Favorite Gifts 2011- Dragon Slayers

Dominic received a copy of "Dragon Slayers" by Sir Wyvern Pugilist for Christmas from John and I. He has not stopped reading it since he opened it. For most of the day today, I watched him curled up on the edge of the couch, covered in a blanket reading this book and periodically saying, "Mom, I just love this book. How did you know I would love this book!"



He related to me the connection between what the author writes about and the spiritual life. He writes to young boys about recognizing bad dragons. We were driving in the car today and Dominic was telling me about what the bad dragons do.

The book parallels a young boy's life and good virtues to what they will be tempted with like greed, laziness, hastiness in one's work, cheating, and dishonesty. The book teaches them to combat these "dragons" with virtues, prayer, and the help of certain saints and how the saints themselves overcame dragons in their lives. They will read about Ignatius of Loyola, Titus Brandsma, Therese of Lisieux, and many more.

This book is a new release so couldn't be found on Amazon.
I purchased it through a fabulous Catholic bookstore here in Nebraska.

To order through this bookstore call Gloria Deo 1-888-420-1830.
The cost is $23.99. One of my favorite characteristics of the book is the faux leather cover. It is fun to hold in your hands.

To look through the book go to this SITE.

Happy Reading!

Boever lending library

In regards to amount of books that grace our home, I am often unaware at how many we really do have. We own a couple thousand books easily. There are books in every room of our home. With homeschooling, books are such an essential part of our day and consume most of our learning. I usually forget to record each child's current favorites, but want to remember because it usually is read over and over and over.

Vianney

Her favorites right now are ALL books to the extent to which she can SHRED them. One of her nicknames is "Shredder." I hear several times a day "Mom, Vianney is shredding." Office Max had a sign up last month in the window that read "Stop Shredding at Home." I drove the kids by so we all could get a good laugh and we all agreed "STOP SHREDDING AT HOME!"

Zellie

Do you see who she is reading too?
I am sure they both loved the story. Personally, the very sight of seeing her sitting there reading to her doll, makes me grit by teeth to a low stubble because it is so precious.
NOTE: the infamous pile that follows me around

Like all things Zellie, even her books are cute, the way she looks at them are cute, the way she pronounces their names are cute, and the way she listens is cute. Her current favorites are:

The Enormous Carrot

The Enormous Carrot
By Vladimir Vagin

Before naps I tell her to pick one book and she always says, "Normous carrot." too which, I ask as though I didn't hear her and ask again "Which book?" She says, "Normous Carrot."The first two characters in the book are Floyd and Daisy. I purposely act like I really don't know the rabbits names at the beginning of the book just so can hear her say them again. She falls for it everyday and several times a day.

me: "Zellie, what are the rabbits names?"
Zellie: (thinking and acting like she doesn't know their names) "Fwoyd and Daisy." Did you catch that? Fwoyd. She said Fwoyd. Two-year-olds shouldn't say Fwoyd.

Her current next favorite is:

Pancake Dreams
by Ingmarie Ahvander

This is a cute little story about a boy named Stefan whose family moves to Jordan and he misses his grandmother's pancakes which he use to eat everyday when they lived near each other in Sweden. Stefan's friends in the book are Ahmed, Mayank, and Deniz. They know the names of his friends and it cracks me up.
Again, I always ask Zellie "I forget, what's the boy's name?" She wrinkles her middle brow and says, "Hmmm, Ste-fawn." Two-year-olds shouldn't say Stefan either.

Everyday, she gets a huge pile of books and will flip for hours. I went to check on her the other night to see if she was asleep and she was flipping through books in her bed. The only light that was provided was the light coming through the window from the moon. She had been in there a good hour. Poor thing. She's gonna look like this if I don't get her a reading light soon.

Others that are hot on her reading list:

Danny and the Dinosaur
by Syd Hoff

One Was Johnny
by Maurice Sendak

Rose

If only there were enough hours in the day to read to Rose. She will be playing in the other room, and if I even begin to read she is at my side in less than one second completely entranced by every word. She is doing well at reading on her own, but is at the cute stage of adding a long "e" to every word. Cute-e. It doesn't matter what I read to her as long as I am reading. Although, if I have her pick these are her favorites

Catholic Children's Treasure Box
By the Maryknoll Sisters

She specifically likes book #3 which is about St. Therese and her father. There is a part of the book when he calls to Therese and says, "Come little Queen, give me kiss." She loves this part and always asks to read it over and over. So of course, her nickname is "Little Queen or Come little Queen." I even hear Zellie saying, "Queen, you took my baby."

This leads to her next favorite

Where the Wild Things Are
By Maurice Sendak

In the book, Max is titled "The King of all Wild Things." I change the words to Rose "The Queen of all Wild Things." giggle. giggle. "Mom, please read it right." To which I reply, "Oopps, sorry." They fall for it every time. cute.

The Tale of Tricky Fox
By Jim Aylesworth

This fox outsmarts two little old ladies, but didn't fool the third. She is a clever old bird. Another one by this author that they love is:

Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy
by Jim Aylesworth

They all love this book because there is a repetitive chant throughout that says,
"It's gettin' late, and piggy's by the gate saying', 'No, no, no, I will not go?" We all shake our fists and shout it every time. Often, if they ask to do something when it is near bedtime I will say this chant to them.
"It's gettin' late, and piggy's by the gate saying', 'No, no, no, I will not go?"
giggle. giggle.

Lillie
Do you see the fat hobbit on the end? She is just waiting to shred.

She, too, is another one that I could read to for days and she won't blink. I am sure it is their age, but I'm so glad they love to read. Lillie is doing wonderful with her reading and loves it. She works hard everyday doing her readers. Right now, I find her several times a day reading to Zellie. Zellie follows me around most of the day saying "Read to me on this couch. " Lillie is eager to comply when I am busy. We used the book
"How to Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" with both her and Rose. It is a fabulous book and works very well. Those on the top of her list right now are:

The Seven Silly Eaters
By Mary Ann Hoberman

I love this book. I love reading this book to them. They laugh every time like it was the first time I read it to them. On a side personal note, I am overly-sensitive to books that portray big families as crazy and chaotic. The mother is a mess in the middle of the book from her ridiculous attempt to make seven different meals for all seven of her children. Goof ball! BUT, it was nice to find a book not published before 1962 that portrays children as a gift.

What could be better than this?
by Linda Ashman

I love discovering books randomly at the library that are so good. This is a beautiful story about a King and his wife who in their single days were very adventurous and happy, but knew something was missing. They met each other and fell in love and began their new life together. Even though they loved each other deeply and were surrounded by anything and everything their heart desired, they still felt something was missing. They end up leaving the castle and all their wealth and start living in a simple little cottage. Their first son was born and the rest of the story is filled with the "True beginning of their lives." This baby. In a sense, it was as if they had a second chance to see life again as a child once their child was born. My favorite line is:

"And when they could listen, and move at your pace,
The world had a new sort of grace:
It seemed quite a magical place."

The couple is sitting watching their son play by the ocean and they are content, deeply enjoying their new pace.

Dominic

He is at the wonderful age where books are like candy to him. He loves reading and his idea of fun is heading to the library "Just with you, Mom." I love watching him in the historical section scanning and picking out his favorites. We've been trying to read the classics this year and these are the tops on his list.

He is always reading something, somewhere.

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

We are currently reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

He also loves the Hardy Boys and the Magic Tree House Series. We await eagerly each time Mary Pope Osborne publishes a new book. He writes it on his calendar. They contain a lot of great historical information.

Books are such a part of our day that I need to write down more often how each child changes their affections to new stories. We've been known to check out 70 books at a time at the library. I love seeing them come home and spread them all out and go through each one hunched over.