The Best Read Alouds of 2021
2021 was an amazing year for read-alouds in our house. Looking over the list of all books we read, nine titles (twelve if you count each book in the Green Ember series!) jumped out as being worthy of “the best of the year” list – that’s a lot of really great books! However, as I consider the nine, I realize that I kind of stacked the deck a little. Four of them are beloved books I had read to Palmer and Haddie years ago and just had to read again to Bridger, Landon, and Soren. Three of them were new titles written by favorite authors, and the other two came to us highly recommended. I guess it should come as no surprise that our year was packed with great reading adventures.
I read some of these to the boys during our homeschool day (while dad was at work and big bro and sis were at school) but many of them the whole family read together in the evenings or listened to on CD while traveling. You might say that we are in a read aloud sweet spot around here; the youngest is old enough and the oldest doesn’t think he is too old. But then again, the bonding power of story doesn’t get old, and the joy of reading together doesn’t either, so why would he, or anyone else, ever think they are too old to settle in for a good story? May it never be!
So grab your people, grab a book–we recommend one of these!-and cozy up on the couch where adventure awaits. Happy reading to you and yours!
The Best Book that Uses the Fewest Words:
Little Dog Lost by Marion Dane Bauer
I have read this book many times. I just love it. I marvel at the way Marion Dane Bauer tells a big story with very few words. Her free verse is genius and beautiful. I’ve used this as a book club book a few times over the years and this year my three youngest boys and I pulled Grandma and Grandpa in for a virtual Little Dog Lost Book Club, and the old folks loved it, too. (See? Never too old for a good story!) A dog needs a boy and a boy needs a dog. Those facts give shape to the primary plot line but it is the secondary story that captures my heart; an old man needs a friend and the town discovers that they need him, too. Palmer made the memorable comment in a book club discussion a few years back that a certain scene “made his eyes feel watery.” Me too, Buddy. Me too.
The Best Book that Uses the Most Words:
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
This book is the opposite of Little Dog Lost. It tells a very small story in which not all that much happens using lots and lots and lots of words. Grahame is a wordsmith of the highest order. Some might say his writing could use a bit more editing, but I say let the words flow! And flow they do. Reading a chapter is like taking a word bath and I walk away from a reading session feeling rather verbose and poetic. If I thought about it, I could come up with a plot summary to share with you, but I don’t think it matters all that much. This book is about a river and the characters who love it. It is about friendship, and adventure and home. This was a repeat read and I enjoyed it even more this time around due in large part due to the illustrated edition I purchased. It is so lovely. The paper is thick and luxuriously (yes, paper can be luxurious), the formatting is just right, and illustrator Robert Ingpen masterfully captures the tone and feel of the text. He seems to pull the illustrations right from my own imagination. Even the orange ribbon bookmark is perfect. I like this book a lot in case you can’t tell.
The Best Book About Love and Soup:
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Ahhh. This too is one of my all time favorites. I wrote a full post about it here, so in this space I’ll suffice to say that it has its dark edges–as dark as a book about a misfit, love-sick, palace-dwelling mouse can have–but that makes the light shine even brighter. I don’t know the author’s beliefs or intentions, but in this story, Christian themes of redemption, forgiveness, love, and hope take center stage.
The Book that Made us Laugh the Most:
The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech
Sharon Creech first won me over years ago with her story-telling in Walk Two Moons, but this one is my favorite of hers. I had previously read it to Palmer and Haddie and decided to pick up the audio version at the library for a road trip this year. Most of the characters are simple and rather one dimensional, more like caricatures, but they are funny, relatable, and easy to cheer for as the mystery unravels. The absurdity of the royal family and the “Ministers of Inventories” made us laugh and the “wise” old hermit has provided many quotable phrases like this one: “A thief takes what he does not have.” Good stuff, I’m telling ya.
The Best Books to Listen to in the Car:
Save me a Seat by Sarah Weeks
Since we listened to Pie by Sarah Weeks on a 2020 trip, she too has become a favorite author. In Save Me a Seat, two boys alternate narrating chapters as they each tell their story. On the audio version two men read the story, one for Joe and one for Ravi, which made it easy to remember whose head we are in and kept us constantly aware of their different cultures. (The only accent I do well is cowboy-does that even count as an accent?-so I would not have done justice to Ravi’s Indian accent.) Both boys deal with being different, deal with misunderstandings, and deal with a bully. In the end, lessons are learned (even the bully learns a lesson!), understanding is reached, and friendships are made which makes it an all around satisfying story.
The Best Book About Iowa:
The Luck of The Buttons: by Anne Ylvisaker
This was another road trip book we all enjoyed. I wrote a post on this one which you can read here, but suffice it to say that lovable characters set in small town, turn of the century Iowa, plus a touch of mystery equals a blue-ribbon winner of a story.
The Best Book About A Tree:
Wishtree by Kathrine Applegate
Yes, in my tree-loving way of looking at life, tree books get their own category. Katherine Applegate is an author I have come to greatly admire and Wishtree is my favorite (though our first read of 2022, The One and Only Bob, is a close second). It makes me love trees just a little bit more. You can read more about it in this post from earlier in the year.
The Best Feel Good Christmas Time Read:
The Vanderbeekers on 141st St. by Katrina Yan Glaser
Haddie suggested that I read this one to the boys and it was a good call. This delightful family who lives and loves in a Harlem neighborhood had us rooting for them to save their home and got the boys and I brainstorming about how we can better connect with our own neighbors.
The Most Inspiring Books:
The Green Ember Series: by S.D. Smith
Along with our Christmas card this year we included a recap of some of our favorite things from the year which forced us to pick one read aloud as our top pick for the year. So many of these on this list made us laugh, think, or feel good, but in the end everyone voted for the The Green Ember series, or Bunnies Go to War as we affectionately refer to it, as top of the tops for the year. I think the epic-ness of the series is what elevated it to top pick (think the Lord of the Rings but about rabbits.) It was a commitment. A commitment of time (four books in all!) but also of heart. We committed to walk with these bunnies into one perilous and hopeless situation after another. We saw bunnies stand bravely, sacrifice all, and inspire with words and actions. The story stirred the hero heart of each of my boys, and we all walked away a bit changed by our journey with our bunny friends.
