Plumfield Moms

Educational: Early Readers

One of the things that seems to scare parents most when they are thinking of homeschooling young children is the prospect of teaching their children to read. “Experts” have conditioned us to believe that teaching reading is a delicate process best not attempted by the uninitiated. 
Many of the homeschool curriculum publishers, while acknowledging that parents certainly can teach their children to read, would have them believe that it can only be done by adhering strictly to their method and buying all their detailed instruction books and readers.          
I beg to differ! Not knowing how unqualified I was, I taught my own children to read. I then went on to teach dozens of other people’s kids to read through one-on-one tutoring and teaching in a classical Christian school. Now, I work with Sara here at Plumfield and Paideia, and with homeschoolers in my town, to encourage parents to believe, “You can do it.”
When it comes to choosing books for your young reader, sorting through titles can be overwhelming. Ah, for the days when the choices were the Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress, and Gulliver’s Travels!
That may be simplifying it just a bit, but not much. Until about the 1700s, no one was writing books just for children. And yet, children were learning to read. This ought to give us pause when we’re agonizing over the hundreds and thousands of books available to us today for teaching children to read. 
At Plumfield and Paideia, it’s obvious we value books. But what is it that makes a book valuable? This question seems particularly pertinent in our modern world where millions of books are published each year, and many can be had for less than the price of your daily coffee. 
One way to answer the question is to consider what you want from a particular book. If you are looking for a book, the sole purpose of which is to teach your child the sounds of the letter a, you can find that. But you then need twenty-five other books to cover the rest of the alphabet. It’s unlikely you learned to read that way, but somehow you did learn. 
Here’s another question: Do you remember any of the stories from the graded readers inflicted on you in school? Sally, Dick, and Jane were supposed to teach me to read. What I remember is the illustrations. A story written strictly to supply the right number and difficulty of words may actually do the job of teaching a child to read, but will it teach love for reading?
I know that, with all their activity and friendliness, Sally, Dick, and Jane would not have developed a love of reading for me. What did that was other books available to me that cultivated my imagination, modeled the virtues of obedience, valor, persistence, faith, and selflessness, and became true companions. 
My desires for such stories meant that I often attempted books that were technically above my reading level. This didn’t discourage me, it stretched and challenged me.    
“I Can Read” Books were introduced in 1957. When I was a kid our family had a couple dozen of them. The HarperCollins website now features nearly 900 selections! Are children reading better now, for all that?
Because truth is true, goodness is good and badness is not. And there is less gray area between the two than is popular to acknowledge. The standard for beauty comes from truth and goodness. This is not to say there is no room for taste, but there is likely less gray area between beauty and ugliness than we want to admit. And it seems beauty has been out of fashion for a long time. 
All that being said, if we want our children’s tastes to be properly formed, that formation ought to begin in the cradle. By the time you are looking for books appropriate for early readers, I hope your children have been hearing good stories all their lives. I won’t say it’s never too late to start . . . but, since we can’t know when the point of no return has been reached, let’s start now. 
We don’t believe in wasting money or shelf space on books that don’t have value. Their value has nothing to do with their price. Some of the most valuable books are going cheap on Amazon. The most expensive book with the most beautiful illustrations may still be unworthy of your attention. 
This page will be the starting place for our recommendations and reviews for books for young readers.  
Here are some of the qualities we’ll be using for our choices:
Timelessness
Is the book a classic that has been delighting children for decades, or does it seem likely to us that it will be a classic decades from now? 
Age-appropriate Situations 
Just because it is popular to broach a particular topic doesn’t mean the topic is edifying or appropriate to every audience. Has the author placed the characters in situations comprehensible and relatable to readers the age of the target audience? The story should be authentic, something realistic and believable, not exploitative for the sake of popular marketing. 
High Moral Standards
Does the story demonstrate high moral standards, or does it stoop to the level of children whose discernment hasn’t yet been refined, and drag readers down with it? Because we are Christians, we unapologetically filter everything through a Christian worldview. And, as Christians, we subscribe to a traditional standard of behavior that has served man and our culture well throughout the ages.
Good Taste
Will the story contribute to a child’s training in good taste?
Behavioral Consequences
Does the story show consequences for bad behavior? 
Do disobedience and poor choices work out well in the end without repentance? 
Worthy Illustration
Are the illustrations beautiful or winsome?
Content Concerns
Is the story unnecessarily vulgar, or perhaps merely insipid?
Recommendations for “Read to Me” Books
Alexander
The Blueberry Pie Elf
Amos and Boris
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?
Escargot
Frances: A Baby Sister for Frances
Frances: Bedtime for Frances
More Frances the Badger Books
Giants Come in Different Sizes
The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read
Little Old Bear
Lois Lenski’s “Small” and “Little” Books
Patsy and the Pup
Make Way For Ducklings
Blueberries for Sal
Recommendations for “Learning to Read” Books
A Fly Went By
Danny and the Dinosaur
Sammy the Seal
Robert the Rose Horse
Stick
Mr. Pine’s Purple House
The Fire Cat
The Big Jump and Other Stories
Recommendations for First Chapter Books
Who Walks the Attic
Jenny and the Cat Club

Interview: The Hobbit Club

Books and Links:
Hillsdale College
Keble College, Oxford
St. John’s College
The University of Chicago’s The Great Books Program
Tolkien: Man and Myth
Immaculee
Corrie Ten Boom: The Hiding Place
Anthony Esolen’s Dante
Hillsdale College’s Dante
 

Book Review: The Mitchells: Five For Victory by Hilda van Stockum

We love Hilda! Check out our Beloved Author: Hilda van Stockum page for links to all of our reviews, book clubs, and things related to Hilda van Stockum. 

Book Review: The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum

We love Hilda! Check out our Beloved Author: Hilda van Stockum page for links to all of our reviews, book clubs, and things related to Hilda van Stockum. 

Book Review: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

You can read the online version of this review at our website here: http://plumfieldandpaideia.com/brideshead-revisited/ 

Interview: Meet Hilda van Stockum’s son, John Tepper Marlin

Last August, Diane and Sara interviewed John Tepper Marlin - son of beloved author Hilda van Stockum. We are sharing this again one year later. 
A special thanks to Jill Morgan of Purple House Press for helping us connect with John Tepper Marlin, son of Hilda van Stockum. Fans of the Mitchell's books will know John better as Timmy. ("Good news, Mama!" Timmy in Friendly Gables)
Diane and Sara spoke with John a couple of times leading up to this interview and enjoyed each encounter more than the one before. In particular, we felt like we were really getting to know Hilda through John and his stories. We hope that you enjoy this lovely interview as much as we did! 
This interview is part of our Hilda van Stockum week. Earlier this week we shared podcast reviews of some of her books. Today we talk with John about his mother and their life together. And on Friday we will be airing a special Borrowed House Book Club that we recorded with some of the ladies of Biblioguides and Jill Morgan of Purple House Press. We hope that you will join in the fun and maybe love Hilda as much as we do. Check out our Beloved Author: Hilda van Stockum page for links to all of our reviews, book clubs, and things related to Hilda van Stockum. 

Interview: Meet Living Book Press

Books and Links:
Chesterton Society
Charlotte Mason
Dr. Seuss Digging-Est Dog
Maria Montessori & Understood Betsy
The Burgess Seashore Book
Nan Chancy
Denver Nuggets
Squanto
Galileo and the Magic Numbers
He Went With
How the Heather Looks
Charlotte Mason Audio Books
Join the conversation:
Plumfield and Paideia Facebook PagePlumfield Moms Podcast Page
Learn More About Our Guest:
Anthony Coafield, Living Book Press
WebsiteFacebook PageInstagram

Book Review: The Growly Books: Begin by Phil Erin Ulrich

In this episode of Monday Morning Book Review, Sara talks about The Growly Books by Phil and Erin Ulrich. You can find the web version of this review here at our website: www.plumfieldandpaideia.com. 
 
The Boy Book List mentioned in this episode can be found here: http://plumfieldandpaideia.com/books-boys-love/ 

Interview: Meet Purple House Press

In this week's episode of Plumfield In Person, we talk with Jill Morgan of Purple House Press about the art of resurrecting dead books. This fun conversation is just one of many we plan to have with Jill over the next few months as she is a treasure trove of fascinating stories behind the story! You can find her at: www.purplehousepress.com and https://www.facebook.com/purplehousepress. We have reviewed and continue to review a number of Purple House Press books. If you want to know more about any of the books we discussed on the show today, check out the PHP section of our website: https://plumfieldmoms.com/tags-database/tag-purple-house-press

Book Review: The Ark by Margot Benary Isbert

In this episode of Monday Morning Book Review, Sara talks about Margot Benary Isbert's book, The Ark. You can find the web version of this review at our website here.