The Boxcar Children

This classic children's book was the first read aloud in our Core A curriculum from Sonlight.

Even though I have read it several time, it does not fail to disappoint. It is a story of 4 orphans seeking to survive on their own and not be found by their grandfather, of whom they are very afraid. I love the ingenuity of the kids as they figure out how to make a refrigerator, a ladle, and a swimming pool, among other things. I really enjoyed pointing these things out to Lillian as we read this together. I also appreciate that the kids are hard workers, all of them, which is a great encouragement to me.

The ending is a little too "happily ever after" for my taste, but as a whole I like the book very much.

5 stars for this book.

Animals Animals

This was the poetry book in our P4/5 curriculum through Sonlight. Though poetry is not my thing, this book is not too bad. I like that it has a variety of poetry types and poetry from different cultures. The pictures are done by Eric Carle, which make them interesting to fit with the poems.

4 Stars

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I finished my 11th book in the Back to the Classics Challenge I am doing! This was my book for 19th century classic and even though I am very familiar with the story I really enjoyed reading it.

If you have been around for any length of time you have probably seen or heard some rendition of this story, but it is worth the read. It is clearly written, which is a great comfort as some classics can get lost in the words. I also appreciated that this book was short and a quick read, but still deep. There are certainly many thought provoking statements. It also is sobering to think of yourself and how you treat people. It would be great if it were truly Christian, but for not being a Christian work it was very good.

I am really glad I read it and recommend it for others.

4.5 stars for this classic!

Stories from Around the World

This book was part of the read alouds in our P4/5 Curriculum from Sonlight. As with any story book, you will not necessarily like them all, but I did enjoy the majority of the stories in this book. It is fun to see different folk tales from around the world and compare them to each other. Lillian enjoyed reading these stories and learning a little more about the cultures we were talking about.

4 stars

Leading Little Ones To God

This book was given to us as our devotional book for Core B in our Sonlight Curriculum. It is a good basic book for introducing and explaining truths to children. The wording makes it evident that it was written awhile again and can feel awkward to read, but it was not bad. There were also times I did not agree with how they said something, so I wish I had read it ahead of time to know it was coming. These were very few and easy to correct.

As a whole I would recommend this as a devotional book for kids.

4 Stars

Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

My 10th book for my Back to the Classics Challenge, was Lady Chatterly's Lover for the category of 20th Century Classic.

I bought this book years ago, I think in high school, so I was a little leery of reading it for likely obvious reasons. But I was quite surprised by this book. It wasn't excellent, but I was intrigued by many of the passages in this book. The words and pictures painted, though very vivid and risque, were similar to the pictures painted in the Song of Songs. It was a complete admiration for one another and the way, I believe, God wants us to look at our spouses. It is frustrating that this is such a secular view of this, but much can be learned in it.

I do not condone the actions in the book at all. I will say it is also a good picture of how easy it is to become disenchanted and abandon what you know to be true and right, no matter who you are.

At times it was difficult to read as parts were written in a cockney-esc dialect. The beginning was also slow and a bit unnecessary.

I also appreciate that there is an open-ended ending with no idea as to when, if ever, they will be together.

Does that mean I recommend this book? Yes and No. If you know yourself and have good control of your mind, you may be able to read this book and enjoy it as I did. If you are single, DO NOT READ IT! And if you have problems handling romance, I would not recommend this either.

I give this book 3 stars.

The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare

The Comedy of Errors is my 9th classic in my Back to the Classics Challenge and is the book for the "classic play" category.

Like most Shakespeare comedies, I quite enjoyed this play. It was a quick and easy read, which I greatly appreciated.

It was certainly funny, but sadly overly predictable. Act 1 Scene 1 allowed me to guess the play without having read it and without ever hearing a synopsis of the play. The ins and outs were not as predictable, which kept the humor for me.

Because I enjoy Shakespeare and this play kept well to the fashion I enjoy, I give it 4 stars, deducting 1 for the giveaway at the beginning of the play.