Reading with David – The Magician’s Elephant

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I thought it was good that he found his sister and that the elephant got to go home and that in the end Bartok made the carving of everyone.

I also liked that Peter and Adele get to live together now and they live with the policeman and his wife so they can be happy. I thought it was sad that the beggar’s dog is blind and I didn’t like that Vilna was so mean to Peter.

It was sad that the elephant fell on the old lady and that she became crippled. It wasn’t very nice of the magician to make the elephant fall through the roof.

The sister was my favorite character because she was so nice and visited Vilna to be nice to him. Peter was my second favorite because he tried to help the elephant go home.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Because of Winn-Dixie

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I love Opal had a nice dog who always smiled at her and she didn’t have any other friends so it was nice for her to have Winn-Dixie.

I really liked Otis and how he played his guitar and how all the animals liked it and sat very still to listen to it. I liked that Opal apologized from Dunlap for calling him bald-headed babies.

I thought her Dad was nice to let her have a dog and kind to go looking for him with Opal for so long when they thought it was lost. I also thought it was sad that he cried.

I liked the party in the end because she invited all her friends and you could see that she had a lot of friends by the end of the book. And I liked how that helped her be a little less sad about her Mommy not being around.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Charlotte’s Web

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I love that the pig and the spider became friends and that there were more spider friends later in the book.

I thought it was really sad that Charlotte died. But I liked that she had new babies coming and that Wilbur got to live.

I liked the beginning where Fern saved Wilbur and fed him with a bottle. And I liked that she came to visit him everyday and was friends with the animals in the barn.

Even though Templeton was sort of mean, it was nice that he did a lot of favors for both Wilbur and Charlotte. I liked the part where the little goslings hatched. I thought it was wonderful that Charlotte tried to save the pig’s life and the pig saved all of her children. And I liked that he won the medal and how they were best friends.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I thought it was cool that they got a machine to do their homework.

I didn’t like Snitcher because he always told on them and he broke the computer. I liked that Danny gave him a knife with snitcher carved on it at the end.

I thought it was cool that they fed all the information into the computer and that it could then write reports for them. The first invention where you had two pens writing at the same time was cool too because it made a copy for someone else as well. Of the three kids, I liked Danny the most because all the creative ideas were his.

I thought it was nice of Joe to write a poem for Irene but I didn’t like that Danny got jealous of it. But it did help Joe and Irene make up which I liked.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic

David says:
I gave this story five stars because it was cool that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle could cure everything.

My favorite story was the Waddle-I-Doers because they find a treasure in that one and I liked that they found six of them because it meant Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle could have money for a long time. I also thought the Never-Want-To-Go-To-Schooler story was funny because Jody got dumber and started speaking funny. I also thought it was funny that he couldn’t count higher than three. The bad-table-manners cure story was silly because the pig sat with the boy. I thought the Thought-You-Saiders Cure was the silliest of them all because the kids thought of funny responses and I liked them all.

I thought the whole book was really silly because all the cures Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle had were over the top. There wasn’t a story I didn’t like.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Junie B. – Dumb Bunny

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I thought Junie B. was funny and I liked how she was calling May Dumb Bunny in her head. I also liked how she was nice to Sheldon and took his side when May was teasing him.

I liked that they made a rule about not tripping the bunny or you’d get in trouble because the bunny has big feet and this way the egg hunt wouldn’t be unfair to her. I thought it was nice that Lucille gave invitations to everyone in the class and didn’t leave anyone out.

I thought Mr. Scary’s rule of counting to twenty two times and then going home and still not tattling was funny. For Junie, being the bunny was bad because she kept falling and couldn’t run, but it was good because she got to have her picture taken with everyone. In the end, falling helped too because that’s how she found the golden egg.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – The Emerald Atlas

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I liked how Katie found out that Selena was actually nice to animals and they became friends at the end and I like how the boys who cheated got caught and had to clean up dog poop (which was funny!).

I also really liked the bug facts, especially the one about how fast dragon flies can fly. But I didn’t like that the boys cheated because they knew they would get in trouble if they got caught and they were being lazy.

My favorite of the science projects was the volcano that exploded because I like that it had lava inside which exploded. I also liked the lightning bug because I thought it was cool that they thought to use a flashlight to make it light up. I also thought the solar system was cool cause they used different fruits for each planet.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Katie Kazoo – Be Nice to Mice

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I liked how Katie found out that Selena was actually nice to animals and they became friends at the end and I like how the boys who cheated got caught and had to clean up dog poop (which was funny!).

I also really liked the bug facts, especially the one about how fast dragon flies can fly. But I didn’t like that the boys cheated because they knew they would get in trouble if they got caught and they were being lazy.

My favorite of the science projects was the volcano that exploded because I like that it had lava inside which exploded. I also liked the lightning bug because I thought it was cool that they thought to use a flashlight to make it light up. I also thought the solar system was cool cause they used different fruits for each planet.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Katie Kazoo – Anyone But Me

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I like that she became friends with George in the end. I like that Katie caught the hamster and that George pet her dog.

My favorite character was Katie because she helped George be funny without being mean to everyone. I also liked that she was nice to him when he felt sad.

I thought it was funny that she liked being called Katie Kazoo. I didn’t like that George made fun of her (and the other kids) and laughed at them.

But I liked how George made funny jokes in the end and made everyone laugh. I also like Suzanne because when Katie fell in the mud, she picked her up and she was always nice to Katie. I also liked how Katie and George made a deal to share their food.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective

David says:
I gave this story four stars because I didn’t like that you had to jump back and forth to see the solutions of each mystery.

I liked the boy detective and Sally because they were both very smart. I didn’t like the egg spinner story because the boy in it was trying to cheat!

I liked that he was really observant and could figure out what really happened by listening carefully to find where there were mistakes in the story. It was nice that the dad asked his son’s opinion and took him along when he went to solve a mystery.

I thought it was funny that the paper bag only had bread in it. My favorite story was the one with the sword because it was cool that it had a sword in it. My least favorite one was the one with the necklace because I didn’t like that the friend faked the whole thing.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – The Secret Garden

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I liked that in the end everybody is happy and the father really cares about his son.

I like that Mary found the key and the robin showed her the way. I also liked how Mary went from being grouchy to happy and became friends with Martha. My favorite character was the robin cause she was really cute and she was the first “person” to befriend Mary.

I liked that all the animals like Dickon and that he’s nice to everybody. I liked that Colin taught Magic to everyone and that they did exercises each day. I liked that Dickon’s mom gave them extra food so they could make sure the nurse didn’t know Colin was getting better and could surprise his dad. I like how the three kids became such good friends and worked and played in the garden every day together.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Reading with David – The Mystery of the Green Ghost

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I really liked the trick behind what made the green ghost appear. I also liked what Mr. Won did with the life pearls.

I thought it was very clever of Bob to pretend like he was hypnotized even though he was awake so he could write the notes. And I thought what 39 meant in the notes was interesting. But I didn’t like that Mr. Won tried to hypnotize the three boys.

I didn’t like that Harold was mean to his aunt and tried to trick her.. I also didn’t like that Jensen double-crossed Harold. I also didn’t like that the pearls got crushed and that Jensen grabbed Pete when he was surrounded by the police.

I liked that Jupiter figured out what happened because of the way the dog behaved when the ghost appeared.


Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.