Family Read Alouds {Spring 2023, Age 8 & 10}
As our read alouds get longer, these lists get shorter! And although it’s been increasingly challenging to find time to sit down and read together with my kids amongst busy schedules and a busy toddler, we have plodded along and relied on audiobooks to fill in the gaps. Each of these were well enjoyed by the boys and myself!
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Your New Playlist by Jon, L.E., and McRae Acuff. I put this on my hold for myself, not realizing this was a “young readers” version of Jon Acuff’s Soundtracks. But once I started reading it, I thought the content was so good that I wanted to share it with my kids! My kids are wildly outside of the targeted audience for this book, but I felt it was still valuable. There was nothing inappropriate all, just not our life stage (worries about prom and learning to drive and college applications. We ended up laughing a lot together at lines that felt so silly to to an 8 and 10 year old: “do you feel like you’re the only one in your grade who doesn’t have a car yet?”). That aside, this book gave us a lot of language to reframe negative thinking and tap into “the superpower of mindset.” I found myself identifying what the authors term “broken soundtracks” and using the book’s strategies to switch those in my mind. The authors are young adults and very relatable, with their wise father to guide them in publishing an impactful book. Here’s a photo of the 7 soundtracks they delve into in the book, chosen based on surveys of thousands of teens.
Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca. (We listened to the audiobook. Two voices tell the alternating chapters.) Baseball, mathematics, and Shakespeare! At first this read like a realistic fiction story about kids who play baseball and enjoy math, but as the story progressed it added more fantasy elements as it delved into Shakespeare territory (as the title notes, along with A Midsummer Night’s Dream). We enjoyed learning about Fibonacci numbers & spirals in nature and the math puzzles sprinkled throughout, along with rooting for the characters in their baseball season and general middle grade themes of friendship and finding your place. This would be a perfect summertime read!
Almost Super by Marion Jensen. (We listened to the audiobook) Almost super good! 3.5 stars from me, though my kids would give it 5+. If you read this as a child would, it is a 5 star book. It was full of great humor, one liners that had us all cracking up, endearing main characters, suspense, and action. Rafter Bailey is a superhero who is about to receive his super power for the first time as he has turned 12, along with his brother. They’re hoping for something exciting like super strength or super speed. But, they get total duds! Rafter is able to strike a match on polyester, and his brother is able to turn his belly button into an outie. 😂 Something is awry in the superhero universe. Their family suspects their rivals, the Johnsons, but the brothers begin to suspect something larger and more sinister is going on.
Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg. (Note: there is another novel with the same title, not a children’s story, but a love story for adults.) We listened to this on audio as well. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I jotted down the title a few times in the past years and just never got around to reading it. There are so many lovely elements of this story: an endearing, plucky protagonist named after a Greek muse (Terpsichore), literary references, historical interest (Great Depression era), gardening, homesteading, and best of all– library love! Not quite a spoiler: Terpsichore forms a Library Action Committee and starts a library in her new town with donations and hard work! My two boys loved it; we listened to a large chunk of it during our road trip, and it was Dad approved as well.
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