.





This is the copy I have. It was published in 1989, when I was in high school. The book was originally published in 1924. The cover art in this 1989 edition made me bit nuts. The girls kept trying to figure out which character was which. The 80's clothing on the cover of a story clearly set in the early twentieth century was annoying. However the inside of the book, is just what I remember, including the illustrations. The illustrations are not on each page, but are frequent enough to keep my littlest's interest. They are also in an interesting silhouette style.

I highly recommend this book. I hope in the next few years each of the girls will read this book by themselves. But, I definitely consider it as possibly a repeat read aloud.

A confession, and why I created this blog

It is not often that I discover and want to admit I was soooo wrong... But this is one of those times.

When I began homeschooling I frequently heard of read-alouds. The idea seemed so unpleasant to me. Now, I love to read. But, the idea of sitting down and reading to my girls for extended periods sounded a little bit like torture. I have no idea why the concept was so unpleasant. Maybe it stemmed in part from reading the same picture books over an over again. Maybe it was from having so often read 4 or 6 completely different "stories" in one sitting. All I know is declared I "wasn't" the type to do read alouds.

Then I read the read aloud series at Homegrown Learners. I really enjoy Mary's blog and her homeschooling philosophy. Just maybe I was missing something. So I pulled out a copy of The Boxcar Children I had picked up at a garage sale. I decided I would prove to myself that we weren't read aloud types. The girls curled up next to me and sat entranced as we read the first 4 chapters. I remember how much I enjoyed the story as a child, and I was so tempted to jump ahead to remind myself what happened next. We read the book in 3 sittings.

I adore read alouds. I have been searching blogs for reviews and recommendations. In the last 2 weeks we read 4 chapter books. I decided I wanted a place to share my thoughts on them since I found other "reviews" so helpful. I had also been wanting a separate blog to post my homeschooling stuff, so Holly & Heather Homeschool was born.