Current Read-Alouds and Independent Reading Winter 2021

Welcome to the Winter 2021 edition of Current Read-Alouds. If you're not familiar with Read-Aloud Revival or Pam Barnhill (morning basket) or Brave Writer, simply click on the links 😉 I also read to the kids from our Afternoon Basket (because we can't all get going early enough to call it a Morning Basket 😂), which currently includes Story of the World Volume 1, The Gift of the Magi (oh, the vocab words!), and Reading 7 for Young Catholics, among a few other things, like this one:

Scroll down to find out who is hearing which book!

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book I never read and always wanted to. Reading aloud really helps hold everyone's attention. This one is being read to Michael, who is a junior in high school and is about to turn 18. He is reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to himself.

My Antonia is also a book I never slowed down enough to read while I was busying myself in my 20s with Jackie Collins novels (I can't even imagine reading her now!). This one is being read to Callie, who is a freshman in high school and just turned 16. Sidenote: Our little Callie has a reading problem, so please pray for her 🙏 (just kidding!) ... I'm thrilled that she is reading so voraciously after not reading at all for so many years! Her book list is too extensive to list here and needs its own post.

Esperanza Rising is a book I read to my oldest son Joel, who will be 20 this summer and now I'm reading it to 13-year-old Eva. A classic, and we learn Spanish as well, as we put the word on paper and on the bulletin board to practice as a family at dinnertime. (I told my mom about it yesterday and now she wants to read it; she also recommends American Dirt for everyone older to read.)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is what I'm reading to 11-year-old Samuel, and he loves the adventure and the humor.

Honorable mention because he's still in my kid 😉: Joel is plowing through books this winter since he's not doing lawn care. He's read Lone Survivor, Into the Fire, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games), and Fearless. He likes hero stories and always has. He's moved from Percy Jackson and Hunger Games and Maze Runner into real-life hero stories.

And, because kids are more likely to pick up reading if their parents or someone close to them are also readers, this is what I'm working on right now. I discovered Laura Vanderkam through the Organize365 podcast with Lisa Woodruff (of Sunday Basket fame; conversely, the Sunday Basket has rocked my world as well). If I ever see Laura or Lisa out and about in the world, I might start screaming and crying like a 1960s Beatles fan. It will be embarrassing for all involved, trust me.

I also keep a Book Journal, which you can read more about here.