Bedtime Readaloud List

This post is to record our bedtime readalouds. In general, I read one chapter each night I put the girls to bed. I put them to bed only every other day, so I do about 3 chapters per week.

I plan to update this post periodically as we finish a book. The most recent book is at the top of the list.
Elmer and the Dragon (In Progress)
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
The girls enjoyed "My Father's Dragon" so I thought that I'd continue with the sequal. I also liked the chapter length and straightforward plot of the previous book.

My Father's Dragon (Finished March 2009)
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
The girls did so well with The Boxcar Children, that I decided to try another chapter book. Again, there are a few black and white illustrations for the girls. In my copy of the book, even though the text is fairly dense on the page, there aren't many pages per chapter, so it goes fairly quickly. Sparkle has also started recapping the previous chapter during bathtime, which is just before the readaloud. That counts as narration for school. I still don't know if Glitter understands what is going on in the book, but she listens quietly now.

The Boxcar Children (Finished March 2009)
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
This is the first book that I've tried that isn't a picture book. There are a few black and white illustrations that the girls like, but there really isn't much for the girls to look at. As a result, the girls are a bit more squirmy but they are getting used to it.

By the end Glitter managed to go through most of a chapter without interrupting. In the second to the last chapter, the big climax, Sparkle listened with rapt attention, clinging to the edge of her bed, not moving a muscle. I'm glad that she enjoyed it.

James Herriot's Treasury for Children
by James Herriot
This book is a set of beautifully illustrated short stories about animals. Sparkle loved pretending to be each animal in the story, especially the kittens and puppies. Glitter enjoyed finding the animals in the pictures.

The Big Picture Story Bible
by David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker
This is a picture book of bible stories. It didn't take long to get through both the old testament and the new testament. This was actually a second time for reading this book at bedtime - I went through it with Sparkle before we got Glitter.

The Macmillan Book of 366 Bedtime Stories
This book is my standby book when it's late and I don't have the time or energy to read a regular book, yet the girls want me to read to them. There is a story for each day of the year, and the stories are only a few paragraphs each.

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My previous posting about our readalouds is here.