I know I have said this before, but I still feel that I'm largely guilty of not doing enough read-alouds that are specifically geared to my first grader. Yes, he listens with his big sister to larger books like The Bronze Bow and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, but he also still LOVES a good picture book. In an effort to read more to his level, I'm searching out material for him. This week I'll share with you a little of what we've been reading.
I can't remember if it was Amy at Hope is The Word, or another blog I was reading, but I remember someone speaking fondly about James Herriot's Treasury of Inspirational Stories for Children. This is a wonderful collection of animal stories. At first glance I wasn't sure my little guy would be interested, but from the first story (about a little kitten named Moses) he was hooked! This book now sits on our coffee table and is one of his favorites. We are about half way through the treasury.
The next book simply came from looking through the shelves at the library. As it turns out, this is also one of the books we did not get to in the first volume of Five in a Row. We've read it a couple of times this week and we'll be sad when it has to be returned. Papa Piccolo is a great book to read for fun, but it also has a great moral. It will teach your children about sharing and being compassionate to those who might be different, weaker, or younger. There are so many wonderful tie-ins with this book, too... you could jump off into geography, social studies, and several other areas. The setting is Venice, Italy and the illustrations really are exquisite. 
