Tag Archives: children’s books

Book lists and a Literature Based Curriculum

One of the emails I got this week had this link for How to Homeschool During the Summer. I realize it is over half gone already but I went and read it anyway. I liked what she shared and was very similar to how we did summers with my kids.

One of the things she shared was links for three book lists she uses to pick books, aside from their favorites or ones left from their Sonlight curriculum. I, of course, checked them out.

Christian Books Only

The first is from Not Consumed and is a list of only Christian books from beginning readers all the way through suggestions for high school students. You have to give your email address to get the list but it is a good list with links for each book, to purchase. It’s nice to have a list of nothing but Christian books.

Wholesome Books

The second is from The Good and the Beautiful. I had never heard of it before but it looks quite interesting. It is a literature curriculum. The author is a member of the Latter-Day Saints but the curriculum is non-denominational, from what I read. The book list is a compilation of books of high moral merit, literary value, educational value, and clean.

Once again, you have to give your email address to obtain the list (you can unsubscribe at any time). I really like this list because it has summaries as well as age recommendations. This is a great list and very valuable.

Previous Sonlight Books

The last one is a link to Paths to Learning which has compiled a list of books that were included in the Sonlight curriuculum at one time but removed over the years as others were added. I used to like to use the Sonlight curriuculum catalog for book suggestions, so I imagine that is the purpose behind this. Here is the link directly to the list, no subbing required. ;)

I hope these lists are helpful to you in your search for good books for you and your children to enjoy.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

~ Lifeofjoy.me

Early Learning Activities and Books (Online Digital Color Books)

I was cleaning out my email yesterday because I have WAY, WAY, WAY, too many emails, like approaching the limit too many. :p As you might imagine, they go back for quite a few years. :D

Part of the reason I’m a pack-rat, even with emails, is because I homeschooled for so long and never wanted to be without useful information. I also signed up for quite a few email lists. :D I know, that is a shocker. :D

Well, since I cannot seem to just do a blanket “delete all”, I’m going through them and keeping some that I can’t bear to part with. In so doing, I’ve come across some interesting old links.

Early Learning Activities

This first one has pdfs with activities with early literacy activities for 3-5 year olds. There are 36 of these activity cards, so that is one per school week. These are basically just fun activities but they help get your child ready for learning to read and such. This link has links to some simple line drawings to use for the activities in the pdfs. And this page has links to the pdfs for book suggestions for the activities.

I love the activity of drawing to music. It is such an interesting idea. I also love that Harold and the Purple Crayon is one of the suggested books.

Another website I found had a lot of preschool games but unfortunately most of them don’t work anymore. However I did find some really interesting worksheets on their printables page. It is a color by letter, where letters are assigned colors and any section with that letter is colored that color. Here’s an example:

It has a print button on the page. I think it is adorable! There are other kinds of worksheets available to print as well and then there are some kinds, like crosswords, that sadly no longer work.

Old Books Online

The other interesting find I want to share with you today is this children’s books online site. It’s really interesting. I haven’t been able to go through it very thoroughly yet. I did see that it had Alice in Wonderland and A Christmas Carol.

However I also saw this cute little book, Axel the Freeway Cat, so I know they have some picture books too. And this Baby’s Own Aesop is adorable! It rhymes! Did I mention they are in full color too? Lovely!

There is Father Goose by L. Frank Baum. Yep, that Baum, the author of the Oz books. Of course I only knew that from the television show Sarah Connor Chronicles. :D There are a number of children’s books here. You just have to be careful because they are not all in English. So if you are interested in books in other languages, there are some at this website. They say most of their books are in English but there are a variety of others as well.

I’ve spent way too much time enjoying this site. :) I even found Heidi! Tiff is going to love that.  I hope you enjoy these links. Let me know what your favorite is and if you found any cool books on the International Children’s Digital Library. By the way, the Simple Search has the easiest interface and appeal. ;)

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Advent Books

I post something about these books every year about this time, so that you have time to obtain them and be ready the Sunday after Thanksgiving. :) This year I’m just reposting it. ;)


It is already November 14th and Thanksgiving is coming soon. I love this time of year but it moves so quickly. Before we know it, it will be a brand new year. :)

One of the things I liked to do during the Advent season when the kids were younger was to read an advent book. The ones I’m showing you today are for the older ones. Of course the younger ones in your family may also enjoy them but there are some tense scenes that may be too much for the littlest members of your family.

I’m sharing this week because you may need to order a book or request it from the library (if your system has it).

Advent Books ~ Lifeofjoy.meI have to admit that it has been quite a number of years since we’ve read this, so I don’t remember much of the story line. I do remember that we enjoyed it. We enjoyed it so much that I bought the sequels.

Advent ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdvent ~ lifeofjoy.meThe book would be started on Sunday, December 3. But if you think you may have trouble reading it every night, I guess you could start early. ;)

Give Jotham’s Journey a try this year, if you haven’t read it before. Next week I’ll share some books that can be read with the younger ones next week.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº