HOTM Friday Meme - Favorite Books

This week's Heart of the Matter meme is favorite books and curriculum. I can't wait to see what all is posted... I'm hoping for some new favorites to add to my wish list. :)

With my oldest just starting kindergarten I haven't used any curriculum yet. We are simply doing a little of this and that for this year.

But we do have our favorites. Here's one of mine:

For anyone interested in CM methods, I highly recommend A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola. It is filled with short chapters, beautiful pictures and countless practical and inspiring ideas. You can read cover to cover or pick and choose. It can be as light or studious reading as you want. I started out with the pick & choose method and now am reading to cover to cover. For me, it makes good bedtime reading. :) I feel it is a book I will refer to again and again as we homeschool in the years ahead.

Almost all of our other favorites - storybooks and read-alouds have come from our local library.

Some I borrowed as recommendations from book-lists on sites like Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online.

Others have been our own finds, or were recommended by our local librarian. When 'shopping' for good children's books, I look:

- for the date it was originally published (often, but not always, the earlier the better)
- to see if this book was an award-winner (Caldecott or Newbery)
- at the story line, both in the first few pages and flipping through for 'samples'



There's no way I could list all the books we have loved, but here are some of our favorites:

The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf

The Little House, Virgina Lee Burton

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Burton

The Tale of Three Trees

Charlotte's Web

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

In addition to these, we have also enjoyed Ox-Cart Man, by Barbara Cooney, plus several books by Robert McCloskey and many from Eric Carle.

And last but certainly not least, one of Dale's (and my) newest favorites:

Favorite Poems Old and New, selected by Helen Ferris

This book is full of wonderful poems, great for reading aloud. Dale asks just about every day (often more than once a day) for me to read to him from this book. And I even find myself picking it up to see what I can find. This is one we will probably end up purchasing sooner or later!

What are your favorite books?