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February Reading Update

This year I am continuing to apply 5 guiding principles to my reading life.

In February those guiding principles served me quite well. It was personally a hard month, and those guiding principles helped me make reading choices, and because of those choices I feel as if I was led to just the right books.

While I read less than usual, I gained MORE from the books I did read.

As I’ve had to do with many other things, I’ve tuned out what the world is saying and focused on what I know to be true - receiving book recommendations from trusted friends and going back on lists of books I’ve always wanted to read. (After all, the goal of my reading life is to focus on what is true, beautiful, and GOOD.)

February 2021 Reading Update

A Favorite Reading Resource

One resource I’ve loved is Scribd.

For $9.99 each month I have a wonderful selection of audio and digital books. Audiobooks have been my constant companions the past year, and eBooks have been a way for me to keep reading in bed at night and not disturb my husband!

We use Scribd on multiple devices, so my husband is taking advantage of the membership as well!

February 2021 Books

There are only two books this month that I would say were not for me: Lady in Waiting and Keeper of Lost Things.

While Lady in Waiting was a bit intriguing because it gave me more information about the British royal family, (I loved The Crown and have been interested in royal history) I didn’t think the book was very well-written and the waste and playboy lifestyle of the aristocracy in the book truly bothered me.

Keeper of Lost Things had a lot of cursing (in the same sentence as taking the Lord’s name in vain) and it automatically turned me off. There were parts of the story that made me chuckle and that were also quite clever, but I can’t recommend the book to anyone in good conscience.

February 2021 Reading Update

Here are my three favorites of the month:

A Circle of Quiet

Madeleine L’Engle’s memoir was a balm for my soul. I listened to the audio on Scribd and found it so relaxing!

I would recommend this book, especially for homeschooling mothers, because L’Engle has a lot of wisdom about educating children - as well as general life wisdom, too. I’m looking forward to listening to the other books in the Crosswick Journals.

Beyond the Bright Sea

In my efforts to read more middle grades, I’m so glad I’ve found Lauren Wolk. Beyond the Bright Sea is historical fiction about an actual island off the coast of Massachusetts that housed lepers in the early 1920s. Next I would like to read Wolf Hollow, which is already on my nightstand!

The Splendid and the Vile

This book was my slow and steady read throughout the entire month of February. It was packed full of interesting details - both about Churchill and his PIVOTAL role during WWII and other interesting (but obscure) details about the cast of characters surrounding the Prime Minister. I look forward to reading more by Erik Larson.

To see more detailed reviews of the books, please visit my Instagram book account.

I love to share all things bookish there - and following the #bookstagram hashtag and some of my favorite accounts brings me so many great recommendations.

What can you recommend to me?

Leave your choice in the comments below and I’ll add it to my list!

February 2021 Reading Update

Favorite Literature Studies for Young Children

My older boys have been on a reading bonanza over the last few months and my homeschooling teacher's heart could burst from happiness!

Recently they have plunged head-first into the world of graphic novels. Just this week we had to take two trips to the library to swap out their books for the remaining Dog Man and the last of The Bad Guys series.

Are these the examples of high-quality literature that I would pick out for my boys? Not exactly.

But honestly, I don’t mind at all because in the library check-out line their arms were also full of the Indian in the Cupboard, multiple books by Roald Dahl, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and Flora & Ulysses.

Right now they are choosing to have well-rounded reading lives and I think a big part of that is due to the influence of ongoing quality literature studies.

Favorite Literature Studies for Young Children

Let’s Talk About A “Literature Study”

To be honest, the term “literature study” sounds kind of formidable. Boring. Like something that is going to take a lot of time, work, and planning.

I assure you that a literature study does not have to be any of those things and in my experience, my children look forward to them! I really try to keep ours simple but memorable.

My boys are ages 9, 7, and 5. While they love books, I keep each study short and sweet so they don’t lose interest.

Our studies always begin with me reading the book aloud, usually, while they are eating lunch or before bed, but always outside of our regular school day. Their only job is to sit back, enjoy the story, and absorb the beautiful language.

(You know you have selected a good one when they beg for just one more chapter!)

After we finish the book, I have taken a few different approaches on how to dig deeper.

Five Favorite Literature Studies

Charlotte’s Web

Much of our Charlotte’s Web study was inspired by the Brave Writer “Quiver of Arrows” curriculum (now called “Darts”). The Dart includes passages from the book to use for copy work and to teach short and sweet mini-lessons by examining the author’s words.

Through E. B. White’s first sentence we noticed the impact of a writer’s “opening hook” and marveled over how he nailed it with, “Where’s Papa going with that ax?”.

In another mini-lesson, I copied the passage onto big chart paper and my kids loved using colorful highlighter tape to identify examples of alliteration.

Favorite LIterature Studies for Young Children

Can there even be a Charlotte’s Web study without watching the movie?!

Our movie watching conversation was full of incredulous outbursts of “That’s not what he said!” and “That’s not how it happened!” They LOVED pointing out when the movie got it wrong and the ways the book and movie were different!

Two of MY most memorable moments were not even planned events. One day I discovered that they had used their Lincoln Logs and Little People figures to recreate the Arable’s Farm complete with Lurvy, Mr. Arable, Fern, the barn, and pig pen with Wilbur in the mud!

Another day, all three of them came running up to me, screaming that I had to come with them right this
second! They pulled me outside to show me a spider web full of sparkling dewdrops that looked like jewels, just like Charlotte’s!

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Our Mouse and the Motorcycle study was another one mostly inspired by a Brave Writer Dart.

This time the curriculum guided us to pay close attention to dialogue and quotation marks. I wrote the passage on chart paper and we took turns reading it aloud and using our hands to make Pac Man mouths.

When someone was speaking we would make our hands “talk” but when the dialogue ended, we made our hands still and “quiet”. They also used the highlighter tape again to identify proper nouns. These lessons are a great way to make so many connections between our reading and writing lives.

After the study, I cut a mouse hole shape out of black construction paper and taped it to the bottom of a wall in our main hallway, and labeled it “Ralph’s House.” My boys were beyond excited when they discovered it and are still so excited to show people when they come over to our house!

Favorite Literature Studies for Young Children

Fairy Tales

I highly recommend a fairy tale study for all ages but our family has especially enjoyed it because even my youngest can fully participate. This project came from another Brave Writer curriculum, Jot It Down.

We started with Rapunzel and we read the original version by the Brother’s Grimm several times over a few days.

Next, my older boys used their retelling skills to write down the story with as much detail as they could from memory. My 5 year old retold the story to me while I recorded his words. After this, each child made his own visual representation of the story. For Rapunzel, I gave them yellow yarn for her hair and construction
paper to create her tower.

After this, each child made his own visual representation of the story. For Rapunzel, I gave them yellow yarn for her hair and construction paper to create her tower.

So far we have also explored The Frog Prince and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and I have plans to keep going with several more.

For each tale that we cover, the boys are writing a retelling of the story in their own words, creating a visual representation using different materials, and last we will put them all together to create a book.

Fairy Tales are great for teaching about “the rule of 3,” good versus evil, and great vocabulary. My middle son told my oldest son to “stop being so foolhardy” one day while they were playing. He definitely learned that from one of our fairy tales!

Favorite Literature Studies for Young Children

There are so many different versions of the original fairy tale classics, some even in comic book style! We have checked out countless books from the library like The Stinky Cheese Man and Goldilocks and the Three Hares.

There are also different versions of fairy tales from other countries and cultures like Leola and the Honeybears an African American retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Rapunzel by Rachel Isadora where Rapunzel has dreadlocks and lives in Africa.

The Cricket in Times Square

My boys fell in love with the characters in The Cricket in Times Square! My oldest couldn’t wait to read the sequel, Tucker’s Countryside, and he loved finding out what the animals got into after our study ended.

(There was a Brave Writer Arrow on this book but it is no longer available in their store.) One of our lessons focused on powerful sound words using a passage describing the Times Square Subway Station. I pulled up a video on YouTube of the subway station in action and we watched the Times Square Webcam so that they could see the Jumbotrons, bright lights, news tickers, and billboards.

I also showed them pictures of what a newsstand looked like during Mario’s time and compared it to the newsstands of today. We had excellent conversations about how much our news sources have changed over time and why.

George Selden’s words gave us great examples of similes and onomatopoeia and inspired us to create charts that we can continue to add on to as we find more. The boys are so proud to bring a book that they are reading to me and point out a simile or example of onomatopoeia that they have discovered.

Five Favorite Literature Studies for Young Children

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain is our current study and one that we are doing a little differently. I found wonderful Study Guides from Progeny Press for many books on all grade levels.

I like that the guide is divided into sections that cover a couple of chapters at a time. Instead of reading the entire book before we begin the study, we have been working through the provided vocabulary work and open-ended discussion questions after we read the specified chapters.

The guide provides lots of opportunities for writing but our homeschool days already include quite a bit of writing so I have opted to use the study to guide our discussion and use the vocabulary practice to sharpen their dictionary skills by looking up the words.

The main character, Jonathon, often mentions feeding and watching the animals of the forest. We have hung a bird feeder right outside our living room window and my oldest son has taken ownership in making sure it is full. Our entire family has had all kinds of entertainment watching the antics of the squirrels trying to get into the feeder and the boys enjoy reporting what new bird visitors we have each day.

We were also lucky enough to witness a visit by a red-headed woodpecker that we have only ever seen from way in the top of a very tall tree in our neighbor’s yard.

Jonathon’s mom makes cookies several times in the book. Once we are finished reading, we are going to make our own cookies, and also on our agenda is to go on a nature walk and see how many animal tracks we can find to identify.

The right books can be such useful and valuable tools to expand our children’s vocabulary, promote empathy in life situations, teach about cultures different from our own, and give an understanding of historical periods that facts alone just can’t convey.

Here list of the books/movies that were mentioned in the post:


What has been your favorite literature study?

What was your favorite activity to go along with the book?

Five Favorite Literature Studies for Young Children - by contributor Kristen