Book Search: Friendship

Because we were learning about China and Tibet in our history studies recently, our book (Story of the World) recommended reading TinTin in Tibet. I had never heard of Tintin, but my husband had and he was excited for us to start. I read the book in one sitting (60 min) and both girls loved it so much that the next day they asked me to read it again! So I read our first graphic novel again. When I had to split it into 2 sittings, Laurel picked it up and read a little bit out loud to Ella, which was so wonderful to see. I had no idea how funny this book would be! We all laughed a lot.... and learned a lot too. It's really neat how they work in a lot about the country and the culture.

We listened to the audio version of this book and we all really enjoyed it. I love how we are learning about history in this gentle way. This book is just at the eve of the American Revolution and it's fascinating the way people started splitting up, some in favor, some not.

This is the first book in a series written in the early 1940's that has been loved by generations; in fact my parents read it to me and I loved it. 5 year old Betsy and Tacy begin their sweet friendship in this book. They both have 8 year old sisters, so I thought this book would be perfect for our family, since our girls are those ages, and I was right. I was surprised that our (then) 8 year old loved it so much, it's a favorite of hers as well as our (then) 5 year old, and we are pretty excited to continue with the next book and read the series.

As part of our History Curriculum (Story of the World) we are reading about the Colonial world and Native Americans. The book The Sign of the Beaver was part of the recommended reading and we all enjoyed it. A 13 year old boy is left alone to guard the homestead in the wilderness of Maine, waiting for his father to return with his mother and siblings. After being brutally stung by bees, he is taken care of by Native Americans and befriends a young boy. A story of friendship and loyalty.

This is truly an outstanding book that will appeal to a large audience. Our girls (then 10 and 7) hung on every word. I loved that this was about Laura Ingalls Wilder's great grandmother! There was a lot of research put into it and I loved reading all about Scotland, as my own mother was born there. I especially enjoyed how the author wove in retellings of fairy stories and myths. This is the first the series and we are very excited to continue on. PLEASE NOTE I am referring to the unedited version with the painted cover, not the one with the photographed cover (which amazon insists on linking to). I have not read both but I have heard that the 2nd version is considerably abridged.

This is the 2nd book in the series. We loved it!

This is the 3rd book in the series - excellent!

We all really enjoyed this book about Kirsten. Learning history through these gentle American Girls stories is wonderful, and our girls are so interested in the stories as well as all the facts at the end of the book.