We have Vile Booty

I've said this several times before, but Aubrey is just devouring book after book this summer. She has gotten really good at reading. One summer when I was younger, my mom and I read 100 books, and so this summer, I thought we'd try it with Aubrey. We started the end of June and I am only keeping track of the books I know she has read herself, and she is nearly to 100. It's so exciting to me to watch her learn new words and gain confidence in her skills. I love for her to read me a story, instead of the other way around. She also can read to Andrew, which is so wonderful. (She really is growing into her role as a great big sister and is so helpful in that way too.) There have been times I haven't heard her playing and so I go to her room, and there she is, propped up on a pillow, with a stack of books next to her, reading aloud to herself. As an avid reader myself, and one who loves words, it does my heart good to see such a sight. And just because she is reading along doesn't mean I have stopped aloud to her. As it is one of my favorite pastimes, we have brached out this summer... we have reread several of the Ramona and Fudge books we've read over the past year, and I've begun reading aloud the Little House on the Prairie series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series, and the Magic Treehouse series. We've also read some Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Ida B., and some Roald Dahl.










She just loves books, and she doesn't feel the need to finish one before starting another, and it actually is fun, to have several stories spinning around at once, and we can pick up any one at any time and the action picks up right where it left off. We went to B&N the other night for fun, and we all picked out a book, and Aubrey was having the hardest time... should she choose a picture book or a chapter book? After deciding on a chapter book, she didn't know whether to choose Cam Jansen, the Boxcar children, The Magic Treehouse, or a fairy series. She finally decided on the Magic Treehouse, which is such a great series to read aloud, even though it is designed for early readers. It's probably one of my new favorites. It's about a young brother and sister who find a treehouse in the woods that takes them to different times and places for adventures. I grew to love the Magic Treehouse series even more when I discovered the fourth book, Pirates Past Noon, has a chapter in it called "Vile Booty." If that's not a phrase that will make you laugh, I don't know what will. The vile booty is actually referring to books the brother and sister have, but Aubrey and I have incorporated it into our regular vocabulary, and chuckle every time we use it. So, that is why I'm proud to say we have lots of vile booty at our house. All these books, (this "vile booty" if you will) have helped us have a great summer, and I will actually be sad to see that aspect of summer end. So, since we have such a great time reading, I have to put in my plug for books, and so as I tell Aubrey, Readers are Leaders! So everybody get out there and read, read, read!