Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Ooh, what a great book!  Why did I read it, you ask?  We had a six hour road trip on the horizon, and I needed an audio book that was safe for little listening ears.  Voila! 

I am familiar with Laura's autobiographical stories from my childhood, but that was twenty years ago, so in many respects, it was like I read this book for the first time.  I enjoyed it, it made the time pass quickly, and I learned so much history!  Plus, overall my 2 and 4 year-old boys did not complain while it was playing!  : )

Laura has such a beautiful and detailed way of describing life in her neck of the woods (pun intended-ha!).  How on earth did she remember all those details such as the colors and patterns of her aunts' dresses at the dance?  I'm surely impressed!

I also enjoyed learning the how-tos of churning butter, making bullets, smoking meat, etc.  I will borrow a phrase from amazon.com's review: it's a painless history lesson! 

This is a staple for childhood, but it is a great read for every age! 

Heather

The Birthday Ball

I picked up this book for two reasons.  1) It's by Lois Lowry, winner of the Newbery medal for The Giver and Number the Stars (one of my favorite books).  2) It looked cute!

This is a very fun read for elementary school girls, especially ones who enjoy all things princess!  The whole time I read it, I thought, "This is a great read-aloud book."  You could easily read a chapter a night before bed to your kids.  Plus Lois Lowry includes many fun word plays that would make reading it aloud very fun to hear!  For example, the princess's cat's name is Delicious.  The princess says things to her like, "Don't be suspicious, Delicious!" or "It's nutritious, Delicious."

The only thing that really bothered me from the book involves one (or two) of the suitors.  (You see they are conjoined at the hip.)  They love "bathroom humor" which is fine because really, what kids don't?  The only joke I didn't care for was when they laughed about going to the "balls."  And then they laugh at the word balls.  In my opinion, that is past bathroom humor and onto male anatomy.

Beside that, it's a great, fun book!  I recommend it.

Heather