Reading?

Okay, Girls.

Now that school is starting I'm not sure how much I will be contributing to this group for the time being. If we read really slowly I might be able to keep up, but other than that I'm just going to be fully immersed in what we're learning here at home and doing some of my own pleasure reading (including Andrea & Kaylie's book!). I will do my best, but that's where I stand as of today. Just FYI.

JULIA

Moving on

Andrea's not reading Young Fu so let's move on to The Screwtape Letters. Really I'm just excited to get to the book about Colombia and since I've already read the Screwtape Letters, I'm not so motivated to read it again. Maybe if you guys posted brilliant thoughts I will be more motivated. We'll see.

Guess What!

Hey guys....
I wanted to join your ranks (well, not you, Ju). I hate being left out of things!!!
So.....I'm expecting my fifth baby! Pretty sweet. Pretty un-planned. Just thought I'd let you know. I'm due in March. I will have three children with birthdays in a 30 day time period. Pretty wild.

Ju's Young Fu

Okay, so I read this a long time ago but totally remember loving it. I think what I loved about it mostly were the wise sayings from his teacher friend and the Chinese proverbs written throughout the text. I do agree that there was no real climax in the story. However, I think Young Fu's "luck factor" was also symbolic of those the Chinese deem to be worthy or of value. I think even in our culture we can look at the lives of some great leaders and say they were "lucky" when in reality they were being preserved and saved for a greater mission. We don't know the extent of Young Fu's life after the book ends, but we know that he will continue to do great things (in the fictional world at least). I also thought this book would be a great introduction to Chinese history for when my children are older. It may not have the full content of the history, but it does give a great prelude to further studies and inspired me in such a way to want to learn more about that particular culture.

Young Fu

I have to agree with Kami's comments. There was no climax and Fu was too lucky. I think the most interesting part of the book was the section after the story that talked about China then and now - the changes that have occurred. My book had an introduction and a foreword by two very well-known authors. One of them promised that if you like Tolkien (and someone else who's name escapes me), then you will love this book. I did not think this novel was on par with Tolkien at ALL! In reading more about the two authors who wrote the intro and foreword, they both have a history in China during that time period, so I think their comments were based more on nostalgia than true scholarship. Which is disappointing!

American Revolution/Colonial Times

You might try Paul Revere's Ride
Also the d'Aulaire books on George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
There's a magic tree house book on the subject.
Felicity, from the American Girl series grows up in Colonial Times. :-)
There's a Diane Stanley book (she's so awesome) called Joining the Boston Tea Party

"The Courage of Sarah Noble" is a good one for younger kids.

I have a bunch of ideas from the Sonlight Curriculum. I usually just use what I can pull from the library and I haven't checked on that yet. But here's what Sonlight uses for American History:

American Adventures 1 - Greenberg SL3 (many topics 1770-1870)
The Story of the USA: A Young Nation Solves Its Problems - Escher SL3

Pocahontas and the Strangers - Bulla SL3
Squanto, Friend of Pilgrims - Bulla SL3

What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? - Fritz SL3
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia - Cousins SL3
Mr. Revere and I - Lawson SL3
And then What Happened, Paul Revere? - Fritz SL3
Can't You Make Them Behave, King George - Fritz SL3
Johnny Tremain - Forbes SL3 (American Revolution)
Toliver's Secret - Brady SL3 (American Revolution)
Phoebe the Spy - Griffin SL3 (American Revolution)
Martha Washington (Childhood of Famous Americans) SL3
Meet George Washington - Heilbroner SL3
George Washington (Childhood of Famous Americans) SL3
Winter at Valley Forge - Knight SL3 (1777)
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution - Levy SL3

Meet Thomas Jefferson - Barrett SL3

Diary of an Early American Boy - Sloane SL4 (1805 pioneer life)
Johnny Appleseed - Kellogg SLK

Ben and Me - Lawson SL2 (Ben Franklin)

I'm sorry if those aren't helpful for a five year old. These are mainly for my eight year old daughter. The SL3 means it's Sonlight's level 3.

A long time ago I read a fabulous book called "The Signers: the 56 Stories behind the Declaration of Independence". It's not a read aloud for young kids but it was FABULOUS and I told the kids the stories in my own words. Many of the stories moved me to tears as I told my children about the courage of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Sign of the Beaver

I just skimmed Sign of the Beaver to see if I could read it to Miriam this year as it pertains to pioneer/pilgrimy people. Such a great book, but it might be a little slow for a five year old.

For all of my vast knowledge of literature, I'm having a hard time coming up with many fiction titles that deal directly with colonial America. Pre-revolution and during the revolution specifically. Johnny Tremain is the classic. Witch of Blackbird Pond another classic--too old for Miriam though. Why aren't there more books about puritan girls? About Jamestown lasses?

If you can think of any, let me know. Of course, I'm not reading just colonial books to her (boring for a whole year) but I am surprised at how shallow the lit is for this time period. Obviously, I'm missing something.

I requested the book from the library and I think I didn't get in there to pick it up soon enough. So now I either re-request it or skip it altogether. But based on Kami's less-than-enthusiastic review, I might just skip it. Anyone care? :-)

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

I'm completely wimping out on this. But if Andrea can get by on that pathetic post about Fermat, then I don't feel so bad. I did read Young Fu. It was interesting but nothing spectacular I thought. The most interesting part to me was the clash of the old traditions in China with the new influences coming in (ie the priests healing vs. the foreigners healing). Also, seeing the seeds of communism in China start growing even as the National Government was consolidating. All in all, it was an interesting to read about the culture but I wish it had more information and more history of the major events of the time. Granted, this is aimed at a young audience, so really for it's audience, it's quite good. His master, Tang, was my favorite character. His short adages and proverbs were always good. Young Fu seemed too much a golden child to be realistic to me. I think the main thing lacking in this book was a climax though. It didn't really have one at all, hence I was never really drawn into the story very much. Those are my thoughts, sorry it's so short--I'm trying to finish a major sewing project so I don't have time for much else.

Cheating

First, isn't it cheating to hold an impromptu discussion on a book that I haven't read in awhile? JULIA????? You could have warned me!!! :-)

So this is one of my all-time favorite books. It's inspiring, it's informational, and it's hopeful.
That's all I have to say. It's one the those books I plan to re-read, at least partially, on a regular basis to keep me motivated and focused.

And that's all I have to say because it's been far too long since I've read it and I don't want to get it confused with "There Are No Shortcuts" - also by Rafe.