March 2026
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    I've been reading to my kids every night since we had them in the hospital. I started with kids books but quickly realized that they take much longer to go to sleep than a kids book really allowed, and looking at the pictures starts them all over again. They are 4 and 5 but I don't shelter them from complex works. We go to the library often and they get 5-10 kids books each at a time and we read those during the day. At night we do a long form overarching narrative that we do for a much longer period of time. Understanding will come with time but the bond it's built and the exposure to vocabulary and literature is more important to me at this stage. We get an hour or two a night of reading. I found a list of the hundred greatest books ever written and we've gotten about 60-70 books in but it's getting a bit heady for them. It took months to get through Anna Karinina and I think I was the only one who enjoyed it lol

    We've done too many to count but some of the more memorable ones were all 7 Harry Potter books, Alice in wonderland, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, treasure Island, Gulliver's travels, the velveteen rabbit, the giving tree, where the sidewalk ends, Charlotte's Webb, the lion the witch and the wardrobe, just about the entire collection of the magic tree house, swiss family Robinson and Robinson Caruso. We just finished 20,000 leagues under the sea tonight, and I have to start vetting my next book. I find adventure books do well but I'm not opposed to other stuff too.

    I've thought about doing all the lord of the rings, or the count of Monte Cristo, maybe hukleberry Finn. I have toyed with the idea of staying with Verne and doing the mysterious island to find out more about Captain Nemo, or perhaps journey to the center of the earth. I could also be breaking out into Don Quijote or all the Sherlock Holmes books and I've also got a great deal of Shakespeare we could dive into or the Odyssey but I am not sure about those. Are there any suggestions you guys have?

    by CasyD

    3 Comments

    1. maybemaybenot2023 on

      James A. Owen’s Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. if you don’t want to use the original illustrated editions, it was repackaged for adults with them, because it was so popular.

      The Hobbit would be good. LOTR might bore them a bit at points, I think I’d wait a bit on it- pacing would be the issue.

      Don Quixote has a fair amount of sexual humor, so I think I’d wait on that also.

    2. striker-studios on

      I would definitely recommend black beauty by Anna swell. That was always one of my favorites growing up. The warrior cats series is basically neverending and they may enjoy it as well as wings of fire. Hope this helps and so glad here parents still read to there kids like mine used to❤️❤️

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