Summers are for cookouts, vacations, baseball, swimming…and reading.
That’s right, reading.
This summer we devoted time every night to reading with Lil’Man. Well, his daddy did and this was his first attempt at regularly reading fiction with him. So I wanted to choose books I knew would be worth their while. (My husband admittedly is not a reader of fiction, so he doesn’t want to commit the time to a boring book.) Sonlight Summer Reading to the rescue.
I previously wrote about this summer’s selection for elementary boys. Here are my husband’s thoughts in his own words about each book.
Floors
This was our first selection. It was the longest of the four books, but it was a hit! This one captured Lil’Man’s imagination more than the other books. It was one big mystery full of colorful characters set in a one-of-a-kind hotel. I think this book even inspired a drawing or two by our budding artist. I thought it drug a bit in the middle, but the target audience was begging to read another chapter every night.
The Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated
Fans of The Princess Bride will enjoy this little book. The characters had a way of poking fun at their own lives and situations and the moral of the story is one parents can get behind. You can get through this book in a few nights and you’ll want to. It’s a clever little page turner.
The Boxcar Children Beginning
This was the third book on our list. I can’t tell you much about it because Lil’Man read it by himself. We threw it in a bag last minute before hitting the road for a family reunion. He cracked it open on the car ride up and didn’t close it until he had finished it. He’s been telling us we need to read it together ever since. So, I guess it’s a keeper.
A Tale of Gold
I’m afraid this one was over our son’s head. It’s an historically accurate story of a teenager making the long slow trek to gold country. The gold mining terminology was not offered with explanation so I had to stop a few times to make sure Lil’Man was keeping up. (All those episodes of Gold Rush on Discovery have finally paid off.) I could tell this one didn’t hold his interest, but I found it to be a worth while read.
NOTE TO PARENTS: I had to skip over a few adult references that I didn’t think our soon-to-be first grader was ready for (i.e., dance hall girls, ladies of the evening, nude murals in a saloon, drunken miners). The storyline is overall very innocent but a good bit of the book does take place in mining towns.
Overall Thoughts
These were good reads for boys. Dads and sons alike will enjoy them. Sonlight has earned our trust with these selections. While our final book was over our boy’s head this was the elementary list so it could be better suited for a fourth or fifth grader. Now it’s on to Charlotte’s Web and the rest of Sonlight’s 1st grade readers.
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