2020 was a great year for reading. I read more books than ever. I have more kids who are reading to themselves more books now than ever. I have three "official" homeschool students this year so there were more books read this year as part of lessons. But sometimes I like to look back at the books we enjoyed together as read alouds. And I'm linking up with Rosie for her Just Because blog linkup.
Some of our favorites were read bit by bit at our morning time at breakfast and others were read chapter by chapter at lunchtime. I find that as the kids are getting older, we read less together :-( It is hard to balance togetherness with independence. But by reading at breakfast and lunch, and with bedtime reading done by Daddy, we are still completing a few dozen books per year.
After looking back at all the books we read at morning time and at lunchtime, these were my/our favorites in 2020:
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Tales of Troy and Greece by Andrew Lang (Find it on this list of best free tales)
The Mill by David Macaulay (Links to PBS specials on YouTube found on this movie list)
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison
My Side of the Mountain Trilogy by Jean Craighead George
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Shadrach by Meindert DeJong
Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists by Jeannine Atkins
Bonus - Favorite bedtime reads this year (with Daddy):
Hitty Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field (little kids)
Amos Fortune, Freeman by Elizabeth Yates (big kids)
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (big kids)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling(little kids)
Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates (little kids)
What were your favorite read alouds this year? I love to get great ideas for our to-read list!
Adding some of these to my list!! We have read and enjoyed a lot of those—I think the biggest favorites from 2020 for us were the Wingfeather Saga books, which were rereleased. Such a great series!
ReplyDeleteI have never read the Wingfeather Saga myself, but I know it was a huge favorite of my son's. Maybe one day I'll get to enjoy it as a read aloud.
DeletePut some of these on hold! Thanks for the recommendations. :)
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed Sir Balin the Ill-Fated, Henry Huggins, Little Pear, and I, Juan de Pareja so far this year. We didn't do it as a read aloud, but my older girls enjoyed Britfield.
Now you have given me a few to look into ;-) Although we did read and enjoy Little Pear a few years ago.
DeleteThanks for the recommendations--you actually have a list with a few titles we haven't read!!! We just finished Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. For my multi-racial family, it was powerful and painful. The kids were on the edges of their seats and simultaneously begging for more as they cried they couldn't take any more. We'll be talking about this one for a long time. And my crew can't get enough of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series. :)
ReplyDeleteMy kids LOVED the incorrigible children series. And Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was definitely on my radar this year and your writing about it on your blog has definitely made me want to read it more. I always want to wait until the kids are older and can get "more out of it" but it is certainly a title on our need to read list.
DeleteLoved all these recommendations, even though our read alouds for our 10 month old are more along the lines of endless times through Pajama Time, Goodnight Jesus, and Dinosaur Dance Someday she'll be big enough for these books! (Coming from Rosie's linkup ;)
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