Our family has begun reading stories aloud on the nights that we eat at our dinner table. You would think that we would eat dinner at our table every night, but we don't, and that's probably info for another blog!
Anyway, when we eat at the table, that's one of the rare times during the day, or even the week, that all seven of us are together. So I try to eat as quickly as I can and then read, while the others are still eating.
This works on a multiple of levels...they eat...they are pretty quiet (also a rarity around here!)...we are all together...I try to pick out fun stories--lots of laughter!
So far, we have read many of the stories of the martyrs of the faith in Jesus Freaks, A View from the Zoo, The Tale of Despereaux and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Most had us laughing at parts and waiting for the next story time! (Not so much funny about the martyrs in Jesus Freaks, as you can imagine! But we were concentrating on other lessons for our kids.)
My question is: any suggestions on books for our family to read? Remember the requirement: it must have some, or a lot, of funny parts. I'm not so upper crust that I think too highly of what are labeled as the "classics" and most of them are not funny at all! I'd love to hear what you think!
3 comments:
Just a few suggestions among my favorites. Most you've probably heard of and/or read:
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry - A girl who tells stories to her class that sound fantastic but are a little exaggerated - like the time she rode on a flying carpet, but it was really the carpet falling out of the back of her family's station wagon. Very cute and funny.
All of the Junie B Jones books by Barbara Park - They're pretty short and written on a 1st/2nd grade level, but are funny for everyone.
The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary are great.
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
I'll let you know if I think of any others. Let us know what else you pick!
Oh! And Frindle by Andrew Clements - fantastic book about a boy who decides that he wants to invent a new word. He starts using the word Frindle instead of pen and it travels across his school then across the nation. It's so great. I highly recommend it.
Andrew Clements' book A Week in the Woods is also really good, but not really funny. Maybe just recommend that one for them to read on their own time. :)
Holes by Louis Sachar is good too, but you've probably read/seen that one.
I also like all of the Cam Jansen books by David Adler. It's fun for the kids to try to figure out the "crime" before Cam does. They're also short books and written on a 2nd grade-ish level.
I've also heard the Fancy Nancy books are good, but I haven't read them. Amy could tell you more about them.
The first thing that popped into my head was Wayside stories by Louis Sachar. I still like those stories b/c the older you get, the more funny stuff you catch in them. Plus, they have the benefit of being broken down into small stories. That's such a neat idea.
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