This post was written in September and discusses the first few read alouds we completed for the 2020-2021 school year.
We are about six weeks into our school year and we’ve finished FOUR chapter books together already during our morning time! To say I’m excited (and actually somewhat impressed) is an understatement. I don’t know that we’ve ever read books that quickly. I’d love to share and one hundred percent recommend all of these titles for you and your family. We loved every single book!
Completed Books so far this school year:
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Davy Crockett by Janet & Geoff Benge
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
“The Wild Robot is the story of Rozzum unit 7134, a robot who wakes up for the very first time to find that she’s alone on a remote, wild island. Roz doesn’t know how she got there, or where she came from: she only knows that she wants to stay alive. And by robotically studying her environment she learns everything she needs to know. She learns how to move through the wilderness, how to avoid danger, she even learns how to communicate with the animals. But the most important lesson Roz learns is that kindness can be a survival skill. And she uses kindness to develop friends and a family and a peaceful life for herself. Until her mysterious past catches up with her.”
— Peter Brown Studio
This book was SO good. I cannot say enough about it. I will be honest. When I began reading it aloud to my kids I immediately regretted it for a split second. Why, you ask? Well, I felt that it would have been an absolutely perfect book for my oldest to read on his own. The chapters are SHORT and sweet. Sometimes they are literally only a page. There are illustrations throughout the books, often. Not every single chapter will have an illustration, but there are definitely a lot of them!
Once I got over the fact that this book could have been perfect as a solo mission for our oldest, I quickly fell in love with the characters, the writing style, and the simple heartfelt messages interwoven throughout the story.
I made the mistake of waiting a tad too long to order the follow-up book, The Wild Robot Escapes, which then turned into us starting The One and Only Ivan before I intended to. This then led us into a season of reading TWO chapter books at one time!
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The story of Ivan, the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade headliner absolutely has my heart. It was such a wonderful story of friendship and hope. You can imagine our shock when we were reading it one day during our morning snack to discover that Shane actually saw THE REAL IVAN at the Zoo Atlanta in the 90’s! Yes, if you didn’t know, The One and Only Ivan is based on the story of a real silverback gorilla who was captured, lived with humans, headlined a mall circus show for TWENTY SEVEN YEARS, then spent the rest of his days at our very own Zoo Atlanta. While I realize a zoo is certainly not “wild”, I’m sure Ivan cherished his time in the open domains that the zoo had to offer compared to his life in the Big Top Mall.
To our delight, Disney + also just released a film adaptation of the book. Yes, it was certainly a bit different than the story Katherine Applegate created for us, but it was still a great movie and a fun family movie night for us to enjoy!
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
We were SO thrilled when our second Wild Robot book arrived that the kids wouldn’t let me wait to read it. This started something that I never really expected to do with the kids, reading two fiction chapter books at once. I thought maybe they’d get confused.
NOPE.
I was wrong. Completely on her own, my six year old began retelling Shane events from both books during her tuck-in time each night. She used vivid vocabulary. She separated both books beautifully. The fact that she could do this at such a young age with one book would have been encouraging, but TWO?! I will never hesitate again to read more than one fiction books to the kids.
The Wild Robot Escapes picks right up where we left off with The Wild Robot. Ultimately Roz has to choose the life she wants for herself with several obstacles along the way. It’s a great story of finding your purpose, love, and family.
The kids and I not so secretly hope that The Wild Robot books become a movie franchise in the near future as well!
Heroes of History: Davy Crockett by Janet and Geoff Benge
A few homeschooling mamas had recommended using the Heroes of History books to sprinkle in throughout the school year to discuss historical figures. I chose to start the year off with Davy Crockett. I will say, I think the boys were a bit more interested in Davy (referred to as David throughout the book) than my little girl was, but she did find some aspects of his life interesting. To the best of my knowledge, I believe it was an accurate portrayal of his early life, moving from place to place in Tennessee and surrounding areas, enlisting in several militias, and serving in a few different political positions. We’re looking forward to learning about several more historical figures in the coming months!
What we’re reading next:
Who Was Davy Crockett? by Gail Herman
The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
Heroes of History: George Washington Carver by Janet and Geoff Benge
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Do you have any more suggestions for us to read this year? I had several in mind at the beginning of the year, but I have a feeling we’re going to breeze right through them and will ultimately need several more titles! Hit me with your BEST and FAVORITE read aloud books for kids!
Leave a Reply