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About Smoore
In both my personal and professional life, I read children’s books. Hundreds of books, thousands of books, millions and billions and trillions of books (ok, maybe not quite that many). People often ask me, “Do you have any suggestions for X?” (insert child’s name here), or “Have you read any good books lately?” And I think to myself, “Have I read any good books lately? Is Rapunzel’s hair long?”
This blog shares some of the great reads I’ve found–picture books, chapter books, young adult fiction, old books, new books, books for babies, books for teens. Whether you’re a new parent just entering the glorious world of children’s books, a grandparent spoiling your grandchild with yet another book (you go, baby), or someone trying to find something for that picky reader, this blog’s for you!
I am a member of SCBWI and a contributing writer for www.stlsprout.com. In addition to my freelance work, I teach writing at a local community college.
Here I am with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (my favorite Harry Potter). Some other favorites shown: Chronicles of Narnia, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House boxed set, Mother Goose (in lower left corner), Babar and Olivia (of course), Corduroy, Deltora Quest, a couple of Ramona books, a whole bunch of others, and an SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators) magazine front and center.
Hi “S” – I love your new website!!! Looking forward to more! (or Moore – ha ha). Very interesting blog on Twilight/Star Wars. Keep up the good work!
Here’s some books I could recommend: these books are similar to The Little House on the Praire series, but about a boy and his family: The “Little Britches” series by Ralph Moody. I read most of the series aloud to my boys years ago and we all really enjoyed them and gained a lot from reading them.
Here is a clip from a reviewer to give you an idea:
Without the flamboyance or the caricature of other “life with Father” books this tells, simply, directly of the Moody family and their life in Colorado. Father’s health necessitated a move and all seven of the Moodys moved to a desolate little ranch. There Little Britches learned how to face a situation, through emphatic lessons and Father’s kindly but firm insistence on cause and effect. This is the story of hard luck, stubborn pride, and altruistic community endeavor, for Father is the one who evolves a solution for the water problem, and of the implanting of an honest, moral philosophy. It is the story too of Little Britches’ first earnings, of his interrupted schooling, of his Indian friend, Two Dog, who added to the excitement of the new life, of the many accidents culminating in nine broken toes, of his burning desire to be accepted in a man’s world. And how he went from cow poke to bronc buster, cowboy on the Y B mountain spread, and rodeo rider, until Father’s death made him head of the family and his courageous Mother’s indispensable right-hand man. Real stuff here with none of the artificiality of the more eccentric domestic chronicles. (Kirkus Reviews)
Ralph Moody was eight years old in 1906 when his family moved from New Hampshire to a Colorado ranch. Through his eyes we experience the pleasures and perils of ranching there early in the twentieth century. Auctions and roundups, family picnics, irrigation wars, tornadoes and wind storms give authentic color to Little Britches. So do adventures, wonderfully told, that equip Ralph to take his father’s place when it becomes necessary.
Little Britches was the literary debut of Ralph Moody, who wrote about the adventures of his family in eight glorious books.
Oh, all those pioneer books we love! Another great one with a boy protagonist is A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck. So, so sad, but such a fantastic read.