Five For Fun

This week Abi and I read these five books. Our first book was Christmas With Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This was a delightful picture book that was taken from the original book about the first Christmas with the March family. It was a wonderful way to introduce Little Women to a younger child. Because it was Alcott's original words it read in that same familiar style we all love.  The Second was Ernest's Special Christmas by Laura T. Barnes. This was a cute Christmas story of a small donkey named Ernest who helps his friend Chester, an old white horse, get back to the barn after getting lost in the snow. I was able to use this to point out to Abi that helping someone is the right thing to do even when it would be hard or we would be uncomfortable ourselves. The next three books were all about a bear named Henry in a series of books by D. B. Johnson. The bear is actually based on the author Henry David Thoreau. The story lines were simplistic and are based on in events the book 'Walden' by Thoreau. Some of Thoreau's real friends show up as characters in the stories too. Abi liked the pictures but thought they were kind of silly, but I think that was the author's purpose. Lighthearted.

At the end of the book the author includes some brief biographical information on Thoreau and the real example from which the story was inspired. I must say these books have encouraged me to read 'Walden' again. I was supposed to read this in high school and thought it made no sense but when I read the original quotes from Walden in this book they made perfect sense and were very readable. What do you know- another book for mom to add to her own book pile.