Literature
Essentially, we’re going to be concentrating on historical fiction covering early American history (Jamestown through the 49ers), but I’m also putting in children’s versions of important literature that was published during that time frame - i.e., The Three Musketeers, The Jungle Book.
We already have a number of books. I made a list of books I wanted to try to find at the used bookstore, and found several, and then I added the books we already owned. It adds up to quite a few books. On the one hand, Gillian is a good reader; on the other hand, I don’t want to overwhelm her. In general, we’ll read some books more ‘in-depth’ and perhaps do three to four book reports over the course of the year. There’s a mix of picture books, short chapter books, and long chapter books in what we have. Finally, I’ve already decided that some books will be not required but “suggested” or “available” during the relevant time period.
Here’s what I’ve decided upon at this point, for required reading by Gillian:
Don Quixote and the Windmills, Eric Kimmel, illus. Leonard Everett Fisher.
Blood on the River, Carbone.
Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery.
Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Brothers Grimm. (I want to use the Veritas Press guide with this.)
The Three Musketeers, Dumas, adapt. Vogel.
Gulliver’s Travels, Swift. (Another adaptation, with illustrations as well.)
Calico Bush, Rachel Field.
The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling.
Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling.
The Last of the Mohicans, Cooper, adapt. Martin.
The Sign of the Beaver, Speare.
The Fighting Ground, Avi.
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold, Jean Fritz.
Mr. Revere & I, Robert Lawson.
Ben & Me, Robert Lawson.
Fever 1793, Anderson.
Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Henry.
The Great Little Madison, Jean Fritz.
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Latham.
American Tall Tales, Osborne.
Paul Bunyan and Other Tall Tales, Mason.
My America, Hopkins.
A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens, adapt. Vogel.
Oliver Twist, Dickens, adapt. Vogel.
A Gathering of Days, Blos.
The Devil’s Highway, Applegate.
Seaman’s Journal, Eubank.
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, adapt. Snyder.
The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, Twain, adapt. Vogel.
All Night, All Day, Ashley Bryan.
“The Man with the Twisted Lip,” in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera.
The Birchbark House, Erdrich.
I decided on our read-aloud books, so I’ve pulled them from the list above:
Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates, Mary Mapes Dodge.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Speare.
My Name Is Not Angelica, Scott O’Dell.
Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes.
Streams to the River, River to the Sea, Scott O’Dell.
Amos Fortune, Free Man, Elizabeth Yates.
I think it’ll be a good mix. The hardest and/or longest titles are now read-alouds, and as for the others, there’s a good mix of shorter vs. longer.
Later on, I’ll type out all of the supplemental/optional titles. Some weeks, Gillian will finish the required book in just one or two days, so for the remainder of that week’s reading time, she’ll be able to go down the supplemental/optional list. I don’t think the books on it are “as good” but they’re still worthwhile and still can count as part of her school reading time.
