Robert affectionately calls Jacob and I his "little book nerds." (I think he's jealous.) I have always been one to bury my nose in a book and not want to come out until it's over! That is most often what I choose to do on Saturday, the day I do as little as possible around the house. I love to read a book from start to finish, and it appears I have passed that love of the story on to Jacob. He and I have already shared a number of chapter books together, but up to this point, they have been books I had read previously.
When we were in Maryland in May, Jacob heard my uncle reading a chapter or two of a specific book and he's been dying to finish it. When I told him it was in a series, and not the first book, he started begging to start as soon as possible! And my dad treated us to a full color brand new collector's edition set of The Chronicles of Narnia in which to begin our journey!
This was a series I did not read as a child (I did not like mythology/fantasy at all) so I have been looking forward to this whenever we'd encounter it in homeschooling. I wondered if it might be over Jacob's head, but he's not had any trouble getting it. And he's read much of the books himself when I can't sit down and read with him, leaving me to catch up before that evening (when we'll certainly move to the next chapter or two, snuggled up under the green blanket on the right end of the couch - our reading spot).
So we appropriately happened to start the week we were studying lions. We started reading in chronological order** and just finished today The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, book two when reading them this way. It has been a joy to enjoy these books together, but also to recognize in Jacob that curiosity of "what happens next" that I know so well. And it's been fun to watch him take that to the next level and jump into these chapter books independently (where before he was totally intimidated though he was perfectly capable of reading them), then come and fill me in on what I've missed. Mostly, it's fun to have a hobby in common. And I'm praying it will be a tie that binds us through times where we might not understand each other very much!
**There is quite an emotional debate among Narniacs concerning these books which I did not know about at the beginning. Should they be read in the order in which the events are chronological, or the order in which they were published? We chose to read them in chronological event order, and CS Lewis has given that as the way he would probably choose. And he says he's not even sure that they were published in the order in which he wrote them! But he says it really doesn't matter, they can all stand alone.
I will say that The Magician's Nephew would be more enjoyable to read somewhere other than book 1, because it explains the roots of details of which one does not realize the significance until The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is read. We read it as #1 (because that's how our book set came) and survived, though I now understand the argument for reading it later.
So we appropriately happened to start the week we were studying lions. We started reading in chronological order** and just finished today The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, book two when reading them this way. It has been a joy to enjoy these books together, but also to recognize in Jacob that curiosity of "what happens next" that I know so well. And it's been fun to watch him take that to the next level and jump into these chapter books independently (where before he was totally intimidated though he was perfectly capable of reading them), then come and fill me in on what I've missed. Mostly, it's fun to have a hobby in common. And I'm praying it will be a tie that binds us through times where we might not understand each other very much!
**There is quite an emotional debate among Narniacs concerning these books which I did not know about at the beginning. Should they be read in the order in which the events are chronological, or the order in which they were published? We chose to read them in chronological event order, and CS Lewis has given that as the way he would probably choose. And he says he's not even sure that they were published in the order in which he wrote them! But he says it really doesn't matter, they can all stand alone.
I will say that The Magician's Nephew would be more enjoyable to read somewhere other than book 1, because it explains the roots of details of which one does not realize the significance until The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is read. We read it as #1 (because that's how our book set came) and survived, though I now understand the argument for reading it later.
2 comments:
So neat that he's getting into them himself and picking them up! That's a great place for him to be at this age...But what do you mean chronologically??? Did I miss something?
LY MOM
Will really liked The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe also. He is already asking to reread it! I have been really surprised at how well he likes to have the chapter books read to him since he has never been one to enjoy picture books. Whatever works, right?
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