Recent Family Read Alouds {Fall 2024, Age 11&9}

This list feels like cheating, because we didn’t read the majority of these as family read alouds! Instead, we all read many of these novels independently and discussed them with our sweet little co-op Book Club. I brought a book-themed snack and helped moderate, but the kids 100% ran the book club discussion themselves! They crafted questions for the group based on Sarah Mackenzie’s 10 Questions to Ask About Any Book (found in her book The Read Aloud Family, and abbreviated in this post on her podcast/website). We also created a word cloud with lists of words the kids brainstormed. So fun! Highly recommend!

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Sweep by Jonathan Auxier. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one ends up in the top 5 books of the year for my kiddos. They both loved this part-historical-fiction/part-fantasy novel! I nearly didn’t recommend it for them because I thought it might be too harsh (the realities of chimney sweeps in the Victorian era is not for the faint of heart). The kids did just fine with the content because it has such a hopeful feel.

Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan. This short historical fiction novel was a breeze to read, but so interesting! Set in the mid-1800s and based on the life of a real woman, Charlotte Parkhurst, who was the first woman voter in the US.

The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. Sourcing the true original novel and not a movie adaptation proved trickier than I anticipated, but this is such a sweet story. The story leads up to Christmas, so it was a perfect late-November/December read!

The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff. Going along with our Victorian era studies, this novel brought another light to the themes we explored in Sweep, with a heartwarming conclusion. (I cried! The kids did NOT. lol)

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. We partially listened to this through the 25-part podcast by the Merry Beggars, alternated with my own reading aloud. A classic for a reason! We all loved reading, and of course viewing the Muppets afterward. (And also reading the picture book A Boy Called Dickens and watching the movie The Man Who Invented Christmas.)

And that’s a wrap! I’ll be back soon with our top read alouds of 2024! Stay tuned!