Hello friends!

My brain is in “percolate” mode right now as I dream and plan for the coming year and I thought I’d give you a peak at what’s brewing.  Here is a small taste of what I’m gathering for the boys study of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. A wonderful year of reading awaits us and I love how often I keep catching boys by my desk, sneaking looks through the books piled there.

Many books on this list will be independent reads for my older children. Right now I am deciding which will be family read alouds and which will be independent reads for them. I’ll probably give a detailed list once our new term begins in a few weeks.

I’ll be reading Our Island Story by HE Marshall to the younger children this year.  The older children are looking forward to diving into A Castle With Many Rooms by Lorene Lambert.   This excellent resource from Simply Charlotte Mason is one of our favorites. We have enjoyed Ms Lambert’s writing for many years and are eager to read this beautiful book again. (Hint: There are narration cards available for this book too!)
The World of Columbus and Sons by Genevieve Foster will be used later in the year.

Other stories gathering on the READ THIS YEAR SHELF:

Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson
Terese Makes a Tapestry by Alexandra Hindrichs
The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane by CM Millen
Castle Diary by Richard Platt
Illuminations by Jonathan Hunt
A Medieval Feast by Aliki
A Year in a Castle by Rachel Coombs
Castle by David MacCaulay
Cathedral by David MacCaulay
Mosque by David MacCaulay
Pippo the Fool by Tracey Fern

Chanticleer and the Fox by Geoffrey Chaucer
St George and the Dragon by Marguerite Henry
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales adapted and translated by Barbara Cohen
Joan of Arc: The Lily Maid by Margaret Hodges

Beginning with a few small chapter books for the middle boy, who is eager to read big books, the list tapers out to those longer, deeper reads. We’ll probably glean a few from this list to use as family reads though the boys have made it clear that we must absolutely start with the Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green, which is one of their all time favorites.

The White Stag by Kate Seredy
The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Apple and the Arrow by Conrad Buff
Fine Print by Joann Johansen Burch
Robin Hood by Margaret Early
Beowulf the Warrior Retold by Ian Serraillier ** My eldest wants to read this
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard
If All the Swords in England: A Story of Thomas Becket by Barbara Willard
The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Lost Baron by Allen French
Red Falcons of Tremoine by Hendry Peart
The Trumpeter of Krawkow by Eric Kelly
The Hidden Treasure of Glaston by Eleanore M Jewet

The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green (One of our absolute favorites)
King Arthur and His Knights by Roger Lancelyn Green

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
The Black Fox of Lorne by Marguerite de Angeli
The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Magna Carta by James Daugherty

Thats the working list right now! Next week I’ll sift through some Messner biographies for the boys to read, I know we will likely read about Galileo and Charlamagne. I’m currently looking into more church history and science history reads and then I’ll finalize our hymn study, poet study and artist study for next term.  I have a lot listed up there and I doubt we’ll read it all. I want plenty of time for the boys to enjoy their reading and not feel the weight of an impossibly long list. I’ll keep most of these on a shelf and hand them off as kids finish them. This works well for my eager reader and is a blessing to my savoring reader.  I hope to have our Cycle 2 Quarter 1 plan out by the beginning of June.

And now for the giveaway!!!! Because—FAIRY. TALES.

Friends, if you aren’t reading fairy tales yet, can I urge you with all my heart to start now? If you are a CC family, this up and coming cycle is a great time to dive in….

Last year we used Tale of Wonder Volume 1 during our morning time. We had so many rich discussions about Fairy Tales we’ve been reading for years thanks to the wonderful suggestions in this book. Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, The Little Mermaid, Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella were enjoyed again and again last year. We cannot wait for the up and coming release of Tales of Wonder Volume 2, which includes: Sleeping Beauty, The Emperor’s New Suit, The Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, The Three Little Pigs, The Golden Goose, Jack and the Beanstalk. The boys are especially eager to read The Emperor’s New suit and The Three Little Pigs. Thanks to the generous folks over at Circe Institute, we’ll be giving away TWO copies!

How to enter:
1) FOLLOW Circe Institute on either facebook or instagram
2) TAG your friends on the Facebook thread for this post
3) Comment below to let us know you did both and just for fun, share your favorite fairy tale!

 

Winner will be announced on Friday 4/23.

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Quick note on out of print books: We’ll be using a few of these out of print treasures pictured above that I have found and restored over the years. How I wish they would come back in print! In the meantime, I must share that I am always on the lookout for beauties like these and urge you to rescue books when you can. Most of these were found in throw away piles, at Good Will, at library sales or in estate sales lumped in with cookbooks and spy novels. I even found a few of those beautiful Buehr books near a trash can on the side of the road a few years ago. Take a few extra minutes to sift through those toss away piles, you never know what you might find!

We also have a few more out of print books we’ll be using but I did not include them in the picture. You can find those unlisted books and more if you are local to Living Learning Libraries, curated by Michelle Howard. Heads up, she also makes fabulous book totes that correspond to each week of the CC cycle. If you are not local check out this list of living libraries.