I love curling up with my kids and a great book!

Reading aloud is good for everyone. It’s calming, centering, and connecting, not to mention the skills development and modeling going on.

In the summertime at our house, we like to carry a basket of good read-alouds out to the front porch to read on the glider.

Read-Aloud June

A covered porch is a beautiful spot in a warm summer rainstorm!

I throw a few games into the basket along with the books and it’s good to go – front porch, back deck, picnic blanket in the yard or even to the park.

Having that basket ready is a good reminder, a trigger, to make time to curl up and read.

You can replenish the basket each month with three to four new titles. And you’ll be well on your way to developing that read-aloud habit.

My love of reading aloud was thwarted in the early years by fidgety, wrastling boys! But I started small, just reading a few pages at a time.

Giving them something to do with their hands really helped! Just ask your kids to model something from the story and off you go. (Check out my Pinterest board on Modeling for some recipes – the two ingredient modeling beeswax recipe is oh so simple.)

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Recommendations for June Read-Aloud June

The Trumpet of the SwanThe Trump of the Swan by E.B. White

I love this story of a boy who finds a trumpeter swan who cannot make a sound. The young swan finds his voice in a very surprising way. The characters of the swans are so rich and this is a beautifully serene story of nature images painted with words.

 

 

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

Miss Rumphius

A touching story about passing wisdom down through the generations. From Great Aunt Alice to little Alice, when you grow up, “you must do something to make the world more beautiful.” Written so poetically, I tear up every time I read this book. The New York Times Book Review: “dedicated to the belief that life and art are inseparable.”

 

Peter William Butterblow

Peter William Butterblow and Other Little FolkΒ by C.J. Moore

A book of lovely little poems about gnomes! Each double page spread has one poem and a beautiful drawing. Gnomes “trit-trotting” through the woods, picking strawberries under the bright summer sun, or wandering through our houses at night tidying the kitchen and having a little snack as a reward. Great for reading again and again. And for olders to read to youngers.

Other Treats in Our Reading Basket

Banangrams

A Deck of Playing Cards

Borderline Card Game

Modeling Beeswax

Enjoy your summer reading and let me know where your reading basket takes you!

 

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13 Comments

  1. Love the way you combine modelling with reading here! Sweet:) Also love your Pinterest board. What a great resource for yours truly.

    1. Keeping the hands busy saved us for sure! I am loving sharing ideas on Pinterest; I am totally a visual learner. Can’t wait to hear about the wedding!

  2. Love this reminder.
    Following you on pinterest. Although if you have any tips on getting from “pin” to “life” I’d appreciate it.
    Sending you and Alison an email shortly.
    xxoo
    S

    1. I LOVE reading aloud. I even start my high school composition class by reading them a poem! The moving from “pin” to “life” is a tricky one, isn’t it?!? I like to think of my boards as a repository so when I need an idea, I often remember that I pinned something about that and go there for inspiration. Still a very slippery slope sometimes though!
      Hope you had a great time at the beach!!! xoxoxo

  3. I can’t wait to read all of these. Thanks for sharing! (Also, excellent excuse to buy another basket.) πŸ˜‰

    1. Yes, the beautiful baskets! What has helped me most about this is loading up the basket every few weeks with new books and having it ready to go. Enjoy your summer!

  4. We are definitely a read aloud family. I used to have the opposite problem – my girls wanted to sit and read stories so much I had to set limits so we would get up and move! I can’t wait to check out Peter William Butterblow, that sounds so sweet and my littles are very into gnomes these days! πŸ™‚

    1. So funny…I never had that problem with my boys, but definitely with my daughter. I still have to encourage her to stop reading and DO something at age 15! For me, my natural rhythm is to get moving in the morning and have reading time after lunch so even in the summer that will be our goal. Out on bikes or going for a hike, even just a long walk with the dog to get us going. I think you’ll REALLY enjoy Peter William Butterblow; it’s a family favorite here. It’s funny and sweet and beautiful!

    1. Yes, I think you’ll love that book! Would make a great gift, too. And I have this great image in my mind of you and Quimby sitting in your rockers by the wood stove reading aloud to each other! That’s why I always bring a poetry book to share when I come visit, so I can join in! Looking forward to Taproot.

  5. Jean, I just ordered Miss Rumphius and Peter William Butterblow, but what would you say is a good age range for The Trumpet of the Swan? We have one chapter left to go in Charlotte’s Web, and although she would listen attentively once we started, my soon-to-be-5-year old would sometimes whine before reading time, “I don’t waaaaant to read Charlotte’s Web!!” I think it might have been a bit too advanced for her? But, I’m not certain, because as I said, she would listen just fine once we started. (And we all cried together yesterday as we considered Charlotte’s end.)

    1. Great question, Tracie. Most of E. B. White’s books are recommended for 8-12 year olds, but I find that those recommendations usually mean for the reader. I think earlier works for reading aloud. Trumpet of the Swan seems like it would be fine for your crew; it’s less emotionally challenging (maybe Charlotte’s Web was too intense?” ) and much more serene. It could be helpful to ascertain why your 5 year old balks at first; maybe she doesn’t want to be interrupted from what she’s doing? Or you could be right on and it could be too advanced. If this behavior keeps happening with other books too, you could try to figure it out through observing…it’s good she finally settles in, though. Charlotte’s Web always makes me cry!

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