Le dos, le devant et les deux manches sont fini!
The back, the front and the two sleeves of Grumble's red wool dress are finished! Now all I have left to do is 46cm of ribbing for le col (the collar). What fun!
We have fallen into a sweet gentle routine here each evening. After dinner, Galumph and Grumbles head off into the bedroom, and lie on the bed reading Harry Potter out loud. I sit on the couch and knit, listening to the story telling. It feels so timeless - almost like I have stepped back into Jane Austen's time. There is no blaring tv or radio competing for our attention, just a girl snuggled into her Dad as he guides her into her imagination, and me peacefully knitting away, just happy to be near them.
Sometimes Grumbles will dart out into the living area, and give me an update: 'Did you hear that, Mum? Hagrid's going to Azkaban! That's AWFUL!' before ducking back into the bedroom to find out what happens next.
I am loving these moments so much. It feels like this is how raising her should be. And when the Harry Potter series is over, I think we should keep the nightly reading going for as long as we can. I'm eyeing off my bookshelves now... we've got Winnie The Pooh, heaps of Roald Dahl (she adored The Twits!), Neil Gaiman, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeline L'Engle, The Penderwicks plus the entire Anne of Green Gables series.
If you have any other recommendations I'd love to hear them! For books, that is... I have enough knitting patterns to sink a ship!
Oh, oh, oh! I have been following you for a while but I don't think I've commented before. This post on reading aloud with to kids drew me out of my lurkdom! I am currently reading Harry Potter aloud also, to my 9 & 10 year olds. The 10 year old has already read them all but loves to hear them again. But don't the chapters get longer and longer! Gasp! Anyhow what I really wanted to say was I absolutely and completely recommend the Finn Family Moomintroll books by Tove Jansson as my faves for reading aloud to children. It's a magical, imaginative, reflective world and the language (even though translated) is delightful.
ReplyDeleteI remember loving James and the Giant Peach & The Witches.
ReplyDeleteI also remember being fascinated by the Tripods my first foray into sci-fi as a young person.
Our girls love the Ramona Quimby series. My second grade teacher read these books to me and I still have such concrete memories of that time. Such great stories about the real ups and downs of living in a family all seen through the eyes of Ramona as she grows from 4 to 10.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the Narnia books - they're amazing especially for someone her age!
ReplyDeleteHow old is she? My kids (who are 11 through to 16) AND I are right into the Percy Jackson series. Rick Riordan is the writer and he has another series called the Kane Chronicles that we are very excited about too!
ReplyDeleteAnne of Green Gables is timeless, of course and classic. For funny quick reads, my girls like the Dear Dumb Diary series.
Spiderwick Chronicles is another one that my youngest girl liked (the older ones weren't overly fussed about them).
Oh and what about Judy Moody?
Someone bought "the Graveyard book" by Neil Gaiman for my middle kid, and she made me read it after she finished. I thought I would hate it, but my lordy, it was so unputdownable. I enjoyed it immensely.
Yay for reading!!
Ohh definately Anne of Green Gables. We are still experiencing the excitement of Imogen learning to read and picture books are the best for that, but I can't wait to start reading Anne of Green Gables with her. Our son loved all of the Roald Dahl's and reading them with Dad, the favourite was Danny Champion of the World.
ReplyDeleteyes, i'm loving reading chapter books to my little man! we're reading harry potter too at the moment. i remember that i loved the dr dolittle books by hugh lofting as a child, so i was going to hunt those down too. i have also heard good things about the moomintrolls as well.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that's so so precious. ♥ You definitely have to read the 'Anne' books to her, they've always been my favourite (I'm 42 and I still read them!). Another L M Montgomery fav is 'The Blue Castle', love it to bits.
ReplyDeleteSo many wonderful books out there! I've just started the Harry Potter books myself and I love reading them knowing how many children across the world love Harry so.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, Anne of Green Gables is one of my all time faves. Nothing beats a good orphan story. :)