reading boy

I'm sure I've mentioned in the past the variety of books Big Brother reads. He's currently making his way through the Little House books, again.

We read the Little House books to him years ago, when he used to want a bedtime chapter or four. We read them in order which meant that we didn't read right through them as we didn't have the whole series at the time. It took us a while, but we finally got them all, shopping at our friendly neighborhood used book seller. Then we were given a couple of copies, not only new, but in hardcover as well. And then we realized we'd misplaced one and had purchased a second copy at some point.

He's also been checking out Johnny Dixon mysteries, written by John Bellairs. I checked out the first one of them he read, more for myself, having seen the author's name often enough that I finally had to. Though he often ignores my suggestions, this was a book that appealed to him, possibly because there was a robot on the cover.

He enjoyed that one and has been reading them since. He's also branched into other of John Bellairs' work. He's starting to do that slowly, recognize and seek out authors he's enjoyed. I'm so proud of him.

One comment from the current rereading of the Little House books especially amused me. I don't remember exactly what he said, but while reading one of the first couple in the series, Big Brother mentioned that he was glad our Sundays weren't boring like Laura's.

The Boy will sometimes ask for bedtime reading from a chapter book, and he's long loved A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh books which are basically chapter books. I'm looking forward to all the books we introduced Big Brother to and will soon be reading with The Boy.

I'm currently reading Texas by James A. Michener. I'll say right off that I'm enjoying it and have learned quite a bit. It's not a book I'd be likely to have picked up right now, and it wouldn't have jumped off the library shelf even if I were so lucky as to get to visit the grown up shelves.

This book was in a christmas gift given to Big Brother. Inside the box was a sweat suit kind of affair that he loves to wear and the book. The book gift giving grandparents are aware of Big Brother being a reader, though I can't imagine they'd have considered this book appropriate. I'm not judging the book as inappropriate so much as I'm saying it just seems odd that they'd have given it to him. As I've thought about this, I've wondered if perhaps the book was included due to it's size and weight, roughly eleven hundred pages, and was meant to be ballast and then returned.

So there's a few minutes reading about what we're reading. It's a delightful tale all around, one that you can tell the folks back home.