"Little House in the Big Woods"

"Laura Ingalls's story begins in 1871 in a little log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Four-year-old Laura lives in the little house with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their trusty dog, Jack.

Pioneer life is sometimes hard, since the family must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But it is also exciting as Laura and her folks celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do the spring planting, bring in the harvest, and make their first trip into town. And every night they are safe and warm in their little house, with the happy sound of Pa's fiddle sending Laura and her sisters off to sleep."  (Amazon description)

Grace's review- I asked what she thought of the book, "Pa will not see a bear ever again." Her favorite part "When a bear was in the fence and Ma and Laura thought it was a cow."  Least favorite "When Laura's friend stepped on the bee hive."  Favorite character "Ma because she makes cheese and I love cheese."  I asked if she would like to live in the big woods like Laura and her family "No I like it here with my family.  Grandma, Nana, Papaw and Atticus, staying in my comfy old bed."  She also thinks that they need more pets.

My review- The Little House on the Prairie series is my all time favorite series.  I love that I get to share this with Grace and that she is enjoying it too.  I bought my box set when I was in my early 20s hoping one day I would have a daughter to share them with.  My favorite part(s) I love how they celebrate Christmas, and I enjoyed the girls first trip to town.  I don't have a least favorite part.  Laura is my favorite character in this book.  I think it would be neat to live in the big woods like Laura and her family for a couple of weeks.


Next book: Little House on the Prairie 

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"

L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was first published in 1900.  This classic tale follows Dorthy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, the cowardly Lion and Toto on the adventure to Oz to meet the wizard.  As true with most books there was so much more depth to this book than in the movie.  They have many more adventures on there way to Oz and even after leaving Oz.  I really enjoyed reading this book and Grace did as well.  I was worried at first whether or not Grace would be scared by the Wicked Witch of the West.  She never seemed scared of her but I did leave off the word wicked when referring to her.

Grace's review- "I liked the book" "My favorites were the Lion and Toto." "I liked all the pictures"  "The lion has a bow and crown and sharp teeth."  "I like those guys too (the Hammer Heads)"  I asked what she didn't like she said "The witch of Oz" I asked what her favorite part was "When the trees threw the Scarecrow."  I asked if she would like to go to Oz she said "She said she didn't want to go" Why? "Because she doesn't want to be all alone."

My review-  My answers to the questions I asked Grace.  My least favorite part was the "Hammer Heads"  which were these weird men that had hammer shaped heads and lived on a mountain and wouldn't let the group cross over it.  My favorite part was the parts with the Winged Monkeys and the Golden Cap.  my favorite character was the Scarecrow, though I enjoyed the story of how the Tin Woodsman came to be.  Would I like to go to the land of Oz?  I would enjoy going to the Emerald City.

Next book: Little House in the Big Woods

How it started

How did this whole thing start?  A while ago Grace was having issues going to sleep at night, for a few nights I tried "The Sleep Lady Method".  Which basically you sit in a chair next to your child bed until they fall asleep and move the chair farther from the bed each night until it is out the door.  I tried this method when she was 9 months old with great success.  I was talking to my best friend one day and she suggested I started reading a "chapter" book to Grace.  She told me how she and her little man read a chapter of the "Harry Potter" series every night.  I decided to try this.  I came across our first book not to long after and so we began.

Why am I doing this?  We finished our first book last night and as I was typing a Facebook status on what book to read next I thought it would be neat to document our progress.  It will be neat to get Grace opinion on who her favorite character is and what part of the book she liked best.  Then ask my self the same questions about the book.  My brother is doing a blog about watching AFI's 100 movies and reviews them and that helped spark this ideas.

So here we go over to start our adventure!!!