# Whatcha reading aloud to your kids? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557 "2006-08-28T18:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/1 "2006-08-28T18:42:57Z")
Over the summer, I tried to read aloud a lot to my kids. I was inspired by [**Shirley Ujest’s** thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=368248). It wasn’t as easy to find the time as I’d hoped, but we had some fun times. We are currently finishing up _Robin Hood_, the Roger Lancelyn Green one, and I’m debating what to read next. _The Silver Chair? King Arthur?_ A Green Knowe book? _Heidi?_ Oh dear. So anyhow, what are **you** reading aloud at the moment? And did anyone else have a read-a-riffic summer? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/2 "2006-08-28T19:42:23Z")
I’m reading The Chronicles of Narnia to my nine year old son right now. After that I’m thinking [The Tripods Trilogy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0020425716/sr=1-1/qid=1156793780/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0380279-4599155?ie=UTF8&s=books) by John Christopher, or [The Wily Witch](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0916144097/sr=8-1/qid=1156793713/ref=sr_1_1/104-0380279-4599155?ie=UTF8) by Godfried Bomans. As usual, I’ll put in a plug for [John Bellairs](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760711429/sr=1-2/qid=1156793895/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-0380279-4599155?ie=UTF8&s=books) as well! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/3 "2006-08-28T19:48:50Z")
Ooh, I love John Bellairs. I just asked for one of his first, adult novels, _The pedant and the shuffly_, on ILL–I’ve never seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/4 "2006-08-28T19:54:43Z")
We’re currently on the second Borrowers book. I’d forgotten how entertaining they are. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/5 "2006-08-28T20:00:18Z")
A whole lotta [Sandra Boynton](http://www.boyntonbooks.com/sboynton/boyntonbooks.html) books. I highly recommend _Belly Button Book_. Whaddaya want…she’s only nine months old. ---
**Author:** ![Frelling\_Tralk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@Frelling\_Tralk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frelling_Tralk)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/6 "2006-08-28T21:08:12Z")
My daughter is seven and currently in love with Jack and Annie from the Magic Treehouse series. Every night before bed we read at least one chapter from the ongoing series; we’re currently in the middle of Buffalo Before Breakfast. I also, in a fit of sentimentality, picked up a copy of Where The Sidewalk Ends, and have been forcing those poems on her at regular intervals. ---
**Author:** ![SailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@SailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SailBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/7 "2006-08-28T21:26:40Z")
The Ear, the Arm and The Eye by Nancy Farmer is a good one, my teacher read it aloud in fourth grade. The Wizard of Oz and all of the other Oz books are great, ie Ozma of Oz ect. Roald Dahl is also still one of my favorite authors. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/8 "2006-08-28T21:38:53Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] A whole lotta [Sandra Boynton](http://www.boyntonbooks.com/sboynton/boyntonbooks.html) books. I highly recommend _Belly Button Book_. [/QUOTE] When my son was about the age of your daughter, he thought\* Blue Hat, Green Hat\* was absolutely hilarious. The turkey’s “Oops” never failed to elicit gales of laughter. He’s now 11 and still wants to be read to at bedtime, which I’m enjoying, because I know the day is coming… Right now, we’re reading the latest in the Charlie Bones series (Yawn! A poorly-done Harry Potter rip-off) and Walter Farley’s _The Black Stallion_. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/9 "2006-08-28T23:10:17Z")
In my homeschool program, we’re reading Seuss books, books by Verna Aardema, Jeff Snith’s BONE and Mildred D. Taylor’s ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY. Children like it when I read Seuss. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/10 "2006-08-29T03:09:55Z")
We’ve just finished Philip Pullman’s _The Scarecrow And His Servant_; next up is probably _The Horse And His Boy_: lowercase likes C. S. Lewis more than I do… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/11 "2006-08-29T03:18:43Z")
We’ve been reading a lot of _Chicka Chicka Boom Boom_. We’re 18 months old. I have that damn verse echoing through my head late at night when I can’t sleep. I think it’s time to go get some new books. 😃 “A told B and B told C, I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree…Chicka chicka boom boom, will there be enough room?” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/12 "2006-08-29T03:58:08Z")
I used to make up stories on the fly. Their favorite was a terrifying tale I called “The Chicken House Rat” complete with sound effects. Hell, it was so frightening I scared myself. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/13 "2006-08-29T04:11:25Z")
[QUOTE=Frelling Tralk] My daughter is seven and currently in love with Jack and Annie from the Magic Treehouse series. Every night before bed we read at least one chapter from the ongoing series; we’re currently in the middle of Buffalo Before Breakfast. [/QUOTE] Iantheoptimist and I are about to finish “Midnight on the Moon” I feel bad now - I stopped reading to my oldest at the end of third grade. Maybe I’ll start again, he’s only 10 and although he reads semi-constantly, it is kinda fun reading to them, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/14 "2006-08-29T06:26:57Z")
I’m not a parent but I’ve been reading **The Dark is Rising** to my little brother. He really enjoys it, but the chapters are really long and if we start too late, he’ll fall asleep halfway through the chapter. Speaking as a teenager who is just this side of living at the library, I think reading to your children is such a good thing to do. It is a point of pride for my parents that I not only read Lord of the Rings when I was eight, but also that I could discuss what I had read. I firmly believe that all of the reading aloud from my parents made me such a voracious reader and it saddens me deeply that a large segment of the youth population has no interest in reading. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/15 "2006-08-29T06:59:57Z")
[QUOTE=Inner Stickler] Speaking as a teenager who is just this side of living at the library, I think reading to your children is such a good thing to do. [/QUOTE] Well, of course! After all, > [@](#): > > You may have tangible wealth untold; > Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. > Richer than I you can never be – > I had a mother who read to me. > – Strickland Gillilan ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/16 "2006-08-29T11:54:52Z")
[QUOTE=astro] I used to make up stories on the fly. Their favorite was a terrifying tale I called “The Chicken House Rat” complete with sound effects. Hell, it was so frightening I scared myself. [/QUOTE] _sits down on the floor, looks at **astro** expectantly_ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/17 "2006-08-29T12:05:30Z")
I just started reading _[The Day My Butt Went Psycho](http://www.amazon.com/Day-My-Butt-Went-Psycho/dp/0439424690/sr=8-1/qid=1156853056/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7455002-8790538?ie=UTF8)_ by **Andy Griffiths** to my boys. It’s pretty bizarre - people’s butts detach and revolt against the human race, with the main character’s butt being some kind of Hitler/Che/Manchurian Candidate and leading the revolt. It even has a glossary of butt-related terms used in the book. I’m not kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Frelling\_Tralk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@Frelling\_Tralk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frelling_Tralk)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/18 "2006-08-29T14:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > I just started reading _The Day My Butt Went Psycho_ by Andy Griffiths to my boys. ROFL, I followed the link and noted that the sequel is called _Zombie Butts from Uranus_. Somehow, I think my daughter would appreciate this series, being a devoted fan of Captain Underpants. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/19 "2006-08-29T14:18:57Z")
We’re currently on _Once Upon A Curse_, which is apparently part of a series of books about a teenaged witch not named Sabrina. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557/20 "2006-08-29T16:23:24Z")
This summer I read my son (6) [**Carbonel**](http://www.amazon.com/Carbonel/dp/0141319739/sr=8-2/qid=1156868028/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-5726890-6600939?ie=UTF8) , and the sequel, \*\*The Kingdom of Carbonel \*\*by Barbara Sleigh - these were childhood favourites of mine; [**Captain Underpants**](http://www.amazon.com/-Adventures-Captain/dp/0590846280/sr=1-8/qid=1156868180/ref=sr_1_8/102-5726890-6600939?ie=UTF8&s=books), and [A Bear Called Paddington](http://www.amazon.com/A-Bear-Called-Paddington/dp/0618150714/sr=1-2/qid=1156868262/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-5726890-6600939?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Michael Bond. We’re currently reading [**Fantastic Mr Fox**](http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Mr-Fox-Puffin/dp/0141301139/sr=1-1/qid=1156868326/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-5726890-6600939?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Roald Dahl. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-aloud-to-your-kids/370557.md?page=2)