Vintage Books We are Loving Now (All Free to Read)

In our book-centered homeschool I am always looking for the best books to spread a rich feast of ideas. And I'm always finding new-to-us books that we love whether 5, 10, 30, or even 100 years old or more. Every year I am discovering new authors and books with the helps of booklists from Sabbath Mood Homeschool, Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories, and even from my own Best Free Nature Lore Books List. 

I adore finding vintage fiction and nonfiction books--science, history, folklore--to read with my kids as part of their homeschooling. I love discovering them at used books sales, but thanks to the internet, I can find so, so, so many books that are vintage or out-of-print that I would never find in a life-time of searching but we can still enjoy them on a tablet. 

Here are some of the titles we have been enjoying this school year. 

Homeschool Day with Ages 11, 10, 7, 3, and 1

Even though I took zero pictures this year, I didn't want to miss sharing our 2022 day! 

Homeschool Day with Ages 10, 9, 6, 2, and a Baby

Welcome to my annual recording of a somewhat average day in our homeschool! I love getting a peek into the many ways different families make homeschooling work for them. So I will be linking up and reading every single entry on Simple Homeschool's Day in the Life link up and I'm also linking up with Rosie. 

Things are hard this winter (every winter?!?!?). I feel like I emerged from postpartum recovery and baby blues to a busy Christmas followed by pandemic fatigue. And as much as I try to shield them from worries and cares, my kids are more stressed out too. And with so much indoor time and monotony, there has been more sibling conflict and acting out in other ways too.

So in the last month or so, we have really been doubling down on connection and good habits for everyone in the family. All this is just to say that as today unfolded I could see that it went well because of the work we have been putting in. Some other days this week and month did not go nearly as well! So if your days happen to be very difficult right now, I can relate and I hope you can get some relief soon. It isn't always easy to see a path to easier, harmonious days, but I believe it is usually possible to find some way to move forward. 

As for us, my husband and I are refocused on positive parenting and working through Dr. Laura Markham's Peaceful parenting course (not an affiliate link ;-)). It is helping all of us deal with big feelings during a difficult year.

This day finds us 4 days into our third 12-week term, just after a full week off which was preceded by an exam week, so we are getting back into the swing of things. 

Our 10 Favorite Read Alouds 2020

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. 

Recap and Review of Kindergarten Homeschool Plans, 2019-2020

For the third time around, I got to enjoy spending meaningful time with my 5-year-old as I created a space for a quiet growing time before starting formal schooling. 

Although I didn't faithfully follow all of my plans, we read a lot of new-to-her books that she loved, learned MANY new songs and poems, and also completed more crafts than I would have done without planning it out ahead of time. On to the review . . . .  

25+ Best Free Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and Tales from History and Literature (Free Online in the Public Domain)

In my estimation, there is no better "curriculum" to help children cope with real-world fears and anxieties than the myths and stories that have been told to generations of children and adults around the world.

Throughout these tales, regular people undertake impossible quests; heroes and monsters battle to the death; the clever and kind outsmart the wicked and selfish. Sometimes the ending isn't fair in a particular story, but overall we see the powers of good triumph over evil.

Some tales from history simplify historical events to distill powerful lessons, which if not entirely true, inspire us to be our best selves. And literature tales can make the most exciting stories of our literary past enjoyable and accessible without dumbing down the language or the complex characters for younger listeners.

I can't think of a better time than now, with so much uncertainty in the air, and so much time at home, to choose any one of these collections and read just one story a day. They appeal to all ages and can provide a rich seasoning to imaginative play. And they are all free in the public domain!

100+ Movies based on Great Books and Where to Watch and Read Online for Free!

My family loves to read great books. And then we love to watch the movies that are based on them. Sometimes we even watch the movie first and read the book later. Yes, that is all right too ;-)

Suddenly and unexpectantly, we find ourselves at home with extra time on our hands . . . . And we are choosing to spend some of that time enjoying family movie nights, or let's be honest, movie afternoons or movie mornings!

What better way to spend our screen time than escaping into our favorite books? So, I have spent hours and hours finding many, many movies based on really great books. And since our library is closed right now, I have focused on how to stream those movies and read or listen to those books online . . . for free, when possible.

Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Day with ages 9, 8, 5, and 1-year old

There are so many ways to homeschool! It is freeing (and just a tiny bit terrifying) to me that there are so many "right" ways to do this job for our unique situations. That is why I love reading homeschool day-in-the-life posts.

Every year, Simple Homeschool's linkup leaves me inspired and encouraged (and usually with a few more books on my want-to-read list). I hope you enjoy our  2020 day in our homeschooling life! Past years are here: 2019 and 2018.

Huge List of G.A. Henty Books to Download for Free from Google Books

I had never heard of G.A. Henty until I heard the Read-Aloud Revival episode about his audiobooks.  At the time, I had no idea of how popular he was with homeschoolers of all types--from die-hard school-at-homers to unschoolers!

This extremely prolific author from the late 1800s is still hugely popular for his exciting novels set throughout dozens of historical time periods. However, he has also faced harsh criticism (both historic and contemporary criticism) for racism and his positive view of British imperialism. You can read more here but always preread and be prepared to edit on the fly especially if you choose to read some of the more contentious titles.

To date, we have read just two of his novels and we found them to be historically interesting and exciting. But what would Charlotte Mason, who had so much to say about the best books for children say about Henty's exciting, mass-produced stories? To find out, I popped over to the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection. My search wasn't exhaustive and I know there are many more Henty references--I just looked at the first few results and here is what I found:

5 Totally Free Books We are Loving in our Homeschool Right Now

We have several totally free books in rotation in our homeschool morning time. These books are definitely living books because each one is inspiring my kids to such deep thoughts and interesting questions!

Sure, a physical book is the best way to go, but why miss out on the best books just because they are out of reach for our budget and not available locally to borrow? Here are five we are enjoying right now . . . and for a change, not all of them are "old" or in the public domain.

Kindergarten Homeschool Plans, 2019-2020

Recently, a few different people have asked me about kindergarten. Then I realized, wow, this is my 3rd time homeschooling kindergarten!!!!

I can vividly remember the odd panic I felt attending a playgroup in 2015 during the week that my son would have been starting kindergarten. A circle of mainly well-intentioned mothers starting peppering me with questions.

How will you do math?

What about socialization?

How long are you going to do this?

How are you going to teach all the subjects?

What about high school?

The questions they asked were so silly! But I remember asking similar questions of a friend who was planning to homeschool her then-preschooler. I was curious and interested to learn more about this so-called homeschooling!

Four years later and I'm only feeling more confident in our decision to homeschool and more sure of my ability to make plans that are appropriate for my children and our family.

10+ Living Books to Read Aloud before a Florida Beach Vacation

This winter my family is escaping the ice, cold, and snow of Pennsylvania to road-trip it down to the Sunshine State for the chance to adventure at the beach and enjoy the out-of-doors. I can't wait!

I've always had family--aunts, uncles, cousins, and a grandmother--who has lived in Florida, so I have made the trek down there to visit them and enjoy the beautiful beaches many times. But my kids have never been to Florida before and their only beach experience thus far has been in Delaware, where my husband's extended family lives near the beach.

 As a nerdy, bookish homeschooling mother, you better believe that I have been planning for over a year (!?!?!?) how to prepare and enjoy this awesome opportunity to explore a different place--with an ecosystem, coastal geography, and regional history so different from our own home state.

Below I've gathered together the books we have been weaving into the rhythms of our homeschool days to learn about beaches, marine life, and Florida history and people. Some have been our lunchtime read alouds, some have been enjoyed at our daily morning time, and others have formed the basis of our science or history lessons.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Study for Young Children

Even before I thought of myself as doing the Charlotte Mason Method, I knew I wanted to enjoy Shakespeare with my children. But I wasn't sure of how to go about it.

My kids loved stories and we had a great read-aloud practice going. We were reading chapter books at lunch and bedtime and had been enjoying a morning time full of poetry, folk tales, and even some heavier titles like the full versions of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

But those works were translated into modern English. Should I or could I get my kids excited about the complicated wordplay and romantic entanglements of Shakespeare? How? And where should I start?

10 Summer Read Alouds for All Ages

I love love love May and June. I know technically summer doesn't start until the end of June, but as soon as the sun is shining, laundry is hanging on the line, and the tomato plants are in the ground, I count it as summertime and start enjoying the warm days. Only too soon, we'll be trying on winter coats again and getting ready for too many days indoors, snow, ice, blah blah blah.

What better way to get in the summertime mood than by a booklist of great summer reads? Not all of these take place in summer, but they all include lots of warm weather romps and time outside in nature.

Every book on this list is one that we have read and enjoyed as a family with kids ranging from 2 and up. I don't think there is an upper age on enjoying these titles as they are still ones my husband and I love to hear.

I have arranged them from easier to harder, but they can truly be enjoyed by all ages.

This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure to learn more.

10 Summer Read Alouds for All Ages

Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin (and others in the series)
Sibling cats with wings leave their city home to seek a better life in the country.


My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet (and others in the trilogy)
A boy leaves home with some interesting supplies to rescue a baby dragon.


Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
A tear-jerker (at least for me!) about friendship in the barnyard. 

Island of Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
An Indian girl spends 18 years alone on an island.

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
An unfortunate boy gets a magical adventure when a peach grows to enormous size.


The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Part of the Chronicles of Narnia, it is the one that feels the most summery as the children go on a seagoing adventure.


Half Magic by Edward Eager
Summer gets a lot more exciting when some siblings discover a magic coin.


Old Yeller by Fred Gibson
This favorite dog story is full of scenes of working and romping in summer on the Texas frontier.



The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit
A school holiday is made exciting by a magical ring which doesn't always work as intended.


Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Four siblings camp out on an island with their sailboat.


The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Robin Hood's adventure in the Greenwood always have a summertime feel.
[Free version available on my Free Howard Pyle Books List]

What are your favorite summertime read alouds?