WHAT SLOANE AND I ARE READING V. I

This is a departure from my usual What I've Been Reading These Days  because I thought I would start documenting the good books that I've been reading with Sloane lately. I love being able to reread through some of my favorite books with Sloane - I get to remember everything I liked about it AND I get to experience what it is like for the first time through Sloane's eyes. Peter Pan was probably the first chapter book we went through together, followed by Alice in the Wonderland and then Charlotte's Web. I embarked on those not knowing if they would hold her attention, and was surprised to find how captivated she was through the readings even though I knew she didn't understand parts of it. Talking about these books with her is one of my favorite things about life these days.

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B White

After Charlotte's Web, which I love with all my heart, I looked to my next favorite E. B. White children's books - The Trumpet of the Swan! I had forgotten how good it is and Sloane loved it too.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

This is one I thought I would wait until later to read with her, but there is a possibility we might do this book for our literary party this fall, so I thought I would give it a try. She was a little nervous about the witch (it is in the title, after all) but she was able to bear it for the sake of the story and waited in great anticipation for the appearance of the great lion, Aslan.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett 

We are about a third of the way through this one and we are taking our time. The language is more unwieldy (probably due to the fact that it was written in 1905, almost 50 years before Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swans and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and it's so interesting how differently the same words were used a hundred years ago, but Sloane is taking it in and asking questions at the end of each chapter with shining eyes.

Poems to Learn by Heart, edited Caroline Kennedy 

I've mentioned this book here before, and it is still a favorite. I love reading these aloud and we take turns flipping through the pages to find new ones, funny ones and lingering favorites.