What we've been reading

We've tried to keep reading during these busy summer months. We started by reading My Father's Dragon.  I had seen this book recommended on lots of different list.  It was a quick read.  We enjoyed it and give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Our next book:

This book first grabbed my attention because it had won a bunch of different awards.  I also began to see it everywhere, blogs, book list, and bookstores.  I have to say the kids were not into this book until about over 1/2 way through (which was a little lesson for us on sticking with it) and then we wanted to know what would happen. 

 I was not a huge fan of this book but Mr. Owen was.  It is written from the point of view of Ivan a Silverback Gorilla. What captured my heart was the story it is based on.  Ivan really did come to the states and really did reside in a zoo themed mall for over 20 years.  The mall eventually went bankrupt and their was a public outcry for Ivan to live in a more acceptable environment for animals.  He was moved to the Atlanta Zoo where for the first time in over 27 years he got to be outside and live with other Gorillas!  We were sad to learn that he died recently.  We watched lots of videos on YouTube about Silverback Gorillas and we learned that they love their family!

 

Sometimes we just need some Junie B. Jones.  Meg and I have collected all but three of the 20+ Junie B. Jones books.  We are HUGE fans even Owen is!  I fell in love with Junie when I was a teacher and started a small collection then.  After arriving in Germany we started collecting them from the thrift store and Recycling Center.  These just make us laugh out loud and are such a joy to read.  Junie B. will always get a 5+ out of 5 stars from us! We read these two this week.

 

This is our second American Girl book.  This one is in a series called History Mysteries. I have to say I was very skeptical in reading these but boy was I surprised.  They are very well written and this one was about how kids played a part in the war effort of WWII.  Owen and Meg loved the idea of the kids having a metal drive and we will never walk past a metal bottle cap and not think of this book!

A great read and we all couldn't figure out the mystery until the ending came!