The Green Meadow Series, by Thornton Burgess

Our family got started on reading through Thornton Burgess's Green Meadow series quite by accident. Years ago I had read Old Mother West Wind (linked to review) and wasn't quite sure what to make it of. My lasting reflection was that it was a cheesy story that felt like a "knock off" from other people's tales. (You'll see what I mean if you click that link to my review from back in the day.) Really, I hadn't thought about Thornton Burgess in years. Then, a few months back, Jonathan and I were out on a date night and found ourselves in a bookstore (*cough*cough*). I picked up one of Burgess's Green Meadow stories and flipped through it, thinking it might be an easy independent read for Bookworm2 (age 7) and so brought it home. In the end, instead of him reading the story alone, we read it aloud together. It was a hit!

Thornton Burgess was a great lover of nature and his children's stories are based on animals, whose habits and tendencies Burgess seemed to know quite well. Born in 1874, Burgess spent his formative years on farm land in Massachusettes. He tended cows, picked berries, trapped muskrats and observed the natural world. He spent 50 years of his life writing children's books and as the backdrop for these stories he drew a lot from the landscape which he was so a part of as a young person. All told, he wrote over 170 stories, popularly referred to as "bedtime stories" which have been enjoyed by children the world over.

For our part, after reading our first book from the Green Meadow Series (not the first in order, just the first we picked up) - The Adventures of Happy Jack - we all wanted to read more! I hopped on Amazon and found this set of six books at a royally good price and picked them up. We've been working our way through them ever since. The kids all absolutely love them. They are at times laugh out loud funny and we are often left highly entertained. (These books are super cheap on the Kindle and not at all pricey in paperback.)

Burgess is about the business of telling a moral tale through the use of his animal friends. His characters who are suspicious of others soon learn the importance of trust and kindness. The characters that are show offs and braggarts meet humility in less than kind circumstances. Perhaps the preachiness would bother some but I find the stories so quaint and well-told that the warnings against pride and selfishness are very well-received. The character of Reddy Fox, for example, has given us things to discuss when we're talking over our own behaviors between our own family members. These books are not only fun, but useful!

The Green Meadow series takes a look at a variety of animals in the forest and meadow and we learn the landscape as we spend time with each individual critter. Each title focuses on a different animal who resides in the area. For example:

• The Adventures of Reddy Fox
• The Adventures of Bowser the Hound
• The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel

The chapters are remarkably short and easy to read. We can polish off 7-8 chapters in no time flat making these quick read alouds. They are perfect as independent reads for ages 6-8. Bookworm2 has enjoyed a few titles on his own since we've begun reading them. (It takes him 2-3 days to read one title.)

I'm solidly sold on Burgess as an author of children's stories at this point in time. Not only have I been collecting the titles for us to read, but these are going to be go-to gifts for early readers. It's a beautiful world that Thornton Burgess lived in and created. There is a peacefulness about these books which is hard to find in books these days. If you are looking for an easy early chapter book and like the classic feel - look into these books. I don't think you'll be sorry! For my part, I'm glad I didn't work off of remembrances and impressions from years ago, passing the Burgess title by instead of bringing it home with me. Our reading life has been so enjoyable these days, thanks in large part to Burgess.

Mercy Watson to the Rescue, by Kate DiCamillo

Ok, we are very behind on the band wagon on this one but I'm pretty sure this is a case of being better late than never. Last year the character of Mercy Watson turned 10 years old. I was invited to review this lovely series of books written by Kate DiCamillo. Having never read them before, and having a burgeoning reader in Bookworm2 (age 6 1/2), I thought we should probably give these a whirl. While Bookworm1 (age 9) is a voracious reader and quite advanced for his age, Bookworm2 is a little bit more reticent. He wants to read but it's harder for him to learn than it was his older brother. As you know, what works for one child doesn't always work for another and I'd been a bit desperate to find a set of chapter books which would make for more easy reading for my second born. People have suggested graphic novels but I'm personally adverse to them (because I'm a snob, ok?). If I can go on avoiding graphic novels, I will. I liked the looks of Mercy Watson though because the story is streamlined and complete without the flash and dash which I find distracting(-to-unappealing) in graphic novels. Yet still, there are plenty of full colored illustrations in the Mercy Watson books to give them that picture book feel and quality which provides a nice bridge between picture and chapter books.

The first two titles in the Mercy Watson books arrived and Bookworm2 and I sat down to give Mercy Watson to the Rescue a go. In case you are unfamiliar with this character you should know that Mercy Watson is a pig who is in love with buttered toast. Mercy is sort of oblivious to the goings on of the rest of the world. She lives for pleasure and the received love of her people. Mercy lives with Mr. and Mrs. Watson who considered Mercy to be their "baby." They pamper and spoil Mercy and fill her up with all the buttered toast that her little piggy heart could desire.

One night, the Watsons are all asleep in their bed on the second floor of their home, dreaming pleasant dreams. Suddenly, they are awoken by a loud crack which is the floor giving way. The bed becomes to crash through the floor and the ceiling below. None of the Watsons are sure what the noise was but the awakened Mercy heads towards the kitchen in search of toast. Misadventures lead to misadventures and we meet the elderly Lincoln sisters who live next door, as well as the town firemen. Ultimately, Mercy is credited with having saved the Watsons from their bed troubles and everyone enjoys a midnight snack of buttered toast. All's well that end's well. We finished up our read in high spirits.

Bookworm1 was as proud as punch to have read his first full chapter book completely by himself. I, as his mother, was probably more excited than he was. We both loved Mercy Watson to the Rescue, although perhaps for slightly different reasons. I loved it because the font size was large, the book is divided into chapters, there are wonderful illustrations throughout, and an actual story of merit was told. There were interesting characters and funny happenings which kept us wondering what was going to happen next. Bookworm2, who has been saying that he wants to read chapter books like his brother, was happy because he finally found a book that allowed him that privilege. Truly, I couldn't be more pleased with this series.

The day after we finished Mercy Watson to the Rescue we continued on with Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride. The charm and the fun continue we find the Watsons enjoying a quiet Saturday morning. Mr. Watson decides to head out for a drive in his pink convertible and Mercy is invited to go for a ride. By all appearances it sounds like it's going to be a calm and pleasant day but that's before Baby Lincoln, one of the elderly ladies who live next door to the Watson, is found hiding out in the backseat of the convertible. It seems as if she is looking for a little excitement in her life and excitement is just what all of the occupants of the vehicle end up finding. It's a cute story and very much in keeping with the first book in the series.

By the time we finished the second book I was completely sold on Mercy Watson. I ordered the third book for Bookworm2 to read and he polished that one off as well. We were sent an additional title or two in the series for review and I'll come back in a few weeks and tell you more about them. We read the first three straight through so quickly that I've held the last three titles back until Bookworm2's birthday which is coming up here shortly. He asked me if there were more Mercy Watson books and I was happy to say, "YES!" I just figured we should space out our books and so for a short time, the last three books in the series have been hiding out in my bedroom closet.

If you have a reluctant reader and you yourself are reluctant about the graphic novels being too hastily recommended to you, take heart! You do not have to go that route if you don't want to! Mercy is a perfect character to start any reader off with, but especially one who needs a little extra help launching from picture to chapter books. I love that Candlewick published these books with the look and feel of a chapter book. It has honestly been a true delight to see Bookworm2 take pride in the fact that he has a chapter book series that belong to him and that he can read. It does both my mother and reading heart good, I tell you what!

I've already stair stepped him over to another series now that he has some confidence in his ability to read harder words and longer stories. But we'll back track to Mercy who is now a very beloved pig in our household.

Many, many, many thanks to Candlewick Press for publishing Mercy Watson books and sending us a few titles to check out for review purposes. Extra special congratulations to Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick and, of course, the Porcine Wonder, on celebrating 10 years! A Belated Happy Birthday to Mercy!

Although I did receive a copy of the first two titles in order to facilitate a review, please rest assured that my opinions are 150% my very own. I received no additional compensation for this post.

Camp-In-The-Yard, by Vivian L. Thompson

The coolest thing happened to me last Sunday after church. One of the older ladies who has been a tutor for many years said, "Can you come with me to my car right now? I have some books for you." With no notice or warning, I went to the car. She opened the trunk. It was FULL of BOOKS! Picture books, early readers, chapter books, etc. Treasure in a trunk! I swooned! And a took a box home and was elated!

Camp-In-The-Yard, by Vivian L. Thompson was in the box I brought home. It's an early reader published in 1961 and that's obvious once you get to reading it because two twin boys, definitely under the age of 10, are allowed to cook their own food over a campfire without any adult supervision. This book comes from a time when adventures were allowed and parents didn't know that they had to worry as much as we know we need to now. (I can say that in jest even to myself. I worry! I confess it!)

In this story, twins Mike and Tom wave to their brother as he leaves for camp. Their brother, Bill, is only one year older and the boys are sad that they cannot also go along to camp. They perk up considerably when their parents give them permission to create Camp-in-the-Yard and make their own dinner and sleep in a tent. This story follows their escapades as they get the tent down and set up, burn their hotdogs and are met by something spooky and scary after dark (i.e., their neighbor's dog). It's a cute story and my boys loved it. Bookworm1 said his favorite part was when the boys made their dinner. Bookworm2 liked it when they were scared by the dog. I liked it because it's a book about two boys creating adventure.

Part of me acknowledges the fact that boys need to have such adventures and the other part of me hesitates to provide those opportunities (because I worry with the best of them!). Quite frankly, I don't like the idea of camping. I like indoor plumbing too much. I also value mattresses. And heat. I have camped only once since moving to Oregon and I did it with my sibs-in-law back before I knew they were going to be my sibs-in-law. They invited me to go camping with them in the back of their property, roughly in the area where our house is now located. I camped in a tent with a sleeping bag and f-r-o-z-e. I then caught a cold. I decided I did not really appreciate camping.

Still, I think it's important to have adventures and so a few weeks back I thought I'd make it up to my boys that I don't like camping outdoors by having a family camp-out in the living room. I hauled all of our mattresses onto the main floor (oh yes, I did) and opened the doors and windows. We had a yummy dinner and then all climbed in our beds and watched a movie together. Afterwards we attempted sleep. My daughter couldn't get over the thrill of the whole thing and after I had finally managed to fall asleep she leaned over and started whispering in my ear (at 10:30 p.m.-ish). At 3:30 a.m. I awoke, completely f-r-o-z-e-n and got up to close all of the doors and windows after which I was mostly able to sleep. In the morning we made pancakes (a rare but well-received treat) and everyone was happy. We agreed that we would do this every summer. Family camping. In the living room. That's how we roll.

Adventures are fun in books, to be sure, but I think it's important to have real life ones as well . . . to match your own sense of style.

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered. - G. K. Chesterton

So how do you feel about adventures? Do you modify for the sake of family fun? Or are you hard core and do the real "camping thing", etc.?

Read Aloud Thursday :: Notes & Reflections

Time for another Read Aloud Thursday hosted by Amy at Hope is the Word.

(To link up to Read Aloud Thursdays, click over to Hope is the Word.)

Brief notes, more for my own sake than anyone else's:

Bookworm1 and I continue to read chapter books so long as I promise an incentive for each chapter book we read. He likes books, he just claims not to like long ones. However, he's usually more game to "read another!" chapter than I am. I also frequently catch him browsing through whichever chapter book we are in the middle of, looking at the pictures. I can't decide whether or not it is cheating to have him get an idea of what's coming or if I should let him continue to look as it seems to be keeping him interested.

He loves playing Legos while I'm reading to him. Frequently I wonder if he's actually listening to the words coming out of my mouth. However, every so often he'll ask me, "What does that word mean?" or he'll laugh over the dialogue. He's listening. He's just multi-tasking. Since I am NOT an audio learner, this is different for me. It seems that we are currently both enjoying the process of reading books together.

We recently finished the following books:

We read the fourth book in the Lighthouse Family series, The Eagle and enjoyed it. These are beginning chapter books and therefore have incredibly short chapters (and few at that!) The first book I thought was very cute. The second seemed to run along similar lines as the first (sea animal in trouble, the Lighthouse family saves the day, etc.) and by the third I confess to being a little bored. I can't NOT finish a series though and Bookworm1 really, really likes ocean animals. So we persevered. In this particular title, sibling mice Whistler and Lila make friends with a bald eagle and invite him home to tea. My adult brain kept waiting for the moment when the eagle ate the mice but this is a very sensible and sensitive children's story. Nothing scary ever truly happens. We must look for our excitement elsewhere.

Because I am willing to be faithful to the end of the Lighthouse Family adventures, we concluded our escapades with them by reading The Octopus. This is the pinnacle of the series and the one we were most looking forward to, seeing that the octopus has been a favorite creature around here for some time now. In this story a baby octopus named Cleo gets stuck in a tide pool. Whistler and Lila keep him company while waiting for the tide come back in. They make friends with Cleo and are delightedly amazed that he can do such things as change colors. Cleo returns to the sea with the tide but comes back to visit the entire Lighthouse Family, bringing with him his parents. (This would never happen.) But then again, in the real world, an octopus wouldn't tap a mouse on its shoulder and introduce itself. (I confess it, even though I know these stories are sweet ones, I still kept waiting for the octopus to grab the small mouse and CHOMP it with its beak. Not gonna happen in this series. It is safe, safe, safe!) We are now officially done with this series and I am personally glad of it, although it was cute while it lasted.

After reading those soothing stories of the sea, I wondered how Bookworm1 might do with something slightly more exciting. So, I pulled out some spicier selections and he chose The Flint Heart. (I've linked that to my review.) I read this for myself just last fall and when I read it I mentioned that I had a nagging suspicion that it had underlying messages that I wasn't sure about. As I also mentioned, it's an engaging story and a darker fairy tale. There is blood and war and glory all wrapped up in this. Bookworm1 really liked the story from that perspective. I asked him for his opinion after we were done reading and he said he "liked it very much." His mother, on the other hand, was not that thrilled.

I was particularly bothered by the message which is contained and shared in the book about people's "point of view." Everyone has a point of view and all points of view are important. (I disagree.) One of the characters in the book is given an examination and he is asked the question, "Do you think the moon is more important, or the sun?" The character replies that the moon is more important. His answer is declared to be wrong by the examiner, but then the king says, "Well, from his point of view, the moon is more important so his answer is correct!" The point is made over and over again throughout the book that everyone's opinions matter, even if their decisions or conclusions are not based on fact but on feeling. (If you feel you do not agree with me, let me make this even more practical. We might occasionally need to make a decision to go to the grocery store to buy food for our family. Our 1 year old might think that we should not leave the house. According to her point of view, we should stay home and play. But there are practical necessities and information and insight we have that she does not that makes our opinion more important. Also, we have the knowledge of truth on our side that informs us that if we do not eat, we will die. Our "opinion" ranks. We go to the store.)

In fact, I so distinctly did not appreciate the pervasiveness of this message and the importance that the authors placed on the idea that everyone can be right all at the same time (even if their answers are distinctly different), thus eliminating the idea that anything can be proven true, that I have decided to take this book off of our bookshelves. I'd really rather not read it again. There are better books out there. We'll spend time with them.

After that book I really pushed for something funny to read and offered some new options. Bookworm1 selected Hank the Cowdog. This is going very well. I'll share more about that later.

The Lighthouse Family :: Read Aloud Thursday

Time for another Read Aloud Thursday hosted by Amy at Hope is the Word.

(To link up to Read Aloud Thursdays, click over to Hope is the Word.)

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a copy of The Lighthouse Family: The Storm (linked to my review) and read it to Bookworm1 (age 5.) It being a rather big hit around here, I purchased the next couple of titles in the series for us to read with one another. The second book, The Whale, was happily received as it deals with a type of our favorite sea creatures. (Our favorite type is the title of the last book in this series and it is the most hotly anticipated.) However, I insist we read them in order (because that's the way I roll.)

We read The Whale in two days. In this story, mice siblings Whistler and his sister Lila, hear a cry for help down by the seashore. They rush to see who is in trouble and discover a baby beluga whale who has been sadly separated from his mother. Whistler and Lila promise to help reunite the young one to his mother and set about doing so. This series of books is illustrated by Preston McDaniels and again I was impressed by how home-like he makes the lighthouse. He provides warmth and depth of character for each of the animals. Whistler and Lila are quite the cuddly little mice. Rylant's writing is enjoyed in it's entirely and she never fails to make Bookworm1 laugh out loud at least once during these "Beginner Chapter Books."

It should be pointed out that these are truly beginner chapter books. Each chapter is short and reasonably illustrated. Even if Bookworm1 were still 4, I firmly believe we could have sat down and enjoyed these books immensely. At 5 we're having to pace ourselves or else we discover that we can easily consume one of these books each day.

In fact, we did consume the next book in the series, The Turtle, in one evening. It probably took us less than an hour to read, as this particular book only has four chapters. Given the fact that this book is shorter, there are illustrations on every page. (In the other titles there have been illustrations on every other page.) Also, it's probably a good thing to note that while we read the books in order, they do not have to be read that way. The beginning chapter of each title offers an explanation of The Lighthouse Family so you aren't missing out on anything by reading them improperly in whatever order you like. If you have a really-new-to-chapter-books-reader, you may want to consider reading The Turtle first as it is much shorter than the two which come before it.

In The Turtle we find the Lighthouse family standing guard over the coastline in some pretty foggy and windy weather. Seabold (the dog) and Whistler and Lily (the mice) are out sounding the fog horn to warn schooers away from the rocky shoreline when they heard another (you guessed it!) cry for help. This time they discovered a one hundred year sea turtle who had washed ashore. Using a great deal of team work, and calling on some help from a pod of pelicans, they return the sea turtle to her ocean home. All in a good day's work for The Lighthouse Family.

These are short and simply stories but are heartily enjoyed by Bookworm1. We recommend them and will continue reading on.