Literature - 1st Grade Selections

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the great literature that we are reading (and listening to in the car).  Even before we started homeschooling, we always read together.  But now I take our literature selection more seriously and search for great books. 

I also have Bryce narrate every time we do our read-aloud books.  Narration is simply telling back in your own words what you just read or heard.  It’s an easy tool to have Bryce recall the material and practice assimilating all the material he just heard.  (Often, it's not long since we are doing it at bedtime but even at 8 PM I make him narrate:)

I've decided to start keeping a list of the books we've read so I can remember our favorite ones!  It's also quite fun to read a book and then watch the movie.  Below is the list of books that I'll update as we read more. 

As you can tell from the list, we often find an author we like and stick with that author for a while; especially for audiobooks.  The read-aloud books that we do together I want to be varied in author and subject but I'm much more lenient about the audiobooks -- those are just to keep us entertained since we are in the car quite a bit. 

* Favorite books are starred.

Read Alouds: 

*Boxcar Children by Gertrude C. Warner

Surprise Island by Gertrude C. Warner 

Yellow House Mystery by Gertrude C. Warner

Mystery Ranch by Gertrude C. Warner
*Tale of Despeaurax by Kate DiCamillo

26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola

Egyptian Diary:  The Journal of Nakht by Richard Platt

*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
*Poppy by Avi
*Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Capyboppy by Bill Peet
*Indian in the Cupboard
*Winnie the Pooh
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

  

Audiobooks:
*Sophia's War by Avi
The Good Dog by Avi Ragweed by Avi
The Mayor of Central Park by Avi
Seer of Shadows by Avi
* Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke

Ghosthunters and the Totally Moldy Baroness by Cornelia Funke

Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost by Cornelia Funke

Egyptian Treasures:  Mummies and Myths by Jim Weiss

Tales from the Old Testament by Jim Weiss

Tales from Cultures Far and Near by Jim Weiss
*Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
*Mr. Popper's Penguins
The 39 Clues - Maze of Bones
The 39 Clues - One False Note
*Wizard of Oz
*The Castle in the Attic
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink