"They must grow up upon the best. There must never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales; well told" (Vol 2, pp 263) ~ Charlotte Mason.
Ongoing reading lists for our {2016-2017} school year ... some of these titles are read over a period of several years with our generous curriculum, Mater Amabilis.
{Family}
Our Island Story, Marshall
Great Swedish Fairy Tales
Book of Norwegian Folk Tales, D'Aulaire
Tales from a Finnish Tupa, Bowman and Bianco
A Child's Geography of the World, Hillyer
Seabird, Holling
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Field
Vincent's Starry Night and Other Stories, Bird
Handbook of Nature Study, Comstock
Star Stories for Little Folks, Warner
The Starlore Handbook, Cornelius
The Innocence of Father Brown, Chesterton
Shakespeare Stories, Garfield
Stories from the History of Rome, Mrs Beesly
Chronicles of Narnia {audio drama}
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, Auxier
The Rise and Fall of Mt Majestic, Trafton
Swallows & Amazons series, Ransome
Swiss Family Robinson, Wyss
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, Dodge
Little Britches, Moody
St Patrick's Summer, Hunt
& heaps of treasured picture books
Our Island Story, Marshall
Great Swedish Fairy Tales
Book of Norwegian Folk Tales, D'Aulaire
Tales from a Finnish Tupa, Bowman and Bianco
A Child's Geography of the World, Hillyer
Seabird, Holling
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Field
Vincent's Starry Night and Other Stories, Bird
Handbook of Nature Study, Comstock
Star Stories for Little Folks, Warner
The Starlore Handbook, Cornelius
The Innocence of Father Brown, Chesterton
Shakespeare Stories, Garfield
Stories from the History of Rome, Mrs Beesly
Chronicles of Narnia {audio drama}
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, Auxier
The Rise and Fall of Mt Majestic, Trafton
Swallows & Amazons series, Ransome
Swiss Family Robinson, Wyss
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, Dodge
Little Britches, Moody
St Patrick's Summer, Hunt
& heaps of treasured picture books
{Jack}
Read Aloud Bible Stories, Steedman
In God's Garden, Steedman
Viking Tales, Hall
Leif the Lucky, D'Aulaire
Christopher Columbus, D'Aulaire
Among the Night People, Dillingham
Aesop
The Golden Book's Family Treasury of Poetry
{Viola}
Roller Skates, Sawyer
Dobry, Makoff
The Black Star of Kingston, Smith
Tom's Midnight Garden, Pearce
A White Heron and Other Stories, Jewett
Kidnapped, Stevenson
Hidden Figures, Shetterly
Gentle Ben, Morey
Rabbit Hill, Lawson
The Jungle Book, Kipling
Jane of Lantern Hill, Montgomery
Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories, Irving
The Midnight Folk, Mansfield
The Phantom Tollbooth, Juster
Mother Carey's Chickens, Wiggins
Fairy Tales from Around the World, Lang
The Green Ember, Smith
Ember Falls, Smith
The Castle in the Attic, Winthrop
Black Hearts in Battersea, Aiken
The Twenty-One Ballons, Pene du Bois
The Owlings, DeWitt
The Bat-Poet, Jarrell
Listening for Lions, Whelan
The Blue Castle, Montgomery
Mustang the Wild Spirit of the West, Henry
Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Henry
Black Stallion, Farley
Black Beauty, Sewell
King of the Wind, Henry
White Stallions of Lippiza, Henry
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Kelly
What Katy Did, Coolidge
Bambi, Salton
Mary Poppins series, Travers
The Incredible Journey, Burnford
Dutch Color, Jones
Through the Looking Glass, Lewis
An Old Fashioned Girl, Alcott
Eight Cousins, Alcott
Little Women, Alcott
Good Wives, Alcott
Jo's Boys, Alcott
Homer Price, McCloskey
Secrets of the Andes, Clark
100 Cupboards, Wilson
The Dandelion Fire, Wilson
Case of the Missing Moonstone, Stratford
The Star of Kazan, Ibbotson
Wildwood, Meloy
Inkheart, Funke
The Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, Konigsburg
Echo, Munoz
Anna Hibiscus, Atinuke
Return to Gone-Away Lake, Enright
Pollyanna, Porter
St Joan the Girl Soldier, de Wohl
St Thomas Aquinas, Lomask
St Benedict Hero of the Hills, Windeatt
St Louis and the Last Crusade, Hubbard
Fr Damien and the Bells, Sheehan
St Catherine of Laboure, Powers-Waters
St Dominic and the Rosary, Beebe
St Elizabeth's Three Crowns, Thompson
Hittite Warrior, WIlliamson
Victory on the Walls, Clark Hyman
Archimedes and the Door of Science, Bendick
Otto of the Silver Hand, Pyle
Son of Charlemagne, Willard
If All the Swords in England, Willard
The Hidden Treasure of Glaston, Jewett
Big John's Secret, Jewett
The Trumpeter of Krakow, Kelly
Crispin the Cross of Lead, Avi
The Kite Rider, McCaughrean
Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal, Reilly
Queen's Own Fool, Yolen
I, Juan de Pareja, de Trevino
Blue Birds, Starr Rose
Calico Captive, Speare
Ben Franklin and Me, Lawson
The Fiddler's Gun, Peterson
Caddie Woodlawn, Brink
Caddie Woodlawn's Family, Brink
Cinnabar, the One O'Clock Fox, Henry
Mr Revere and I, Lawson
Chains, Anderson
Forge, Anderson
Treasure Island, Stevenson
Sounder, Armstrong
{Mae}
Black Hearts in Battersea, Aiken
The Twenty-One Balloons, Pene du Bois
The Castle in the Attic, Winthrop
The Black Stallion, Farley
Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Henry
Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West, Henry
Bambi, Salten
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Wiggin
Booth Tarrington, Penrod
The Prince and the Pauper, Twain
Ben-Hur, Wallace
The Railway Children, Nesbit
What Katy Did, Coolidge
Gone-Away Lake, Enright
King of the Wind, Henry
At the Back of the North Wind, MacDonald
Little Lord Fauntleroy, Burnett
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Kelly
Jo's Boys, Alcott
Eight Cousins, Alcott
Old Fashioned Girl, Alcott
Mother Carey's Chickens, Wiggins
Hidden Figures, Shetterley
Puck of Pook's Hill, Kipling
The Star of Kazan, Ibbotson
The Midnight Folk, Mansfield
The Phantom Tollbooth, Juster
Blue Castle, Montgomery
Good Wives, Alcott
Little Men, Alcott
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, Konigsburg
Little Lame Prince, Mulock
The Owlings, De Witt
Mary Poppins series, Travers
Dutch Color, Jones
Wildwood, Meloy
The Bat-Poet, Jarrell
Flight into Spring, Bradbury
Anna Hibiscus, Atinuke
One Crazy Summer, Williams-Garcia
St Joan Girl Soldier, de Wohl
St Therese and the Roses, Holman
St Benedict Hero of the Hills, Windeatt
St Thomas Aquinas, Lomask
St Elizabeth's Three Crowns, Thompson
St Louis and the Last Crusade, Hubbard
St Dominic and the Rosary, Beebe
Beowulf
The White Stag, Seredy
Hittite Warrior, Williamson
Victory on the Walls, Clark Hyman
Augustine Came to Kent, Willard
If All the Swords of England, Willard
Hidden Treasure of Glaston, Jewett
Big John's Secret, Jewett
Blue Birds, Starr
{Mama}
"The wisest woman I ever knew -- the best wife, the best mother, the best mistress, the best friend -- told me once, when I asked her how, with her weak health and many calls upon her time, she managed to read so much, 'I always keep three books going -- a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel, and I always take up the one I feel fit for!' That is the secret; to always have something "going" to grow by. If we mothers were all "growing" there would be less going astray among our boys, less separation in mind from our girls." ~ The Parent's Review, Mother Culture
Some I read and re-read relentlessly ...
Novel (including lighter spiritual/parenting/homemaking books) ~
Hannah Coulter
Everything Brave Is Forgiven
Gilead
The Confessions of X
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
Brideshead Revisited
Father Elijah
Cranford
Pride & Prejudice
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Homegoing
A Call to Mercy
How the Choir Converted the World: Through Hymns, With Hymns, and In Hymns
A Biblical Walk through the Mass
The Little Book of Hygge
The World's First Love
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist
Walking with Mary
Mere Christianity
Rome Sweet Home
The Hidden Art of Homemaking
Moderate ~
The Betrothed
Kristin Lavransdatter
Mind to Mind
Beauty in the Word
Confessions
Ida Elisabeth
Stiff ~
Ourselves
Leisure: The Basis for Culture
Desiring the Kingdom
Orthodoxy
Surprised by Joy
The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God