The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit -- A Great Read Aloud!

     "This is the story of the different ways we looked for treasure, and I think when you have read it you will see that we were not lazy about the looking."   From the first sentence of the first page, The Story of the Treasure Seekers:  Being the adventures of the Bastable children in search of a fortune, by E. Nesbit gets right to the point, and the adventures that follow are as irresistible as the Bastable children themselves.
     Originally published as short stories in magazines and put into book form in 1899, The Story of the Treasure Seekers is the delightful tale of the six Bastable children, Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel, and Horace Octavius (H.O.)  After their mother dies ("and if you think we don't care because I don't tell you much about her you only show that you do not understand people at all") and their father also falls ill, "his business-partner went to Spain -- and there was never much money afterwards."  As creditors start calling and the children must leave school because father can no longer afford it, they decide they must do something to restore their fallen fortunes.  Each child comes up with a plan, and, well, their plans are hysterical.  Oswald suggests stopping "people on Blackheath -- with crepe masks and horse-pistols -- and say 'Your money or your life!  Resistance is useless, we are armed to the teeth.'"  Other ideas include rescuing an old gentleman in deadly peril, using a divining-rod to search for gold, becoming bandits, finding a princess and marrying her, becoming detectives, and digging for treasure.  Fortunately for us but not so much for their father, they actually carry out their plans and much hilarity ensues.
     Written over 100 years ago, this book has never lost its appeal to readers young and old alike.  My boys were ages 11 and 8 when I read it, and we all laughed from beginning to end.  I recommend it as a read aloud because it's great fun for the entire family and because there are some vocabulary words that are difficult.  It was written in the 1890s, afterall.
     I leave you with a poem, written by Noel.  If you have a child who is sad, here in Houston, when the dead June bugs litter the sidewalks, then you'll love this poem.
     

Lines on a Dead Black Beetle that was poisoned

Beetle how I weep to see
   Thee lying on thy poor back!
It is so very sad indeed.
   You were so shiny and black.
I wish you were alive again
But Eliza says wishing it is nonsense and a shame.


     "It was a very good beetle poison, and there were hundreds of them lying dead -- but Noel only wrote a piece of poetry for one of them ...and the worst of it was he didn't know which one he'd written it to -- so Alice couldn't bury the beetle and put the lines on its grave, though she wanted to very much."     (Chapter 4)


Thanks so much, Holly S., for recommending this book!  We LOVED it!

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle -- A Great Read Aloud

     When I first began reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald aloud to my two boys, I wasn't sure what to expect.  We quickly found ourselves chuckling, giggling, and laughing out loud.
     Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is an older lady who lives in an upside down house with "no family at all."  However, she quickly befriends all the neighborhood children with her stories, games, and fun!  She allows the kids to dig for treasure in her backyard, comb her hair, and make a mess baking cookies in her kitchen.  The real laughs begin, though, when Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle begins to give the neighborhood parents "wonderful cures" to help them correct their children's poor behavior.  Her cures include The Won't-Pick-Up-Toys Cure, The Answer-Backer Cure, The Never-Want-To-Go-To-Bedders Cure, The Fighter-Quarrelers Cure, and more.  All of these cures are hilarious, but when we got to The Radish Cure to help little Patsy learn to take a bath, I laughed so hard I cried!
     Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is eight short but wildly-entertaining chapters long and highly recommended by the Mullin family!  


Note:  If you don't read aloud books as a family, turn off the television and try reading this book together.  It's great, cheap, memorable family fun!  

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever -- A Great Read Aloud for the Entire Family

     “The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.  They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker’s old broken-down toolhouse.”  Thus begins The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, one of the funniest books I have ever read. 

     I began reading this short, seven-chapter book aloud to my boys, not knowing what to expect.  By page four, after reading about how the six Herdman children enjoy trying to squish each other in the garage door and about their evil cat, we were practically rolling on the floor laughing:  “There was also a sign in the yard that said, ‘Beware Of The Cat.’  New kids always laughed about that till they got a look at the cat.  It was the meanest looking animal I ever saw.  It had one short leg and a broken tail and one missing eye….”

     The basic story line is that the Herdmans, the worst kids in the history of the world, invade the church one day, hoping for snacks, force their way into the church Christmas pageant, and help everyone see the Christmas story in a whole new light.

     And this is the best part of the book.  The shenanigans are hilarious, but the books causes you to stop and ask yourself, “What if I had never, ever heard the Christmas story before?”  Well, the Herdmans had not heard the story, and when they did,   “You would have thought the Christmas story came right out of the F.B.I. files, they got so involved in it – wanted a bloody end to Herod, worried about Mary having her baby in a barn, and called the Wise Men a bunch of dirty spies.”  In the midst of the laughter, we got a glimpse of the magic and wonder of the Christmas story -- a story that, sadly, becomes too predictable after hearing it year after year.

     I love this book.  We laughed, we cried, but in the end, it helped us see that Christmas is about Jesus, “a new baby, and his mother and father who were in a lot of trouble – no money, no place to go, no doctor, nobody they knew.”  I think we’ll read this book every year!

Thanks Cathy H. for giving us this book.  You were right!  Our boys did enjoy it!