Pippi!

Last week Violet and I finished reading Pippi Longstocking. It was such a cute story. It had Violet belly laughing almost every night. That Pippi, such an imp! She was obviously the inspiration for Violet's weekend hairdo, although Vi was quite disappointed I couldn't get her braids to stick straight out. It is so fun to be able to read longer books with Vi now that she is a little older. I've been collecting children's classics since she was a baby and now we actually get to use them. (They were totally cute on her bookshelf this whole time, so no regrets on the early purchase ;) ).

I thought Vi might be ready for chapter books about a year ago and I asked her which one she'd like to start with. She choose Black Beauty, which I had never read. I thought I knew the story, well, I knew it was about a horse, but other than that I was in the dark. Spoiler alert: during the first chapter a young man dies and a horse is shot. Violet didn't find this as disturbing as I did, but it was the super moral undertone that really turned me off. The young boy was being reckless, he made bad choices and so he died. Oh, and the innocent horse's dealth was his fault too. Way too heavy for a four year old. Back to Fancy Nancy it was!

Earlier this winter we decide to try chapter books again. I asked the trusty staff at Woozles what they recommended as my next two choices were just as inappropriate as Black Beauty. (Huckleberry Finn -- (a) so hard to read aloud (b) race and class issues I'd rather not explain to my curious child at this point and Anne of Green Gables -- perfect in every way, but slow and boring when you are used to picture books.) They suggested Stuart Little -- of course! We started with Stuart (big hit), moved on to Charlotte's Web (again, big hit and not as devastating as you would have thought at the end) and then we branched out to Pippi. So fun! We just started reading The Borrowers this week, and I'm not as into as the other books we've read together, maybe because I didn't read it as a child myself.

What about you, do you read chapter books to your kiddos? Did you like being read to as a kid? I need more suggestions. I think she is too young for some of my faves (those mentioned above, and also The Hobbit and Narnia), but maybe not. I would love your suggestions.

Oh, also, Violet has suggested Wilbur as a good option for her baby brother's name. What do you think, Wilber or Dash?!

xo

Em