We didn’t read very much in May. Instead it was a busy month filled with family losses and celebrations. With that in mind, here’s what we’ve been reading.
Read Alouds
Sam and the Firefly
by P.D. Eastman–This one’s been on our shelf collecting dust, and Rose pulled it out and has asked me to read it several times. She was delighted to find that she could sound out many of the words that the firefly wrote when we pulled the book back out.
Life of Fred–Goldfish
–Guess what? Fred’s thinking about multiplication and so is Firecracker. It’s a new concept for him, so we’re not actually doing the Life of Fred problems in the book, but we’re plugging along through the ideas and storyline.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll–It’s been such a pleasure to get to share one of my favorite books with the children. We actually did several activities with the book, such as making our own jam tarts, watching both the Disney cartoon and the Johnny Depp cartoon, and even making our own snazzy lapbook. I was surprised and very pleased at how much they enjoyed it. I’ve already picked up the sequel for when we’re ready for another trip back to Wonderland.

We also continued to read Magic Tree House books. I liked these better than the quartet that we read last month. In this series of Magic Tree House books, Jack and Annie are looking for treasures for Merlin and proving that they can use magic responsibly.
Carnival at Candlelight (Magic Tree House #33)
is set in Venice on the last night of carnival.
Magic Tree House #34: Season of the Sandstorms
is set in medieval Baghdad. It’s one of my favorite additions to the series. It’s also interesting to experience these through my children’s eyes. A plot that seems so obvious to me is often one that they’re still surprised by.
Magic Tree House #35: Night of the New Magicians
is set at the Paris World’s Fair where the Eiffel Tower was unveiled. I enjoyed this one more than the kids because we read about the Eiffel Tower a few months ago, and I liked being able to add to my knowledge. The kids thought this one was kind of slow-paced.
Blizzard of the Blue Moon (Magic Tree House, No. 36)
is set in New York around 1900. It’s a little trippy for me, being about a unicorn trapped in a medieval tapestry, but the kids really enjoyed it.
It occurs to me as I write this that we’ve spent almost a year reading Magic Tree House books. We’ve actually read one more so far in June that I’ll write about next month. We’ve really entered the world of Jack and Annie, and that’s going to be a difficult component in our day to replaced in a few months. So, if you have any book series to recommend to replace our Magic Tree House addiction, be sure to let me know!
Preschool Reads
I’m continuing to try and set aside time to be intentional with the toddlers and to read books and sing songs and do crafts with them. The book that we’re using most often right now is The Usborne Baby and Toddler Treasury
. I love this book. It’s padded and big and thick. It has beautiful illustrations. The toddlers both delight in it too, and I sometimes find the songs, fingerplays and stories exhausting after the first 30 minutes or so of our special time together.

We’re also using some of the two year old ideas in the ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum. I like the curriculum because it has lots of fun ideas, but isn’t too bossy about what you should do with them
It gives me a good chance to be intentional about doing crafts and stories together. We’ve used two stories in conjunction with that curriculum this month.
Llama Llama Red Pajama
by Anna Dewdney–Baby Llama in these books often pouts, stomps, and screams in common two/three year old dilemmas. In red pajama, he’s upset that his Mama has left him to go to sleep by himself.
When the Elephant Walks
by Keiko Kasza–I thought this was cute. The elephant scares an animal. That animal scares another. Finally, we find out what the elephant is scared of. My big kids giggled reading the story and looking at the pictures. However, it didn’t make a connection with either Monkey or Owlet.
My Reads
A Homeschool that Handles the Hard Times by Tammy Marshall Cardwell–This is very short and sweet ebook that I picked up free, and I don’t remember where. It talks about how the way to handle the hard times is to put things in their proper order priority-wise. There was nothing new here, but it was a good reminder.
Deschooling Gently
by Tammy Takahashi–This is a really encouraging book that helps you to leave behind the school mindset and to teach your child as if no other children existed. Very helpful!
4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions
–I’ve had this for a while, but only recently sat down and read it. I enjoyed the stories and reading about their lives. I felt better about my own life for being able to commiserate with some of the things these ladies discussed. There wasn’t much that I’ll put into practical application, but it was still enjoyable.
Real Family Values: Leading Your Family into the 21st Century with Clarity and Conviction
by Robert Lewis. There’s some good stuff here and some stuff that I kind of wrestled with. I’m still thinking a lot about what Lewis said about prosperity and the family. I hope to share some of that with you guys over the next couple of weeks.
I’m linking this post up with the What We’re Reading post at Christian Unschooling. If you’ve never checked it out, you should. I know I’m going to be reading some of the posts this weekend, and making some new wish lists at Amazon and Paperback swap
