Weekly Reading Highlights (June 1st 2009)

  This week we went on vacation in Moab and on the way there and back we listened to an audio book that they girls loved, called Swallows and Amazons. Written in 1930 this is a wonderful book about 4 siblings, the youngest being 7, who go off sailing and camp on a 'deserted' island for a couple weeks. Their mother gives them permission and checks up on them now and then, but mainly they are on their own and have a great adventure, and make friends with some other sailing kids. I really love how incredibly independant these kids are! It's set in England's Lake District and is full of sailing lingo and realistic adventures. We are really excited to continue on, this is the first in a series of about a dozen books. We all agree that this is one of the best books we've ever heard.

   The girls also loved hearing me read from another book from the Royal Diary series, Weetamoo, which is about a Native American 14 year old in 1653, coming in contact with the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Weetamoo has challenges being patient, and a large part of the book is about her going off to her 'thinking place' where she asks Squant (a Native American god) for patience. In fact there is a lot in this book about the Native American spiritual beliefs and culture, put in a way we can really appreciate. Laurel especially loves these diary books, and it has really continued to inspire her to write in her own diary often. We haven't finished this book yet, but so far we are all enjoying it very much.