Are there certain books in your life that you associate with certain places because that’s where you were when you read them? Maybe it happened because someone special read you that book, and you’ll always associate that book with that person and place, for example. This is but one of the memories and associations I want my girls to have with books as they grow older. Having such associations assumes such an intimacy with books, I think, which is what I aspire to here at the House of Hope.
My girls and I finished finished Betsy-Tacy while on vacation last week, and I think I’ll always remember lying in the hotel bed with the girls and reading this endearing little book. To put it simply, we loved this story. I feel almost certain that Lulu, at least, would’ve listened to this whole short novel in one sitting if I had been willing to read it. I don’t know if it is because that at 5 1/2 and almost 4, my girls are about the same age as Betsy and Tacy, or if our reaction to this story is completely usual, but the feeling I got was that we all would’ve loved it if Betsy or Tacy (or more likely, both!) had appeared on our front doorstep, all dressed up, and offered us a calling card. What I loved most about this sweet, sweet story is how perfectly it captures the beauty of childish imagination. A whole chapter might pass in which we were engrossed in one of the girls’ imaginative play-times, and it was completely possible to forget that what we were reading wasn’t really happening. I think I might have to replace my former pick of the Elmer and the Dragon books with Betsy-Tacy as the perfect read-aloud for preschool-aged children. (Well, this one and Charlotte’s Web, of course. And Betsy-Tacy might possibly be a girl book, but someone who reads to boys will have to verify this.)
I’m so glad I learned about the Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge at A Library Is a Hospital for the Mind because that is what prompted me to pick up Betsy-Tacy now rather than later. Have you read any of Maud Hart Lovelace’s delightful stories to your family? If you haven’t, there’s no time like this month, thanks to this inspiring challenge! To top it all off, A Library Is a Hospital for the Mind is also hosting a giveaway of the entire Betsy-Tacy collection! Hurry, though, because this giveaway ends October 17!
So, what have you and yours been reading together this week? Please share with us and inspire us for our future read-aloud endeavors! Leave a link by clicking on MckLinky link below. If you don’t have a blog, simply leave a comment.
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Have a happy Read Aloud Thursday!
Filed under: Challenges, Memes, and Carnivals, Juvenile Fiction, Read Aloud Thursday |
Hope Is the Word 
=D I, too, am so glad Sarah is hosting this challenge and that I’ve been prompted to get into it. Isn’t it fabulous!? I absolutely love it. It’s charming, endearing, comforting and everything else you said.
We didn’t read much this week but here is the link to what we did accomplish:
http://www.readingmylibrary.com/2009/10/read-aloud-thursday_15.html
Wow, this really makes me want to pick up a copy of this and check it out — for myself, even though the girls are both past preschool age.
We’re still working through The Book of Three and assorted picture books this week.
Oh, Janet, you really must. And no matter that your girls are a little older–I think they’ll still enjoy it. There are lots of books in the series; they follow Betsy & Co. up through high school, I believe.
[…] enchanted us all. I’ll never forget lying in bed in our hotel room on vacation and finishing this book with […]