Monday, January 6, 2020

Upcoming Middle Grade Reads

We are starting a new homeschool curriculum that combines history and literature and I'm so excited.  Basically you supplement the history you're learning about with historical fiction set during the time you're studying to really make it come alive.  I adore this concept and am so excited to really get started on it.  It also throws in a good number of solid books for just literature study.  My 10 year old isn't the most enthusiastic reader but I'm hoping that mixing in a lot of read alouds might catch his interest.  Here is a few books that are coming up!


The Tale of Desperaux: The Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo - I'm super excited about this one and this will be the first one we start with.  We've loved other books by DiCamillo and this just sounds great.


26 Fairmont Avenue by Tomie DePaola - I know absolutely nothing about this one so I'm looking forward to discovering it.


Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - I read this one a few years ago and really liked it but I think the fact that I've seen the movie limited my enjoyment just a bit.  I'm really thrilled that the Tornado will experience the book first.


Nim's Island by Wendy Orr - I have heard of this story and that about sums up all I know about it.


Tales from the Odyssey Pt 1 by Mary Pope Osborne - This is connected to the history we will be studying and I'm super excited to see what he thinks of this.

Charlotte's Web is also on the list and I'm currently leaning towards sticking it.  It's a wonderful story and very much a classic but that story is traumatizing!

Have you read any of these?  What'd you think?

8 comments:

  1. I love the idea of working books like these into your curriculum. I think that I have seen the movies for a lot of these books but I haven't read any of them. I can't wait to hear what you and your son think of them.

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  2. Fun! I've read two of these, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX.

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  3. I am so glad you are sharing your reading plans for your son with us. It'll give me ideas to read with my daughter. My husband read Charlotte's Webb to my daughter a couple years ago and she still talks about it. She gets excited every time there is a Charlotte reference. :-)

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  4. Oh, this is fun and I love the idea. You could probably add in movie adaptations once you've finished the book and have a whole discussion on that.

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  5. I loved it when our third grade teacher (I think it was 3rd grade, anyway) read the Charlie and Chocolate Factory books to us. So awesome. Nim's Island looks good too.

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  6. It's a great line up. I like The Tale of Despereaux and well I am a fan of Charlotte's Web is has some great friendship bits to it. Read aloud will be the way to go with whatever you choose. Such a lucky 10 year old.

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  7. Baz loved The Tale of Desperaux with all his heart. 💟

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  8. The Charlie books are good. I heard Desperaux is good.

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