Hi y’all!

Happy Happy Fall, my friends! I am loving the crisper weather, all things pumpkin, and experiencing our favorite fall treats and fun!

Today I am here with a collection of mini reviews for several books I’ve read recently with my kids. We love read alouds at our house and are also big fans of audiobooks (Lately, I’m obsessively learning about the Yoto and Tomie audio players for kids — Amazing!) Since we’ve done so many, I decided to share some of our favorites in one post. Enjoy!

I’ve linked to the Goodreads pages for each book so you can read a more complete book summary and details there. Also, expect a Beverley Cleary mini review post coming soon. We’ve been loving so many of her books lately!

Ivy and Ivy and the Goblins by Katherine Coville // This duo follows the adventures of Ivy and her grandmother as they care for a variety of animals including a dragon, griffin, and baby goblin. The stories are so delightful with fun illustrations in each chapter.

These are so great for read aloud! There are lots of unique characters so the opportunities for great voices were plentiful. The plot is action packed and always had us hoping to read one more chapter. My kids love the fun pictures throughout. And we loved the beautiful ending with good lessons like be a good neighbor and friend, help others, be true to yourself, and treat others with kindness. 

These books have such lovable characters. We loved Ivy who is brave, kind and thoughtful and her kind grandmother. They always try to help those that come to be healed, no matter if they expect them or know exactly what to do. Also enjoyed Cedric the griffin–he made us laugh–, Balthazar the dragon with his head colds, the queen and the pixies. In book two we enjoyed the addition of baby Burdock and the other goblins. And we loved Branwen, the spotted unicorn, a lot too.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren // We loved this classic story about the quirky, lovable Pippi Longstocking who “has crazy red pigtails, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a flair for the outrageous that seems to lead to one adventure after another!”

We listened to audiobook and it was so much fun! It’s such a quirky, delightful story about Pippi–a girl you can’t help loving with all her quirks and crazy antics. We love the details like the horse on the porch, Pippi sleeping with her feet on the pillow, counting gold coins, inside the old tree, misadventures at afternoon tea, birthday presents for everyone, performing at the circus and Mr Nielson the monkey with his outfits and bed. Its a darling collection of stories.

Pippi is rather naughty sometimes but I suppose we have to give her a bit of slack as she has an angel mother and a cannibal king father. My girls thought she was so much fun and we had some fun discussions about how to be good. 😉 I had hoped a grown up would really come to love Pippi and help her. Perhaps in future stories. A delightful book!

Stuart Little by E. B. White // This was our third read aloud of E. B. White and a delightful addition to our collection of his books. This classic tale of a mouse born to a human family and his many adventures as he navigates a world much bigger than himself. I read this one aloud to my oldest kids and we really enjoyed it. Lovely illustrations throughout our copy and beautiful descriptions of scenery and people. A delightful White story certainly worth the read.

I love how simply the story is told and how matter of fact. Stuart just is a mouse who can speak and lives with his human family. We loved the details of his life like how to get ready in the morning and getting the ring out of the drain. Also the adventures he has sailing and driving his car after Margalo. Although we were sad when his canoe was broken and he didn’t get to know the tiny girl very well. But we got a kick out of him as a substitute teacher! Some of the details are so delightfully from a bygone era like the way they talk or some of the people he meets along his journey.

We would have liked more closure at the end. Does Stuart find Margalo? Does he return home? How are his family doing? Lots of open questions at the end. It’s quite a bit different from the movie adaptation (not surprisingly) but such a nostalgic read as well.

Ivy and Bean Books 7-9 by Annie Barrows // I’ve raved about Ivy and Bean before on my blog. And we loved these next three adventures with our favorite best friend duo!

There are great illustrations, short chapters for easy read aloud, and so many fun stories! My oldest also enjoys reading these books on her own.

In these books, Ivy and Bean solve a scientific problem, make a newspaper, and start a summer camp. As usual, there are lots of laughs and clever plot twists. We love Ivy and Bean!

There Once Is a Queen by Michael Morpurgo // I picked up this delightful souvenir book when I was in the UK during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this summer. It’s become an absolute treasure at our house.

It’s a fairly simply picture book detailing the life of Queen Elizabeth II and I love the pictures and beautiful message celebrating the life of Britain’s longest reigning monarch.

I love reading with my kids and experiencing so many stories and meeting so many characters!
What are some of your favorite read alouds lately?