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Thirteen Books We Are Reading

April 16, 2009 by Tracey 28 Comments

I write often about reading and the importance that good books play in our lives. Thanks to a challenge from The Happy Housewife to share some books we are currently reading, I made my Thursday Thirteen a list of thirteen books that our family is reading this month.

  1. Hans Brinker by Mary Maples Dodge. It has been years since I read this book and I am enjoying going back through it as I read it aloud to my younger daughter.
  2. Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This is the book I am currently reading aloud to my older daughter at bedtime. We love the fact that while Anne has gotten older, she still manages to have quite a few adventures.
  3. Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight. This is the next book on the list for reading aloud with my oldest. Another one that I haven’t read in years, I only remember that I didn’t read it too often as a child because it always made me cry!
  4. Wisdom and the Millers by Mildred A. Martin. This is a brand new book for us and a great find! We are currently reading it for our family Bible time after supper. It has short chapters that each contain a story illustrating a verse from Proverbs.
  5. Three Cousins Detective Club series by Elspeth Campbell Murphy. Both girls are reading some of these books; we have purchased several and have also found them at our library.
  6. Treasures from Grandma by Arleta Richardson. We have several of the books from the Grandma’s Attic series, but this one is new for us.
  7. The Case of the Sassy Parrot by Milly Howard. My older daughter is into mysteries; she just finished this book and really seemed to enjoy it.
  8. Clara Barton by Mary Catherine Rose. This book is actually for a school book report.
  9. The Middle Moffatt by Eleanor Estes. A book that I enjoyed reading as a child, I was able to purchase this at a used bookstore to add to our personal library.
  10. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. My eight-year-old is almost done reading this one.
  11. Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace. We have enjoyed all of the Betsy-Tacy books!
  12. Depend on Katie John by Mary Calhoun. I just pulled this one out of storage and gave it to my older daughter to read.
  13. Those Kids in Proverbsville by Elizabeth Rice Handford. We’ve read this book many times before, but have been revisiting some of the chapters lately.

I’m always looking for resources to help me find good books for my children to read. Please let me know in the comments section if there are books or series that your family enjoys and that you recommend.

This post is linked to

  • The Happy Housewife
  • Thursday 13
  • Happy to Be at Home

Filed Under: Read

Top 5 Board Books for Babies

March 20, 2009 by Tracey 4 Comments

As I’ve documented here before, our family loves books. I have been reading to the girls since they were born and some of those first books were board books.

Next week I will be attending a baby shower where it has been requested that each guest bring a favorite book for the mom-to-be to put in her baby’s library. I think that is a terrific idea! It got me thinking about what our favorite board books were when my girls were babies. It’s always hard for me to limit myself to just a few favorites when it comes to books, but here, in no particular order, are five of our favorite board books.

  1. Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill. Well before we had children, I first read this gem to the daughter of a friend of ours and saw how much she loved looking for Spot. It was a big hit with us as well.
  2. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt. Lots to touch and feel; makes for a good read and a tactile experience.
  3. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram. I got a warm, fuzzy feeling with every reading!
  4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and Eric Carle. If I had a dollar for every time I read this one, I’d be a wealthy woman.
  5. Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton. I was reading this one to my nephew not long ago and he couldn’t get enough of it.

So there’s a selection of what I read to my girls when they were babies. Do you have others to suggest? If so, please share in the comments section.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small percentage from any sales.  This does not affect your price in any way. Thank you for supporting Girls to Grow through your purchases!

Filed Under: Parent, Read

Book Review: On Becoming Babywise

March 12, 2009 by Tracey 2 Comments

As a brand-new mom over eight years ago, the most helpful book I read was On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, M.D. This was the book I turned to over and over again for practical advice on helping my infant sleep, eat and play well.

I’ll say upfront that I understand that not everyone is a “schedule” type person. I know Moms who have great success at just going with the flow, especially as the number of children you have increases.

However, I do happen to function at my best when I have at least a skeleton of a plan. Being a first-time parent, it gave me a sense of security to know what to plan for and expect at different times of the day. Therefore, I recommend to others to at least try a schedule, even if it’s just a basic one that includes having meals, naps and bedtime around the same time each day.

One thing I appreciate about Gary Ezzo’s books is that he begins by emphasizing the husband and wife relationship as the most important one in a family. I highly agree. So often, when a baby is added to the marriage, everything in life begins to revolve around the child and his or her needs. While a baby definitely has needs to be met and often requires a lot of attention, especially in the beginning, it is so important to continue to create time and space for the husband and wife to be together. (Speaking of which, a wonderful friend has offered to keep our girls so that John and I can go out on a date Friday night! Yay!)

On Becoming Babywise then moves on to discuss feeding philosophies, concluding the section by recommending parent-directed feeding, in which “baby’s life is guided by a flexible routine.” This leads into the following chapter on babies and sleep.

The only way I can judge the recommendations from this chapter is on how they worked for me. Both of my girls were excellent sleepers, sleeping at least six hours straight at night by the time they were between six and eight weeks old. Let me just say that I am one who needs my sleep and what a blessing it was to have them sleeping through the night very early. This chapter also mentions sleep props, one of which could be rocking your baby to sleep. I loved rocking my babies and would occasionally rock them to sleep, but most often rocked them until they were only very drowsy, then put them in their crib to actually fall asleep.

The book proceeds to talk about facts on feeding, another chapter that I found very helpful. I did nurse our girls, but was not one of those moms who love every minute of it and rave about what a wonderful experience it is! I nursed them because I was physically able to, personally felt it to be the healthiest option and, on the practical side, it was the most frugal choice. I understand that not everyone decides to do it that way and certainly respect each mom’s decision.

Chapters six and seven address what your baby’s routine might look like and includes suggested activities for baby’s waketime. If I had errands to run, I normally did those in the mornings as that seemed to be the best time for me and was also when my babies were awake the longest and seemed to be the most content.

Chapter eight talks about discerning baby’s different cries, something that it doesn’t take most moms very long to figure out. I had one daughter who, as a baby, went through a stage where she cried for a few minutes each night when I put her in her crib. It was as though she needed that time to let things out, then she went right to sleep.

After a chapter on having multiples (I was able to skip that one!), the book concludes with chapters on problem solving and “parenting potpourri.” Subjects range from baby equipment to pacifiers to teething. I found both of these chapters offered good advice. (There is a final brief chapter on introducing Babywise principles if your baby is a little older.)

I highly recommend reading this book if you are expecting a child or have a new baby. You may not use or agree with everything in the book. I find there are few, if any, books that I read and follow in total. However, I can almost always find something that is applicable to my situation and use it to help me be a better parent.

Filed Under: Parent, Read

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Welcome! I'm Tracey, wife and mom to two teenage girls. I seek to help Christian moms raise children who know, love, and serve God by sharing Biblical wisdom, helpful tips, and practical advice. Read More…

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