What We've Been Reading

Early this year I began reading The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, to the boys. They loved the adventures of Bilbo Baggins as he, along with a band of dwarves, heroically fought and defeated the dragon Smaug on the Lonely Mountain. Having once taken my boys to the land of Middle-earth, our obvious next read-aloud would be Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy.

We spent all spring and summer journeying with Frodo and Sam, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, Gandalf and the rest, as their once intact fellowship, became broken and spread out, but nonetheless persevered as with one heart to defeat the evil Lord Sauron of the dark land of Mordor.

The boys enjoyed each book, but their enthusiasm to listen to the tale each evening was further bolstered by the fact that they knew they would be allowed to watch Peter Jackson's film version of LOTR only after we had finished reading it.

And so, having finished Return of the King about the time the new school year started a couple of months ago, they have watched the movies several times. Each Sunday they have their choice as to what they will watch for their 'Sunday Night Movie', something they look forward to all week. Perhaps needless to say, any of the three movies in the LOTR trilogy have received top billing for some weeks now. But that's okay; I don't mind knocking Star Wars out of first place for a while!

Just a few nights ago we started Heidi, by Johanna Spyri. The boys are familiar with the story, having watched the movie at their grandma's house, the version with Jason Robards playing Grandfather. It is a touching story, and I think we're all enjoying the book as much as, or more than, the movie. (Yes, the boys saw the movie first on this one!) Heidi is a very endearing character, and even the boys, who are going through an 'eeewww, girls!' stage right now, are pulling for this little heroine. They always beg for one more chapter, so we're speeding through it.

On their own, the boys have recently discovered Henry Huggins books, by Beverly Cleary. They are loving reading them! Henry's sign on his clubhouse door which reads 'No Girls Allowed' immediately struck a chord with them! They were also surprised and pleased to read about landmarks with which they are very familiar from visiting my home in Washington (state). The other day my youngest was quietly reading when he called out to me and said, 'Hey, Mom, listen to this!' He proceeded to read to me about their huckleberry picking on Mt. Hood. Ms. Cleary, the author, grew up just outside of Portland, Oregon, and she incorporates local names and places into her books. As a friend of mine said, next time we're out that way, we'll have to go find Klickitat Street in Portland and show the boys where the stories 'took place'.

As for me, I haven't picked anything up since I finished Dracula a couple of months ago. As much as I want to, being back at it with homeschooling, keeping up with every other daily task about the house, family life in general, on top of spending time reading with the boys, it seems my own reading time is swallowed up.

No complaints though. All too soon the years of homeschooling and evening read-alouds will be but a memory, and I'll have all the time in the world to pull my books off the shelf. I know too that by then I'll look back fondly on these days and years and wish them back. With that thought, I will cherish every turn of every page I read with them today.

Home Again

We returned to St. Louis Saturday evening after a little more than a week in Washington (state). Though it was a trip that one month ago we had no idea we would be making, to be with family to mourn and bury my dad, it was a good trip. As all visits with my family go, it was way too short.

My head is teeming with bloggables, from the passing of my dad and the funeral, to visiting with friends and extended family not seen for 20+ years, from the ever-breathtaking views of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River gorge to our youngest son turning 8 on the trip and losing a tooth in the Portland airport, from Mom's flat-out gorgeous flower garden to the book I began reading on the airplane trip out and can hardly put down (Dracula, by Bram Stoker)... and what stress and hot weather can do to a body with MS.

But on arriving home I realize regular life must resume, and so I quickly type this from my school computer while the boys take a brief play-break outside with Lucy, their buff-colored cocker spaniel that they missed for 8 days. I don't know that I'll find the time to blog about any of the above items. Regular life, homeschooling and all that goes with it, keeps my blogging to a minimum it seems, so we'll see.

But, to sum up our visit, I am more grateful for dear family and friends today than I ever have been before. Our family is truly blessed. Our Lord has taken my dad into eternity and, I think, left the rest of us closer.

I'm glad to be home, but the lump I always get when saying good-bye hasn't quite gone yet. Love you, Mom!

The Funnies... Not for Kids

Peanuts, Garfield, The Family Circus, Hi and Lois, The Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbes; Winnie Winkle and Judge Parker. The 'Jumble' puzzle at the bottom of the daily comics page. These are all part of what made reading the comics with my breakfast before work each morning, more anticipated than the front page of the newspaper.

Having been a full-time homemaker for 10 years now, it's been a very long time since I had a morning get-up-and-go-out-to-work routine. We do not subscribe to the local paper and thus, I've lost touch with my old favs, and many of them had been discontinued, even when I was still reading the funnies.

Fast-forward to present. My boys, over the years, have gotten a taste for the comics, from the occasional Sunday paper we'd pick up after Mass. And for a few weeks now they've asked us to pick one up each Sunday. OK, fine. Pretty harmless entertainment, right?

WRONG. Yesterday as one son read the comics aloud with his brother looking on and Mom and Dad sipping coffee at the dining room table, the words "sex change" came out of our son's mouth. My husband and I immediately and in unison, cried out, "WHAT?!?", while we both grabbed the "funny" papers from our unwitting boys' hands.

So much for allowing the boys to look forward to the comics section each Sunday. While the time will certainly come for our boys to be made aware of the myriad ways in which this world is messed up, the Sunday full-color funny papers is not the jump-off point we need for imparting this sort of knowledge to them.

Of course the kids wondered what they said that caused such a reaction in their parents. "But what is a sex change??" they both wanted to know. After giving them sufficient and age-appropriate information, we let them know that we would not be picking up a Sunday paper any longer. Of course they were disappointed, but having grown up with limitations on secular communications coming into our home, from the DVDs they watch, to the TV commercials that must be turned off as we watch a Cardinals game, they took it pretty much in stride.

I think it was more disappointing for me because those days of anticipating the next installment in the Winnie Winkle serial, or being touched by the oft-poignant The Family Circle, or laughing out loud at Calvin's latest adventures are looked back on with fond reminiscence, and I had hoped to give them some of that same enjoyment. Alas, even the funnies have gone the way of the world.

But all is not lost. The Sunday funnies? Well, the boys won't be reading them, as I don't need yet another thing to screen first. But, we will replace it with a book or two of those same strips I enjoyed. I think they will find a real kinship with Calvin. And certainly it will provide our boys with more reason for a genuine and innocent chuckle than what is found in today's Sunday funnies.

Good Poetry

Readers know my love of good children's literature, and how we in our house enjoy nightly read-alouds. Now and then we'll have a poetry night where I read our best-loved poems by various poets, our favorites being those of Robert Louis Stevenson or the delightful gems of A.A. Milne (no library in a household with children is complete without The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, imho.)

Some are laugh-out-loud funny, and each of us waits for our particular favorite to be read again. Some tell an interesting story, while others teach a valuable lesson to young and old alike. Such is the familiar poem by Mary Howitt, The Spider and the Fly. The boys memorized it a couple of years ago; we read again recently, among others, and I thought I'd share it here.

The Spider and the Fly
Mary Howitt

Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."


"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"


Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, " Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I 've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome -- will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind Sir, that cannot be,
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"


"Sweet creature!" said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you 're pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."


The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
"Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple -- there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue --
Thinking only of her crested head -- poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour -- but she ne'er came out again!


And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.

Shire! Baggins!

I've done it. I've introduced the boys to the inhabitants of Middle-Earth.

In previous posts here I've said that the boys are not ready for the Lord of the Rings trilogy yet, and as much as I'd like to begin reading it to them, there are enough good books out there that they might grow beyond in just a few years, that I saw no need to rush into LOTR; I want to exhaust my book list for the age group they're in now, first.

Well, my youngest has been asking me to read it to them. Added to that, I recently spoke with another homeschooling mom who had read it to her 7 and 9 year olds, and they loved it. So, I decided to give it a go.

We started The Hobbit about a week ago and we are better than halfway through it. They are following it just fine, and enjoying it a lot! If they are still interested when we finish it, we'll go on to Fellowship of the Ring.

It's been seven years since I've read it--I remember my youngest was an infant when I read it last, so I'm enjoying our journey to the Lonely Mountain where Smaug lives, and I look forward to LOTR. And maybe if we get through the trilogy, I might just go on to read The Silmarillion (to myself, not aloud), a book I've had for some time, but have never read.

In any case, it's great fun to have a good excuse to visit Middle-Earth once again, and greater fun to bring the boys with me this time.

Charlotte's Web

I just finished reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White to the boys this evening. I think it might be the first time I've actually read it myself, though the copy I have was given to me when I was very young. I remember Miss H (see post below) reading it to my class, but that might be the last time I heard the story.

The boys were enthralled from the first chapter. What I thought would take the better part of a month to read to them, took only about five nights, as after each chapter the boys begged for just one more, and I usually obliged.

As most readers probably know the story, I won't give a full review here. Simply put, it is a sweet story of friendship and love, and the sacrifices one is willing to make for her beloved. As I read the final few chapters I had to really swallow the lump in my throat--if the boys see Mom getting misty, well, suffice it to say, they're not going to join Wilbur in his teary moments, and Mom probably shouldn't either! But we loved the book. A highly-recommended read-aloud.

Kids' Lit

I love children's literature. There are so many treasures to be found on the well-turned pages of so many children's books, and it is so exciting to find one worth pondering, or reading over and over to the delight of eager young listeners, and to the olders as well. One such treasure is from The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White:

"My dear," said her husband, the cob, one afternoon, "do you never find your duties onerous or irksome? Do you never tire of sitting in one place and in one position, covering the eggs, with no diversions, no pleasures, no escapades, or capers? Do you never suffer from boredom?"
"No," replied his wife. "Not really."
"Isn't it uncomfortable to sit on eggs?"
"Yes, it is," replied the wife. "But I can put up with a certain amount of discomfort for the sake of bringing young swans into the world."

I love that. Life as a stay-at-home-mom can, indeed, be onerous at times. But is it not worth every hardship to raise these gifts God has entrusted to us?! I never expected to be spurred on in my vocation during the evening's read-aloud, but there it was. One of those treasures.

Another evening last Lent I read a new-to-me, but well-known, book to the boys, The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. My goodness, talk about a treasure. By the end, the lump in my throat was so big, my oldest asked me if I was going to cry. I denied it, but truth be told, I was close. It is a sweet book about a tree that gave everything to and for the boy she loved. A wonderful Lenten read for young children, and even for kids who are a bit older. For us it prompted a conversation comparing this story to the greatest story of Jesus, The One Who gave everything for us. Worth pondering, to be sure.

Currently we are in the middle of The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. What a fun book. I think I'm enjoying it as much or more than the boys, and they are laughing aloud regularly at the silliness that jumps off the pages. The story is the adventures of a boy who passes through a tollbooth into the fantastic land of Dictionopolis where among other things, words are taken (and given) literally. For example, when the boy's car won't start and he is questioning why it won't, the native of Dictionopolis informs him, "Oh, it goes without saying." So when they are quiet, the car goes! The plays-on-words are seemingly endless. We've yet to get to Digitopolis, where numbers rule. I'm sure it will be equally clever.

There are so many books I want to read, and so little time, but if I can't sink my teeth into a book for myself (how would that phrase play out in Dictionopolis?!), I do find time to read to the boys. I love it and so do they. And as time goes by, their books are getting more involved and interesting. We're definitely beyond Go Dog Go, not quite to The Lord of the Rings, and now exploring a wonderful world of kids' lit in between.

We'll do our best to find all the treasures all along the way.