What We're Reading Now . . .

I thought I'd give a little update on the books we're reading currently at our classical academy. We just finished The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, by Farley Mowat. It took us a long time to actually finish it because we got distracted from it and stopped reading for several weeks, even though we only had 2 chapters left! As I've said before, the vocabulary that Mowat uses is very rich and varied, and we looked up many words that Nathan didn't know yet. Mutt is such a funny dog, and his scrapes led us into lots of discussions about consequences as well as just discussing wildlife and the great outdoors. We're also reading More Stories From Grandma's Attic, by Arleta Richardson. I loved this series of books as a girl. The Grandma tells stories about her childhood that are gently self-effacing and humble, and also provide wonderful morals in non-preachy ways. The stories are short, and we only read them every so often--I guess they're not as exciting for boys as they were for me, although the boys do like them. Nathan and Luke just finished listening on tape to Soup , by Robert Newton Peck. This book is about the author as a boy and his best friend Soup. They get into lots of trouble, usually because of Soup's ideas, so this provided a lot of opportunities to talk about choosing friends wisely and doing the right thing even when someone is urging you not to. Right now Nathan is listening to The Black Stallion, by Walter Farley, which is one of my all-time favorite books from childhood. He thinks it's "very exciting" so far. I am loving these books on tape. My voice gives out after a little while, but they can listen to these for as long as they want! The Loudon County Library system has a very good selection of these, especially classics, which is what I'm interested in. We have just started reading (out loud) a new book, The Dragon and the Raven, by G.A. Henty. You may never have heard of G.A. Henty. I must confess I never had before our friend Elizabeth read aloud one of his books (this same one, actually!) while we were on a camping trip in Colorado. It was exciting, but I didn't give it much thought at the time. Now as a homeschooling mom with 4 boys, one of whom loves history, I love these books! Henty lived during the Victorian era in England, and wrote tons of adventure books for boys. If there is a historical event or era, then he has most likely written a book about it! The books always have a teen-age boy for a hero who is uusually a "generic" Christian with strong moral values and sense of duty and chivalry. That makes them sound boring, but these books are in reality quite exciting! There are battles all through the books, and the hero is always getting into some exciting situation that requires extreme bravery and resourecefulness to get out of. He usually has a faithful sidekick who helps him get out of these dire straits. But the books also give a wonderful historical view of the situation of the time. The Dragon and the Raven is set in England in 870, when the Danes are attacking and plundering England, which lacks a king to unify them. It is the story of King Alfred, the first true king of England, but it goes deeply into the daily life of the time, as well as the political situation. This is what we're studying in history right now, so it ties in perfectly. Next we'll read Wulf the Saxon, about the Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings in 1066. We have previously read The Young Carthaginian, about Hannibal and his march across the Alps. We could hardly put that book down, it was so exciting! I learned so much about that time period and situation, and I know Nathan did too. But best of all is reading about a hero who chooses the difficult way because it is right, and who is brave and resourceful under pressure. Definitely the kind of examples you don't find in most modern books for boys, which probably explains why all the books that we are reading are old books, many that I remember reading from my childhood. How can we expect boys to become brave strong men if we don't provide them with any examples for them to dream about and be inspired by? Why must modern fiction for boys especially be full of crude potty references, as if they wouldn't be interested in it if it didn't contain stuff like that? Well, I'm off my soapbox and off to eat lunch!