<![CDATA[Read-Aloud Corner - Exception Not Found]]>https://exceptionnotfound.net/https://exceptionnotfound.net/favicon.pngRead-Aloud Corner - Exception Not Foundhttps://exceptionnotfound.net/Ghost 4.22Fri, 03 Dec 2021 16:31:18 GMT60<![CDATA[The Bittersweet End of the Read-Aloud Corner]]>https://exceptionnotfound.net/the-bittersweet-end-of-the-read-aloud-corner/60565ca373f695999b7ddffdWed, 30 Oct 2019 21:00:39 GMT

I knew it had to happen, somewhere, sometime.

"Dad, don't you think we're a bit too old for this?"

There it was; it could no longer be ignored.  B's innocent question left me reeling, scrambling to find an answer that would appease his curious mind and still keep intact one of the best things I have ever done for my children.  In the end, I decided it was time.

The Bittersweet End of the Read-Aloud Corner
Photo by Annie Spratt / Unsplash

For the past three years I have made it our nightly routine to read aloud from a book to my three children, who I will call B, A, and K in this post.  My kids have heard tales about wizards in a far-off country battling for their lives, about a brother and sister who are worried about meeting a potential new mommy, about a mouse who fashions himself a knight, about a school built 30 stories tall and the weird goings-on therein. The stories I have told them now live in their minds, in their souls, and I am glad I could contribute to their young lives in this way.

But I also wish it didn't have to end.  I love reading aloud to them, seeing their faces light up at an amusing joke or a realized plan, seeing them act out a young girl smashing the dreaded Queen of the Fairies with a frying pan or a boy and his tiger sledding down a hill while narrowly avoiding certain doom.  Reading time is, without irony or exaggeration, the best part of my day.

Even the stories they didn't particularly like have stuck with them: B will bring up quotes from Charlotte's Web even though he claimed to hate the book; A tried onions for the first time specifically because of Holes (though he didn't end up liking them); and K still talks about scary dreams involving the disembodied hand from Coraline. These stories have impacted their lives in a tangible manner.

The Bittersweet End of the Read-Aloud Corner
Photo by Robyn Budlender / Unsplash

As much as I wish it didn't have to end, I've always known it would, and the time has come.  My kids are old enough to read to themselves, for the most part, and now instead of reading a single book together before bedtime, they are reading their own novels, own stories, following their own interests.  This is, I realize now, my ultimate goal: to get them to enjoy reading on their own terms.  In that respect, I succeeded.  

All The Stories They Heard

I made it a point, early in our Read-Aloud Corner time, to read books from a variety of time periods, formats, and genres.  I wish could have gotten some more diverse authors, too, but I didn't and am not sure why (as far as I can tell, there is exactly one non-white author on this list, and I wish there were more).

NOTE: All links to books in this post are Amazon Affiliate links; I get a small portion of any sales made through them.  Any proceeds I make off this post will go directly to buying more books for my kids, to ensure they love reading and stories as much as I do.

At any rate, here is the complete list of books I read aloud to my kids over three years:

Aru Shah and the End of Time
Black Beauty
The Call of the Wild
The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes
The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes
Charlotte's Web
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Illustrated)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Illustrated)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Illustrated)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
James and the Giant Peach
Little House in the Big Woods
Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Sea of Monsters
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
The Tale of Despereaux
The Wee Free Men (Discworld - Tiffany Aching #1)
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger
White Fang

The Next Chapter

Part of growing up is moving forward, onward to bigger and better things.  B, A, and K have ventured off to reading their own favorite books; here are few of them:

B (Boy, 10 Years Old):

Wraith Squadron (Star Wars X-Wing #5)
The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase #1)
Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond Series

A (Boy, 10 Years Old):

The Last Kids on Earth Series
Aru Shah and the Song of Death
Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Titan's Curse

K (Girl, 7 Years Old):

A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld - Tiffany Aching #2)
Missing Pieces (Hello Neighbor #1)

K still needs help reading, so for the next while I will read the majority of the text in her books while her job is to read anything said by the main character.  That way, we both get to participate in getting her up to the point where she can read chapter books entirely independently.  Plus, the books she wants to read are, quite frankly, a bit too advanced for her, so I'm happy to continue helping in this way.

The End and the Beginning

I cannot recommend this experience highly enough.  There is no greater joy than giving your child the gift of reading, for with it comes a lifetime of adventures, joy, sadness, anticipation, exhilaration, and wonderment.  If you are able, read to your children. Give them this power: the power to adventure through time and space using only words.  Know that the end of this joyous time will come sooner than you like, but that ending is the only way to help them grow.

B, A, K: when you are old enough and find this post, know that Daddy had the best time, the very best time, reading to you kiddos.  I am sad that it had to end, but the best things must, and it was time for you to find your own adventures.  I will be here when you get back from them.

Happy Reading!

<![CDATA[The Read-Aloud Corner: Coraline]]>https://exceptionnotfound.net/the-read-aloud-corner-coraline/60565ca373f695999b7ddfb0Tue, 14 Nov 2017 17:25:57 GMTThe Read-Aloud Corner: Coraline

NOTE: This post was originally published 10 Oct 2017 on Read-Aloud Corner, my reading blog. Subscribe to that blog to get all of our book reviews in your email.


Coraline is a dark fantasy book about a little girl who discovers another world behind a door in her parents' flat. In her own world, her parents are too caught up in their work to play with her, and so Coraline frequently gets bored and goes exploring.

Most of these exploring trips are to the dilapidated tennis court or the bottomless well, and some are to her neighbors' flats, even though they constanty get her name wrong. On one of these trips, Coraline discovers a door in her own flat which opens into a brick wall. Later, when she is home alone, she goes back to the door, and finds that it suddenly opens into a long, dark passageway, one which leads to another world

The other world is exactly like her own, but different. For one thing, she has an other mother and an other father, and they want to love her and be with her for all time. For another, their eyes are black buttons sewn onto their heads. This other world is strange and scary and enticing, but Coraline can't help but feel that something is wrong.

Something is indeed wrong, and it will take all of Coraline's courage (and assistance from a sarcastic black cat) to beat the dragon that lies in wait for her.

Book Details

The Read-Aloud Corner: Coraline

Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Dave McKean
Original Story Published in 2002
This Edition Published in 2012
208 Pages
13 Chapters

Our Experience

This is the first "scary" book we have read as part of Read-Aloud Corner. It's also the first book we've read after having already seen the movie; B and A and I had watched it previously. As such, it was a bit of a unique experience, and provided me with opportunities to point our how author Gaiman wants his readers to experience the book.

The book provides a shining example of what courage is. Coraline tells a story about her dad and her going exploring, and them accidentally stepping on a wasps's nest. Her dad tells her to run while he stays behind; she only got stung once while he got stung thirty-nine times. Later, her dad realizes that he dropped his glasses, and has to go back to the wasps's nest to retrieve them. Coraline says that her dad telling her to run and staying behind wasn't brave, it was the only thing he could do. But later, when he had to go back to retrieve his glasses, knowing the wasps's nest was there, that was brave.

"'Because,' [Coraline] said, 'when you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave.”

K was the only one who hadn't already heard this story. She's also the youngest, and the most likely the be frightened, so she made me promise that I would protect her from the scary stuff. Usually that meant cuddling with me as I read, which I was happy to do.

Content Warnings (SPOILERS)

Let's get this out of the way: Coraline is scary story. It is meant to have creepy imagery, and in fact that imagery is central to how the story is told. Don't read this book to your kids thinking "oh they won't be scared" because they very well might be. What's more, they might like it.

The other mother herself the biggest source of the creepiness. Her hair flows about her as unnaturally, as if underwater, and her black button eyes give nothing away. But, to be honest, that's peanuts compared to what Coraline finds in the cellar of the other flat. There, she encounters the thing that used to be her other father, now mutilated and misshapen, as if it was molded from clay and only half done. This thing warns Coraline to flee and then attacks her, and she only just escapes. Not to mention things like decapitated rats and disembodied hands, the latter of which features heavily in the last two chapters.

There's no bad language, no sex, no real violence, just scary imagery and a general sense of forboding. Most of the horror comes from things being just slightly off, which gets worse as the story progresses. Possibly the best example of the creepiness imbued in the book comes from this quote:

"Does she have a grave?" asked Coraline.

It's a scary, thrilling adventure, but make sure your kids are mature enough to handle the darker moments.

What the Kids Thoughts (SPOILERS)

"It was a little creepy. I've already seen the movie, so I knew most of the story, but it was different from the movie."

"I loved it! Maybe I like being scared. And Mr. Bobo is a funny name."

"The hand was scary. I didn't like that part. I did like most of the story, just not that."


Coraline is a spooky, enthralling adventure to another world with a little girl who demonstrates an incredible amount of bravery, even if she is small for her age. It's a modern classic, a campfire tall tale designed to thrill you and creep you out at the same time, while only describing just enough to leave you wondering. If you and your kids want a scary story to read aloud, to see if dragons can in fact be beaten, head on through the door and give Coraline a try.

Recommended Age: 8 and up

<![CDATA[Read-Aloud Corner Is Now It's Own Blog!]]>

About a week ago I asked for my readers' opinions on what to do with the Read-Aloud Corner series, and the response was pretty consistent across the board.

"I'd suggest separating them, for SEO and reasons as mentioned by others. I think you'll get

https://exceptionnotfound.net/read-aloud-corner-is-now-its-own-blog/60565ca373f695999b7ddfa5Thu, 31 Aug 2017 15:35:13 GMTRead-Aloud Corner Is Now It's Own Blog!


"I'd suggest separating them, for SEO and reasons as mentioned by others. I think you'll get more eyes on that excellent content that way."

"Personally I would prefer if the read aloud series is published elsewhere. I love reading the technical and developer posts, but find myself rather disappointed to see a new blog post, and find its only a 'read aloud' post :( I certainly think also that the read aloud series would appeal to a much wider audience if its on its own site. As others have mentioned, it might be a bit daunting for a non-technical person to trawl through all the technical posts looking for read aloud content."

"I have no problem with the Read-Aloud posts intermingling with the technical content; I find both interesting. On the other hand, people who came to your blog looking specifically for Read-Aloud Corner posts are probably going to be more than a little mystified by posts like "ASP.NET Core Demystified - Action Results".
"I'd probably spin the Read-Aloud Corner off into another blog. You could always cross-post things from there to here."
-Eric Richards

I find Eric's argument particularly compelling: while there is a lot of overlap between the audience for Exception Not Found and the audience for Read-Aloud Corner, there will be a lot of people in the audience for Read-Aloud Corner that will find the technical content on this blog confusing, or even scary and off-putting.

And so, in the interest of appealing to both sets of my readers, I've spun the Read-Aloud Corner series off into it's own blog! Check it out!

The Read-Aloud Corner

For those of you who want to keep getting the Read-Aloud Corner content in your feeds or inboxes, you can add the RSS feed or subscribe by email. I may cross-post articles from Read-Aloud Corner to Exception Not Found, but not the other way around and probably not for a while.

Thanks for all of your opinions, and if you're so inclined, go check out the posts on Read-Aloud Corner and let me know how I'm doing!

Happy Reading!

<![CDATA[Opinion Time: Should Read-Aloud Corner Be Its Own Blog?]]>

I'm having this dilemma, and I need your help, dear reader, to solve it.

I recently began writing a new series of posts called the Read-Aloud Corner, and it is so much fun to write that I think I'll keep doing it for a while. Read-Aloud

https://exceptionnotfound.net/opinion-time-should-read-aloud-corner-be-its-own-blog/60565ca373f695999b7ddfa3Wed, 23 Aug 2017 21:56:08 GMTOpinion Time: Should Read-Aloud Corner Be Its Own Blog?


I recently began writing a new series of posts called the Read-Aloud Corner, and it is so much fun to write that I think I'll keep doing it for a while. Read-Aloud Corner is where I write about our experiences reading various books aloud and what my kids thought of them, as well as tips on how other families might follow in our footsteps. We (me and my three kids) have read six books as a family together, are working on a seventh, and aren't going to stop anytime soon.

But there's a problem. That problem is that Exception Not Found is intended for a technical audience and the Read-Aloud Corner series is intended for parents of elementary-school children. These are two very different sets of people.

Now, it so happens that a great many of my readers are not only technical people, but also parents. I have written technical posts that feature my children in the past. But it occurs to me that there will be a significant chunk of my audience that will have no need or desire to read the Read-Aloud Corner series. In fact, publishing Read-Aloud Corner on this blog might be more annoying than helpful, and my first goal with Exception Not Found is to be helpful to my audience.

To a certain extent, this is my blog and I can simply do as I like. But I recognize that I have a, shall we say, unspoken agreement with my readers about what kind of content Exception Not Found shall consist of. I feel it would be ungracious of me to continue publishing Read-Aloud Corner stories without first getting the opinion of my audience.

I have already published three Read-Aloud Corner stories. I have five more in varying stages of completion. I'm just not sure what to do with them.


Here's where you come in, my lovely readers. I need your opinion on what I should do with the Read-Aloud Corner series going forward. As I see it, there are two options:

  1. Continue to publish Read-Aloud Corner as part of Exception Not Found OR
  2. Make Read-Aloud Corner its own blog with its own domain, comments, site design, etc.

Obviously there's no guarantee I'm going to do what you all say, even if there's a clear consensus. If everybody tells me to stop writing the Read-Aloud Corner series altogether, I'll just ignore it :). But I do want to know your opinion.

So, in the comments below, tell me why you think Read-Aloud Corner should continue to be published with Exception Not Found, or why it should be split off into its own site. I look forward to reading your responses!

Happy Coding!

<![CDATA[Read-Aloud Corner: White Fang]]>https://exceptionnotfound.net/read-aloud-corner-white-fang/60565ca373f695999b7ddfa1Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:20:06 GMTRead-Aloud Corner: White Fang

Announcement (26 Aug 2017): The Read-Aloud Corner is now it's very own blog! Check it out at the new location.

NOTE: For the past year, I've been reading several books aloud to my three kids. The Read-Aloud Corner series details the stories we've been reading, as well as my kids reactions to them (good and bad) and other tips for parents who might want to follow in our footsteps. You can check out the tag page for the other posts in this series.

What We Read

Read-Aloud Corner: White Fang

White Fang (Junior Classics for Young Readers)
Author: Jack London
Illustrator: Jerry Dillingham
Adapted By: Clay Stafford
Original Story Published in 1906
This Edition Published in 2013
180 pages
17 chapters

Book Summary

Taking place in the Klondike during the Gold Rush, Jack London's 1906 novel tells the story of White Fang, a grey wolf pup that endures many trials in the wild. He is raised by his mother, the She-Wolf, and eventually encounters a Native American tribe with whom he lives for a while. Many hardships follow him, and his encounters with both wild animals and the far more dangerous people are a roller-coaster ride of adventure.

The book revolves around a central question: can a wild animal, mistreated and hurt by humans, learn to love them? If and when White Fang finds a human who shows him love rather than pain, will he be able to return that love?

Read Aloud Tips

This particular edition of White Fang condenses the original novel, though to what extent I cannot say since I have not read the original. However, this condensation helps the read-aloud parent, since the plot moves forward at a good pace and the chapters are relatively short (we read the last three chapters in the same night because the kids really wanted to see how it ended). The book may have 17 chapters, but it's only 180 pages and there's a full-page illustration on every other page (that isn't a chapter start or end). All in all, this story reads quickly and easily, but check out the content warnings below to make sure it's an appropriate read for your children.

For those of you who are hesitant to include voices in your read-aloud sessions, this book is for you. For the early parts of the story, White Fang's contact with humans is limited, and when they do interact the humans simply don't talk much. That said, it can be quite amusing to come up with sinister-sounding voices for the villains like Beauty Smith, and in our particular case his voice ended up being a deep-sounding cross between Sam Elliott and Igor.

Content Warnings (SPOILERS)

White Fang is considerably more violent than I was expecting. The opening chapters follow a two-man sled team as they flee from a wolf pack (led by White Fang's mother She-Wolf) intent on eating them and their dogs, and they succeed in killing one of the sledders and all of the dogs. Dog fights are a common occurance, as are battles with other wild creatures; in particular, a series of fights against a lynx in one chapter. Nothing gory is described, but characters do die from their wounds, and so this book probably isn't for very little ones.

In addition to the violence, there's some allusions to alcoholism and one particularly nasty individual ironically named Beauty Smith.

Possibly the scariest thing about this novel is the sheer hopelessness that White Fang goes through about two-thirds of the way through the story, particularly during his time in the hands of Beauty Smith. At one point, he becomes "an enemy and hater of all things" and when he tries to lash out, he gets beaten for his trouble. He himself is incapable of seeing a point to his torment, and actively rages against it. But the lack of specific terminology helped my older two kids (B and A) understand more fully the magnitude of White Fang's suffering while the younger one remained blissfully unaware.

In the end, White Fang does end up with the loving family of Weedon Scott, the person who comes to love the wolf and treat him better than other people have. But the journey is perilous, so it feels rewarding when White Fang does finally get his happy ending.

In short, this is a book for older, more mature kids. But if your kids are ready for an adventure, this novel sure does deliver.

What the Kids Thought (SPOILERS)

As a bit of a side note: to promote the read-aloud thing we were going to do, each of the kids got a book in their Easter basket this year. This happened to be A's book, as he is a big fan of wolves and Native Americans. B got Jack London's other famous novel The Call of the Wild and K got Black Beauty, and posts for those stories are forthcoming.

B: "Why did he [White Fang] have to get beat a lot? Was that normal? I don't want my dogs treated like that." We have three dogs, and the thought of what happened to White Fang happening to them really bothered B.

A: "I love wolves and I love Indians, so I love this book. The scary parts were there, but so was the loving people, and that made the scary parts seem less scary."

K: "He found his family. Not that pretty guy [Beauty Smith], he was mean. The other guy. White Fang got a home, and so that made me happy."


White Fang is a rousing, occasionally violent Arctic adventure following a wolf cub as he learns about the wild and about people. He suffers many mistreatments at the hands of both the Native Americans and the Klondike settlers, and due to that mistreatment has trouble trusting and accepting people into his life. But the love of one man and his family changes this for the better.

Though he experiences a considerable hardship and has to learn to survive in the wilds of the Klondike, he eventually finds where he belongs. This novel is an American classic and a good addition to anyone's Read-Aloud repertoire, though I wouldn't recommend it for younger or more sensitive children.

NOTE: All links to buy the book are Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on it and buy something I get a small commission. If you do buy something, thanks!

Thanks for reading!

<![CDATA[Read-Aloud Corner: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Illustrated Edition]]>https://exceptionnotfound.net/read-aloud-corner-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone/60565ca373f695999b7ddf9fMon, 14 Aug 2017 00:01:48 GMTRead-Aloud Corner: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Illustrated Edition


NOTE: For the past year, I've been reading several books aloud to my three kids. The Read-Aloud Corner series details the books we've been reading, as well as my kids reactions to them (good and bad) and other tips for parents who might want to follow in our footsteps. You can check out the tag page for the other posts in this series.

What We Read


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Illustrated Edition
Author: J.K. Rowling
Illustrator: Jim Kay
Original Story Published in 1997
This Edition Published in 2015
256 pages
17 chapters

Book Summary

It's rather daunting to try to summarize one of the most popular books in the history of children's literature, but the gist is this: an eleven-year-old boy named Harry, being raised by an aunt and uncle he despises and who despise him, discovers that he's a wizard and gets an invite to a hidden boarding school called Hogwarts. He embarks on a magical journey, meets new friends Ron and Hermione, and has some fantastical adventures. It is quite possibly the biggest children's series of the past twenty-plus years, largely due to author Rowling's ability to build a cohesive, immersive world and her amazing pacing and plot. It is also, in short, one the best read-aloud books ever written.

Read Aloud Tips

The chapters in this book are relatively long for a read-aloud book at an average of 4560 words per chapter. Given this, depending on the attention spans of your little ones, you might want to break some chapters up into multiple nights, particularly in the early going. However, Rowling's writing style works against this, as many chapters (more than half) end on some type of cliffhanger.

If you can do any kind of British accent, the voices in this book are absolutely hilarious, particarly Professor McGonagall (clipped, proper British; think Maggie Smith as a stern librarian) and Draco Malfoy (a slow drawl which makes his words have more vowels than they otherwise should). If you need any assistance figuring out what voices to use, you can imitate the voices used by the actors in the movie series.

Notes on the Book (SPOILERS)

This was the first chapter book I read aloud to my kids (after having read them picture books since they were born) and it took them a couple of chapters to get into it. B was the first one to get it, right around Chapter 3, when Harry gets a series of letters that pour into his aunt and uncle's house from all directions, despite his Uncle Vernon's best efforts to the contrary. Shortly thereafter, A started to get into it, and K followed, though for her it really picked up once Harry's friend Hermione was introduced, despite how annoying Harry and his best friend Ron find her to be in the beginning.

The illustrations in this edition of the book helped tremendously with the transition from shorter books to chapter books, and that's largely due to Jim Kay's artistic skill. Every page has some kind of illustration, from simple patterns to huge full-color spreads depicting Harry riding his broom, or character portraits that do an amazing job translating Rowling's descriptions to something my kids could actually see with their own eyes.

In fact, at the moment we are waiting for the third book in this series to be published, which won't happen until October 2017, and I have on several occasions asked the kids if they wanted to read the next book; they unanimously think we should wait for the "picture version".

Content Warnings (SPOILERS)

There is a particular scene late in this book which may be too scary for some little ones. Harry is lost in a deep, dark forest with only his rival Draco and a scaredy-cat dog for companionship, and together they encounter a creature, for lack of a better word, which has apparently killed a unicorn and is drinking its blood. This creature then moves to attack Harry, who is frozen with fear, before being driven off. This is not illustrated directly, but is explicitly described in the text, and then-4-year-old K was NOT OKAY with this scene when I read it to her and her brothers (unicorns being one of her favorite animals, she broke into tears). Fortunately the more gory details can be glossed over, but the scene is difficult to skip entirely, as the motivation for why the creature is doing this is important to a later chapter.

There's no bad language to speak of, but there are some specifically-British terms that may need to be explained (e.g. "git", "loo", "mental", etc.).

What the Kids Thought (SPOILERS)

B: "It's my favorite book we've ever read. I love the magic, and the pictures."

A: "I like it, especially the part with the flying balls." He means Quidditch, a fictional sport involving a set of magical balls.

K: "I like Hermione, but I did NOT like it when the unicorn died. That made me sad."


Full disclosure: I absolutely LOVE the Harry Potter series of books. I read them all when I was younger, and getting to read them again with my kids is a special kind of treat. In short, I'm totally friggin biased, so take my opinions for what you will.

That said, this book is quite possibly the perfect read-aloud book. Sure, the chapters are relatively long, but Rowling's pacing is legendary and each chapter is engaging and exciting without being longwinded. It's imaginative without being too detail-oriented, and most of all it's load of fun to read aloud!

If you're looking for a chapter book to start your own Read-Aloud Corner with your kids, I can unequivocally say that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Illustrated Edition, is the one you want.


Thanks for reading!

<![CDATA[Introducing the Read-Aloud Corner]]>https://exceptionnotfound.net/introducing-the-read-aloud-corner/60565ca373f695999b7ddfa0Wed, 09 Aug 2017 17:34:48 GMTIntroducing the Read-Aloud Corner


I'm a huge fan of reading aloud to your kids. Every night for the past year, me and my three children have read a chapter of book aloud, right before going to bed. I can honestly say it's been one of the best things I've ever done both with, and for, my kids.

Reading aloud provides all sorts of benefits to your children. It teaches them to understand how stories work; to ask questions about words and expand their vocabulary; to understand how characters might feel and thereby promote empathy; to help them bond with you over doing something fun every night. It's one of the best experiences I've had with my children, and we get to do it almost every night!

Introducing the Read-Aloud Corner

Why Read Aloud?

Lots of reasons. Because it helps our kids learn. Because it fosters their vocabulary. Because it tickles their imagination. Because performing is fun for me (particularly when I get to do silly voices).

Here's a good summary:


In short: reading aloud to your kids fosters learning and a love of reading, and that is one of the best gifts you can give to them to prepare them for life. As for me, I intend to read aloud to my children for as long as they will let me.

Introducing the Kids

Part of this series will be reactions from my kids and their thoughts on the books we read. Obviously I won't be using their actual names, so instead I'll use their initials.

B is the eldest; he's 7 years old at the moment and the most perceptive of the bunch. He tends to be "in his head" more than the other two, internalizing problems until he solves them. But, because of his tendency to do that, he's also pointed out future problems the characters might have well before they occur. He's the biggest fan of the Read-Aloud Corner, constantly begging to just "read another chapter, they're short," even when they're super long.

A is the middle child and a mere two months younger than B; he's also 7 years old and biologically my nephew (but he calls me Dad and I call him son so that's the truth of it). He's highly energetic and sometimes has difficulty sitting still for the longer chapters, but picks up on the characters' emotions more readily than the other two (e.g. "She's probably feeling sad because she doesn't have a doll like her sister").

K is the youngest, a 5-year old girl. She's the fearless one, the one who acts before thinking, and so getting her to sit down and listen for a while can be a challenge. But she also understands more than I think she does, and often points out why certain characters behave certain ways. She also gets scared more easily than the boys, which makes sense given that she's younger.

These three kids (B, A, and K) are my audience for the Read-Aloud Corner. Their opinions, questions, giggles, and continued desire to hear stories fuel this series and the books we read.

Structure of the Series

I want to promote parents reading aloud to their children. To this end, I'll be writing a series of posts that details some of the books we've read aloud and how each of my kids understood the story. Each post in this Read-Aloud Corner series will have the following information.

  • The book we read (and a link to buy it).
  • A short summary of the book.
  • A discussion of how B, A, and K understood the events in the book (which will include SPOILERS).
  • Content descriptions, particularly for violence and language. Note that this may change depending on the version of the book being read; I will link to the exact version we used whenever possible.
  • Suggestions for voices and if you should skip any parts (due to intense imagery).
  • The kids' opinions of the book, as transcribed by me.
  • Finally, an overall age recommendation for the book.

Tips for Reading Aloud

Reading aloud is a practiced skill, which takes some time to get used to. Here are a few tips that might help you get started.

  1. Go slow, particularly in the beginning. Kids who haven't been read to regularly may not have the attention span necessary to read long chapters. Split chapters up into multiple nights, or read shorter books.
  2. Select for maturity level, not age. Some kids can handle more mature content at an earlier age than others (in my case, B would handle it better than A would, and they are the same numerical age). Stick to children's novels like Charlotte's Web or the Little House series until you know your kids are mature enough to handle darker material.
  3. Use voices, but only if you want to. Using voices to differentiate characters helps kids make distinctions between who's saying what (e.g. a gruff growl for a father, a lighter tone for a child, or snarling sneer for a bad guy). Particularly in books like the Harry Potter series, the voices are so much fun to do! It's not necessary to do this to make reading aloud fun, but IMO it does give it that little extra kick.
  4. Keep the kids involved. Ask them questions like "what do you think will happen" immediately before reading the part where that question will be answered. Ask them what they might do if they were the characters. The more involved they are, the more likely they are to keep listening without you having to remind them.
  5. Don't push it. Sometimes the kids just won't be into it, or won't be able to keep still long enough. That's fine! Just keep going from where you left off on the next night.
  6. Be consistent. Do this at the same time each day. Before bedtime works particularly well for my family.


I wholeheartedly believe that reading aloud to your kids is one of the best things you can do to prepare them for school and for life in general. In the weeks that follow I'll be writing up posts for this series to cover books we've already finished, and as we complete more books more posts will follow soon after.

NOTE FOR TECH PEOPLE: The posts in this series will be completely non-technical. Oh well. Skip 'em if you don't like 'em.

If you want to see all the posts in this series, check out the tag page.

Thanks for reading!

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