The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids by Sarah MacKenzie

4.31 AVERAGE

tea_tales_tomes's review

5.0
As a mum who wants to foster a reading culture at home and use this to "build lasting and meaningful connections" with my kid, this book was right in my wheelhouse. The book has received some mixed reviews and the bad reviews usually focus on the fact that Sarah Mackenzie tends to bring in a lot of her Christian beliefs in her writing. One reader went as far as saying that the book is only for Christian families. Well, let me tell you that I am not Christian (I'm Hindu) and I am not very religious and I completely loved this book. Yes, there are parts that bring in the authors beliefs quite strongly, but for me that did not take away from the message of the book at all. Sarah is Christian and this is a big part of who she is. She is also an excellent writer and the biggest proponent of books and reading-aloud that I know. This book is filled to the brim with wonderful advice for parents who want books and reading to be a part of their children's lives not only to promote academic success but also to nurture in children a lifelong delight for stories and books. I learnt a lot from this book and will no doubt come back to it time and time again.

shaylindye's review

2.0
DNF. So disappointed with this book.
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jcarsrud's review

5.0
informative inspiring fast-paced
This book is going to jumpstart my family read alouds. It’s been about a year since I read aloud to the kids and I miss it! We are going to start this family activity again tonight with “By the Great Horn Spoon” because it’s been on many lists and then we will do “The Boys in the Boat” since it’s a movie in the theaters now. Thanks for the inspiration!

rheren's review

5.0
This was a great book with practical suggestions on how to create a culture of reading in your house by doing the reading yourself, to your kids. Simple, but effective. We do this with bedtime stories, so I think the philosophy has been a success for us, but I also got some ideas from reading this and some encouragement. Recommended.

Unrelated: books written for moms tend to have a different "voice" and I think it has to do with the verbs used: I personally hardly ever use verbs like "toss", "peek", "sprinkle", "grab", and the like. However, books written to moms commonly use slightly whimsical verbs like these to describe ordinary activities. Why? I'm not sure I fully understand it, but it's an observation I was finally able to articulate while reading this book. It's not a bad thing, just something I noticed.
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readwithtabi's review

5.0
A book every parent should read! I felt like we were doing a good job reading aloud in our family, but this has motivated me even more and given me ideas for how to make that time more fulfilling for me and for my children.

stacikristine's review against another edition

5.0
hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced
I've owned this book for years, but I finally read it, and it did not disappoint. Even though we've been a "Read-Aloud Family" since my oldest was born, there were good reminders and new insights throughout the book. I also added a lot of books to our family's list as well as to my own list.

abbygail3's review

5.0
informative medium-paced

blanc1jl's review

4.0
Good reminders and strategies but books lists are lacking.

freyamoongana's review

2.0
Basically just a copy of The Read-Aloud Handbook with the addition of proselytizing.

ashleyselland's review

5.0
I really liked this book! My children are still very young, but I hope to continue to read aloud until they move out. I liked the chapter on questions to ask after finishing a book. These questions would even be wonderful in a book club. Sarah also gives a list for read alouds for each age group. Not just any books, books that are good for actually reading aloud. I look forward to going through the list as we haven’t read many of them yet.