I can’t let this Read Aloud Thursday pass by without commemorating the completion of our first chapter book read aloud for 2010. 
We began reading Farmer Boy some time right after Christmas, and we finally finished it last week. As a child, I always loved Farmer Boy best out of all the Little House books, so I was eager to re-read this one with my girls. I feel like we got kind of mired down in it somewhere in the middle, mainly because we ended up being out of the house sometimes during our usual chapter-book reading time, which is right after lunch. I also feel like sometimes the girls really didn’t pay attention since they know it so well. They have listened to the audiobook of this particular story so many times, they corrected me when I mis-read something. (Believe it or not, they’re currently listening to it again during rest time!) It is a great story, though, and it’s a good one to read aloud. Two things I can say about Almanzo Wilder: that boy loved to eat, and that boy was born a farmer. Seriously, don’t read this book if you’re hungry! One of the biggest memories I have of Farmer Boy from my own childhood is the huge quantities and varieties of food they had at their meals. I love those descriptions. My girls especially like it when Almanzo does something mischievous or has some sort of mishap. We enjoyed this book, but I am glad to be through it and on to our next read-aloud, one that is unfamiliar to all of us: The Boxcar Children.
As a side note, I am working to update my 2010 booklists. I’ve done a terrible job of keeping up with them, and here it is already March! One thing I wanted to do this year is (try to!) keep up with the audiobooks that the girls listen to, also, for future reference. Look for all of that information in the sidebar some day in the near future! 🙂
What has your family enjoyed together this week? Please leave a link to your blog, or if you don’t blog, simply leave a comment.
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Have a terrific Read Aloud Thursday!
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Filed under: Audiobooks, Juvenile Fiction, Read Aloud Thursday |
Hope Is the Word 
It’s the first time I’ve joined Read Aloud Thursday, and it’s lovely to read your comments about Farmer Boy. I re-read all the series when I was up in the night with my second daughter in the months after she was born, and I can’t wait to read them out loud with my girls. At the moment we’ve just finished the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe so I suspect we might be with CS Lewis for a while before we can enjoy the Little House books.
Love your review, Amy. That’s exactly what I’ve always remembered about Farmer Boy — the food descriptions!
Someone asked Laura Ingalls Wilder if it was boring eating the same thing all the time. She said no, that what was boring was hunger. But reading Farmer Boy makes the possibility of an abundant and varied dinner table look pretty appealing!
I’m in with an eclectic post this week. Thanks for hosting!
I think I may do this one soon, too. It’s always been my favorite as well – and I love the food descriptions! 🙂 We’re reading The Bobbsey Twins right now … N1’s first choice would have been either the 2nd in the My Father’s Dragon series or Ramona the Pest, but we are waiting on both on hold from the library so we grabbed something from home.
Ah, the Bobbsey Twins–fun! I need to introduce my girls to them!
I still haven’t officially introduced my girls to Ramona, either, ‘though they’ve met her through a couple of Henry audiobooks. They think she’s HILARIOUS (and she is). I’ll never forget Louise going around saying, “I want some PTA!” (This is from Henry and Ribsy, I think). 🙂
That’s so funny b/c my girls yell that same “PTA” line at random moments just to crack themselves up. It is pretty funny.
We are just finishing up the Ramona series on audio (We did Henry Huggins in the fall.). All the Ramona books are read by Stockard Channing and my girls have perfected their Stockard Channing voices, which they love to use when they are pretending to be grown-ups!
We read Farmer Boy last year and loved it. Just finished On the Banks of Plum Creek. Taking a break from the series and now started a new read aloud for literature about an artist.
Blessings
diane
My favorite so far from this week’s library bag is a version of “Princess and the Pea.” It’s by Lauren Child. The artwork is done partly with paper dolls and is very quirky. The story is much more detailed than other versions we’ve read and I like the princess much better than usual. (My girls love this story so we’ve been through lots of versions.)
Ha! I never thought of Farmer Boy as involving so much food but I suppose you are right. Congrats on your first chapter book for 2010! =)
Cool links on the sidebar too. I’ll look for the audio book link. =)
Thanks, as always, for hosting!
We’ve taken a break from the Little House books for awhile. I can’t wait to read Farmer Boy with my daughter. This week we concentrated on a clover theme.
Since I haven’t grown up here, I’ve never read any of the classic books. I am looking forward to reading them with my daughter when she is a little older. I just got Fairy Tales in the library from Barefoot books – this is going to be our main read-aloud for the next week, since this is the book with many stories.
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