Books We are Reading

"I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said, "How I wish we had something to do. Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball. So we sat in the house. We did nothing at all".

Luke is loving the Cat and the Hat this week. We read it every night before bed. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are the coolest things in town. With inside kite flying, messing up bedrooms, kicking vases and taking names, these guys have Luke written all over them.



"So the decision was made to abandon the town of Chewandswallow. It was a matter of survival".

I think I've read this 128,393 times in the past 2 years. I don't think we can ever get enough of flying hamburgers, tomato tornadoes, or pea soup fog. The movie did not do the book justice, however, it was entertaining and we saw it in the theater as well as on the big screen in Cudahy Park.



"Now where in the world is that poky little puppy?"

This one has been on Luke's list since he was at least a year old. Not sure why this fascinates him so much. I think he enjoys the poky puppy's independence.



"I was the saddest dog you could ever see, sad because no one wanted me. The pet shop window was my jail. The sign behind me said "For Sale". I was tied to a bare, hard floor of stone. I could not even dig for a bone. I was living all of my life alone, a dog that no one wanted to own. And then one day, at half-past four, Sammy Brown came in the door. Sam took one look at me a cried, 'Why are you tied up here inside? I've always wanted a dog like you, so I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll take you out to the farm with me. You'll play outdoors where you should be.'"

Ahhh before I copy the entire book I will stop here! This is one of my favorite books from childhood. Luke really likes it too and has already memorized most of the book. It's a great story about a dog, his owner, a little freedom, overzealous digging, and redemption. I recommend it to any dog loving family.



"Many many years ago in Sorrento, there lived a small boy named Giovanni who had no mother and no father. He dressed in rags and begged his bread and slept in doorways. But he was happy, and he could do something wonderful. He could juggle."

This book is straight from Ron's childhood favorites. He even dressed as Giovanni for Halloween one year. I'd post a picture of that if I had a scanner or even the picture itself, but unfortunately I have neither. This book is a tearjerker. Aunt Carla (Ron's Sister) bought it for Luke at his baby shower. I made the mistake of reading it while pregnant. All of the pregnancy hormones had me balling by the end of the book. We love Giovanni's juggling act, especially the golden ball that he refers to as "The Sun in the Heavens". Luke is always asking to juggle burning torches now, but other than that it is a great read!