On the Bright Side: A Few Good Reads

It’s one of those weeks when the best laid plans have been made, but there’s a cry or wail and a sour face at almost every turn.

So here’s a whole post full of complaints….

Wait a second, I already know this homeschool path is lined with little stones that trip me up and some big ole’ rocks that causes  a full-tilt, ungraceful stumble.  At the same time that I’m falling to my knees, I’m  finding plenty of treasures along the trail.

So instead of a list of our challenges this week, here’s a list of the books that have brought us together.

Johnny Tremain Esther Forbes

We have about three weeks left in our journey through the Revolutionary War, led by TruthQuest’s American History for Young People (Year 1) as our guide.  To much anticipation, we began Johnny Tremain this week.  Right away his saucy, prideful character grabbed the kids attention and they all grinned nervously as the author foreshadowed that “pride cometh before the fall”.  I didn’t read this book as a child and what a gem!  When I first read it to myself last year I asked a friend, just like a child, “Is he a real person?” Unfortunately he’s not, but he’ll live in our imaginations for the rest of the week.

The Little Maid Series by Alice Turner Curtis

I stumbled upon the Little Maid of Mohawk Valley, a nice hard-bound, slightly-tattered edition and then realized from looking through our TruthQuest guide, this is an entire series based on actual events of young girls who played a role in history during the Colonial period.  I can’t speak to the entire series yet, but the one we read was full of spunky girl adventure and detailed, historical background to boot.  There is an edition of this series that includes a paper doll and dress attached to the cover flaps.  What a great gift for a girl.  We’ll be reading The Little Maid of Ticonderoga next.

Wilderness Wife by Etta DeGering

Have you ever thought of what it was like to be the wife of Daniel Boone, the great wilderness man of the late 1700’s?  She bore him ten children, spent large chunks of time raising thier family while he was off making new roads, and had several children killed or kidnapped by the Native Americans.  But still she told him to go, sensing his need to explore and be free.  My 8 year old is reading this for a report on Boone’s family and she can’t put it down once her school time is over.

The Return of the Twelves by Pauline Clark

A treasure I found at the thriftstore, this is story inspired by the actual soldiers played with by the Bronte Family. As young children they wrote a history for their toy soldiers and published it.  This author took the soldiers and their history and brought them to live in an attic and be discovered by a English boy one hundred years later.  Only Max knows the secret, that these soldiers are actually alive.  Very adventurous, a good read aloud (or independent reading) for a boy especially.  This book has a similar spirit of The Indian and the Cupboard (different armor, similar idea that toys have a secret life), but this book was written first.  I also found a picture book, entitled The Brontes by Catherine Brighton, at the used book store, that highlights the childhood of the children, including the wooden soldiers.

A Journey through the Bible by David C Cook

I picked this up at a curriculum sale last spring.  It gives historical and geographical information that correlates to the main stories of the Bible, includes diagrams and photographs.  We started The Story Bible by Catherine Vos again, and this has been a good companion, a way to support the events of the Bible as real history, not just a bedtime story.

Can I hear a hurrah for thrift stores and used book stores? Hurrah!