Rabbit Day Book Review - December

I found an overwhelming type of Nirvana this year; the Wake County Library Book Sale.  I should have taken a picture so you could understand the vastness, there were literally millions of books.  Jared was a trooper and went with me both days.  On Friday, all books were $2 so I put my focus on larger hardbacks.  After two hours we had only made it through 10% of the books but we were burned out because they were in no particular order.  We bought 17 books that day.  Sunday, was a completely different animal.  On Sunday, you paid by the box and line was out the door to get in.  We made it through another third of the books before burnout this time.  We managed to come home with two huge boxes; mainly illustrated children's books but a few other treasures as well.  After bringing them home three big boxes of books, I realized I needed to re-arrange the school room to make room.  Merry Christmas to us!  Now back to the book reviews.

This month, I pre-read a book about the civil war called Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder.  This has to be hands down the best book I've found to read about the civil war.  Instead of it being all about the politics and the battles, its about the people who have to live in the aftermath of the war.  It's written from the perspective of a young boy whose lost his whole family to the war.  He is sent to live with distant family that took a different stance on the war, they stayed out of it.  The tale weaves the different sides and different tales of different characters to give the reader the whole picture of the war.  It is also a story about forgiveness and understanding in the end.

Jared's choice book this month was Amazing Cow: Udder Absurdity for Children by Sandra Boynton.  He was quite pleased to find his own copy at the book sale.  Therefore, we are now official owners of this silly and comical book.  The book is an accumulation of various cow stories, riddles, prose, etc.  Jared loves reading it aloud to Titus over and over again.  I must admit to cracking a smile or two myself.

Lance had a bit of a casual read this month a well; Capture the Flag by Kate Messner.  I picked it up as the monthly suggested reading book at the library.  It's the first in what is suppose to be a series of art detective mystery books.  It's an easy read but an enjoyable plot.  The detectives turn out to e a group of kids who come together by accident, playing against a group of art thieves. The book has a political bent but they do a pretty good job of staying party neutral (SPOILER: The bad guy wears a cowboy hat but he's from Massachusetts).  Lance said he enjoyed the read and finished it rather quickly.

The History read aloud this month was Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli.  Marguerite is one of my favorite authors due to her style of writing and her gift for story telling.  Charlotte Mason would never call her twaddle, yet the boys never have trouble following the story.  It's a perfect balance.  The book follows a young man dealing with being crippled and temporarily abandoned in London during the time of the Bubonic plague.  It is a story of personal growth and over coming challenges in life to come out a better person in the end.