If your little boy can handle the Little House books, then how about these:

Shasta of the Wolves by Olaf Baker
Black Fox of Lorne by Marquerite De Angeli
The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong
The 21 Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds
Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marquerite Henry

All these and many more are listed in Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

Yes, raising children in the city can be challenging, especially if Daddy is working long hours. My first suggestion is that when Daddy is home, perhaps the little boy can be with him as much as possible. But in the meantime, Daddy’s homecoming can be anticipated and celebrated with great delight. We can make pictures and cards and gadgets out of toothpicks and popsicle sticks for Daddy to surprise him. We can memorize Bible verses and poetry to recite for him in the evening after supper. We can cook him delicious cookies for his lunch (some boys are better at this than others). We lived in town for 7 years, from 1975-1982, and, although we had a moderately sized yard for the children to play in, I distinctly remember the children and me circling and circling the block in an attempt to get the wiggles out. I suggest that you give the little boy a small part of that yard of yours for his very own. This can be his first attempt at dominion. Of course you will teach him the responsible use of his land and hold him accountable for its upkeep. Perhaps Daddy can give him a small tool chest along with some kid-sized lumber and the boy can use his hammer and nails to build a fort, and when Daddy’s home they can paint it. Of course, you know that all these suggestions will not win for you a place in Better Homes and Gardens, and I suppose the other condo dwellers would rather you not mess up the place but just send the kid to preschool. Oh, well, it’s only temporary. Young children need plenty of time to play, but they also need to learn to work and make themselves useful. That’s why our suggestions run along the lines of buying tools instead of toys. They need to know that they are an essential part of your family, even at four years old, and that you really need their help — not in the way that a master needs a servant to do work for him, but in the way that a business owner depends upon his partners.

Hello Laurie,

In the book Hand That Rocks the Cradle, the book Rascal by Sterling North was a recommendation. When I saw Rascal on audio book at my local library I checked it out. We have listened to the whole thing and really enjoyed the story — it’s a great one for boys. Now, in the story, there were a few mentions of things such as “millions of years” and “will my raccoon become a human?” and mention of astrology, etc…. Anyway, I am sure those are some of the best reasons not to allow audio books to replace reading aloud, where you can catch these things beforehand and be prepared. What I am emailing for is guidance in how you dealt with these things when your children were VERY young. I suppose I do understand how such mentions can be used as a learning tool through conversation with the child. But I feel a bit intimidated in trying to explain this to a 4-year-old, who frankly doesn’t even realize anything about evolution yet to begin with. Do I say anything? Do I wait until he asks? Or does that end up planting seeds that will be harder to purge later if not addressed now? L. D.

I found that once you get good at reading aloud, you can pretty easily detect when something controversial is coming up, and you can either choose not to read it, or else read it and then comment if needed. I never had a problem with going ahead and reading aloud references to evolution. In our family, we were always quite open on the subject — we taught our young children what we believed the Bible says about origins (creation) and what we believed to be false (evolution), so that when they were confronted with the topic in the course of everyday living, they would know how to think about it and respond to it. I don’t consider evolution to be a taboo subject, but would treat it the same as if you were reading aloud a story about how they used to “bleed” people years ago in order to cure diseases.

So when you read aloud or heard on tape “will my raccoon become a human?” in the book Rascal, you stop and chuckle and lightly comment on how silly that is because we all know that God made man and animals different, and that a raccoon can never become a man. Then perhaps later that evening when Daddy is home, you can ask the 4-year-old to tell Daddy about that funny thing we read about in Rascal, and maybe, if Daddy is able, after working ten hours in the hot sun shingling a customer’s roof, he can expound on the scientific reasons why it truly is silly to think that a raccoon can become a human.

But references to astrology, drug use, abortion, sexual situations, witchcraft and other such topics I would handle differently. I would skip reading aloud those types of references in books, depending on the age of the children and the topic, and if I suspected that those topics would come up in a recorded book we were listening to, then I probably wouldn’t use that particular recording till all my children were of an age I thought appropriate. You would have to use your own judgment on that since you alone know your child best.

Update on William Clark Russell (1844-1911) from John Addy (December 2010) — (See Part I here)

1.       Deal Maritime Museum – Judith Dore, secretary of the museum, asked me for information on CR’s connections with the town of Deal in Kent. I sent several extracts from poems, articles, stories and novels where CR mentions Deal, a town where he lived in 1865 and for two years starting in 1888. Judith talked about raising a ‘blue plaque’ in the town to honour the author! However, she warned that museums work at a snail’s pace. She’s planted the seed anyway. I understand the museum is closed currently due to a prolonged legal dispute. So, watch this space, but don’t hold your breath.

2. Several new CR works found – from 19^th century US and UK newspaper archives I have unearthed several uncatalogued Clark Russell stories. It’s always exciting to find a new Clark Russell work to add to my growing bibliography! New finds include Desire (a novel serialised in The Leader, 1869, a newspaper Clark Russell edited); Tyburniana (Gentleman’s Magazine article, 1871); Mr. Ravens’s Stepson (short story written under the pseudonym Sydney Mostyn, Illustrated London News, 1874); Jackson, or the Story of a Sea Dog (short story from The Morning Call, San Francisco, 1890); The Ring and the Lead (short story from The Nottinghamshire Guardian, 1896). I also discovered Old Jack’s Appeal, a 1907 leaflet he wrote appealing on behalf of the Royal Alfred Institution for aged seamen. Additionally, I found a poem he wrote published in The Morning Post, 1899 titled: To a Dead Soldier. Extract:

You’re happy where you are, dear,

You’re happy where you are;

The red rose dims her scarlet light,

Soft glows the evening star.

The night is here, the moon will rise

And you’re at rest afar.

3.       Clark Russell parody – Surely, being parodied is the highest form of literary attainment? In “Studies in Style” (1900) W H Helm parodies writers including H G Wells and CR. “Green Oceans” is an excellent parody full of heart-of-oak sailors and nautical shenanigans closely aping CR’s style.

4.       My article published – My article ‘Ships and Shipmates in the Canon’ was published in The Scion, Newsletter of the Musgraves Sherlock Holmes Society in spring 2010. In it I looked at everything sea-related in the Sherlock Holmes stories and mention CR several times along the way.

5.        Why Clark Russell really left the sea – I discovered an article in the US Ploughkeepsie Daily Eagle, 1888 containing revelations by CR about why he really left the sea after almost 8 years in the merchant service. I had read elsewhere that he was heartily sick of the sea and the sea-life and in many of his stories he attempts to correct the idealisms of silly schoolboys who think of going to sea. However, this newly unearthed article for the first time carries a full description of an argument between a captain Neatby and CR who was being berated for losing a wooden batten of a hen-coop he had been tasked with cleaning out. Following several previous acrimonious encounters, and on being screamed at about the loss of a small piece of wood, CR lets the captain have a piece of his mind:

“Now, Mr. N—-,” said I, not condescending to term him captain, to which title no shipmaster has right. “I’ve had enough of seafaring and as I propose to abandon the life when I reach the Thames I think I may as well coil up and stop short just here.”

“Go below, sir!” he roared.

“You’ve treated me very rudely,” I continued, astonished by my own determination, “and have shown yourself utterly incapable of distinguishing between persons. Your master has had a very great deal of money out of my father, as you know, and if there were more to be obtained I don’t question that you would have used the very much more civilly. Sir, I’m sick of the sea, sick of this ship, and sick of you!” and on saying I walked off the poop, leaving the old chap speechless with rage.

I often wonder I did not cause his death. He had heart disease, and dropped dead at his door soon after the arrival of the ship in the Thames.” Relived of all duties and put on bread and water for the remainder of the voyage, Clark Russell read poetry and was inspired to create his own verse. And from this small literary acorn eventually grew a mighty oak tree of fiction, biography, articles, poetry and song.

6.       Clark Russell writes a new national song. I found references to the song ‘Victoria!’ with words by Clark Russell and music by Henry Smart. First published in 1874, it became popular again in 1887, Victoria’s Jubilee year. Critics said the song was stirring and patriotic, ‘We have not met with any Jubilee song that has more spirit and energy of style,’ and “Victoria,” ‘cannot fail to be at once accepted by all loyal subjects of her Majesty as the one National Song that best expresses the People’s love for the Queen.’ I can’t find the full piece (help, anyone?) but here’s the rousing chorus:

Victoria! Victoria! The sceptre that she wields

Hath won for us more victories

Than our hundred battle-fields.

Our homes are pure, our alters white,

Our annals without stain;

Gather around, then, Britons all,

And praise our good Queen’s reign.

Regards to you all, John Addy.

Recently I purchased a copy of George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster. The recommended reading level begins at 4th grade, yet is seems like excellent read-aloud material. Is there a compelling reason why I should wait until my knowledge-level children are older before using this as the backbone for a history timeline? Pamela, Chicago

I suggest that you might want to ignore reading levels. Here is the rule I followed — if I liked the book and wanted to read it, then I read it aloud to my children, no matter what the reading level was. The summer of 1981, the year Ava was born and Nathan our oldest was 5, I read aloud through the works of Jules Verne. Oh, that was fun! Laurie

Sincerely,
Kristen, Ohio

I would handle it exactly as you have. If it is questionable in your mind, then skip it. I did it often.

I thought I might post this to give you some encouragement. My oldest son, now a 21 year old college student, sounds just like your son. We homeschooled him all the way through high school and, even at his graduation, I felt that I had “failed” him in the area of love of reading.

Blessing to you!
Denna Christine Flickner

Lynn Reif — Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman
Debbie Speedy — Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos
Cindy Landreth — Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth, Jr.
Peggy Brooks — Look Out Jeremy Bean
Janet Langford — The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Jenny Selberg — Just David by Eleanor H. Porter
Susan Hoffmann — Ralph Moody books
Penni Holt — Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Stefanie Feyer — Little Britches by Ralph Moody
Angela — Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley
K. Bunyard — Charlotte’s Web by EB White
Jacqueline Boj-Sode — Endurance by Alfred Lansing
Bradley Jamrozik — The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
Jill Stanish — The Long Vacation by Jules Verne
Linda Bailey — Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
Sylvia Atkinson — Crown and Covenant series by Douglas Bond
Jeff Heflin — Blackthorn Winter by Douglas Wilson
Ruth from NZ — Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard
LauraLyn Eberting — A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Susan Mertens — Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw—————WINNER
Sarah Baugh — The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
Karen Dunham — Scottish Seas by Douglas Jones
Jenny Jensen — The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley
Paula — Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
Shanna Thompson — ‘The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Kelly Ward — Eragon Series
Carola Basaj — The Light at Tern Rock
Sophia Wise — The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers
Carlos Valencia III — Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series
Shanna Hinrichs — Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder
Sandra Klassen — Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Megan Volmer — Go, Dog, Go by Dr. Seuss
Juli Pealstrom — Anne of Green Gables & Avonlea
Jatina Coburn — The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye
Lilah Monger — Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley
Debbie Ball from NZ — The Gorilla Hunters by R M Ballantyne
Laura Hazelip — the Bible first and then Narnia
Grissom Family — The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert Dejong
Jessica Phillips — The Dog Crusoe by R.M. Ballantyne
Colton Zeitler — Swiss Family Robinson published in 1886 by Routledge
Michelle Moore — Buzzle Billy Learns to Share by Michael Waite
Tracey Tillson — Little Britches by Ralph Moody
Sue Miller — Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
Monique Baysinger — Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Michelle Wilt — Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Maria Smith — Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
Heather Henderson — Mr. Pudgins by Ruth Christoffer Carlsen
Angela Childress — Under the Lilacs by L.M Alcott
Jamie Kraft — The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Lyn Carradine — J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit
Sarah Walworth — Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming
Suzanne Broadhurst — Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Sandy Winkel — Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Sara Reed — Christy by Catherine Marshall
Julia Anderson — The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Patricia Christianson — Karlsson on the Roof by Astrid Lindgren
Nancy Pritchertt — Castleberry’s Farm Mystery Series
Jeanne Berntson — Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Ana Molina — The Little House in the Prairie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Men of Iron — Pyle
The Bronze Bow — Speare
Jo’s Boys — Alcott
Sufferings in Africa — Captain James Riley
The Captivity of the Oatman Girls — Lorenzo Oatman
The Shining Company — Sutcliff
The Elusive Pimpernel — Orczy
The Poison Belt — Doyl
The Histories — Herodotus
Barnaby Rudge — Dickens
Journey to the Center of the Earth — Verne
Justin Morgan Had a Horse — Henry
Ivanhoe — Scott
Johnny Tremain — Forbes
Basket of Flowers — J. H. St. A.
A Garland for Girls — Alcott

My spelling is Wobbly. It’s good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places. — A. A. Milne

Sincerely,
Vanessa Strohmeyer, Gilbert, Iowa

How about these:

The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds
books by Marguerite Henry
books by Will James
books by Lois Lenski
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Blind Colt by Glenn Rounds