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363 reviews for:
The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids
Sarah MacKenzie
4.31 AVERAGE
363 reviews for:
The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids
Sarah MacKenzie
4.31 AVERAGE
Full of encouragement, heart, and humor, with real-life practicality. Sarah Mackenzie has been a gift to my mothering since the first time i heard her podcast.
What I like about this book is that it is a simple, practical guide to create a reading culture in your home. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, I felt inspired! I have always read to Luke since he was a newborn, but I still got a lot out of this book, including a vision of what our future reading adventures could be like. I like that Mackenzie cited research to back up her claims. The list of questions to stimulate discussion are one of the most valuable components of the book- I wish I had had them when I was running the book club for middle schoolers. I also like her thoughtfully selected list of suggested read aloud by age group.
The only thing that frustrates me was her lack of awareness/acknowledgement of the expertise of librarians and how they can help you to select books for your child and your family. She includes an anecdote about bringing her first child to the library and leaving with nothing because she didn’t know what was good. I found this upsetting because librarians have the knowledge and experience to help and we want to!
The only thing that frustrates me was her lack of awareness/acknowledgement of the expertise of librarians and how they can help you to select books for your child and your family. She includes an anecdote about bringing her first child to the library and leaving with nothing because she didn’t know what was good. I found this upsetting because librarians have the knowledge and experience to help and we want to!
I liked this book, but it didn't feel groundbreaking to me - maybe because we already have a strong book culture in our home. I liked the list of questions to ask your kids about books that go deeper than "did you like it?". The book lists at the back were ok, and I'll probably go through those in more detail and add the ones I think will work for our family to our list.
It was okay. I'm not a dedicated follower of the author that I might be willing to forgive the weak arguments, the banal anecdotes, and the ommision of research and scientific studies that would have greatly given this book clout.
I've read a dozen or more books similar to this that are written better in my opinion. If you're going to take the time to read a book on this topic of reading to kids, choose something different. Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease is an excellent place to start! In fact the author quotes him all through her book.
No offense to the author; she's a lovely podcaster!
I've read a dozen or more books similar to this that are written better in my opinion. If you're going to take the time to read a book on this topic of reading to kids, choose something different. Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease is an excellent place to start! In fact the author quotes him all through her book.
No offense to the author; she's a lovely podcaster!
My take aways: great ideas on having a book club at home, ideas for sparking conversations, great book recommendations, offering kids a book allowance, letting them read anything they want, adding snacks to the book conversation, adding other activities (play dough, blocks, coloring) during read aloud time to hold their attention, and letting them learn life through stories and books (especially diverse stories and experiences).
I did not relate to the home-school experience or the weaving Christian religious offerings as much.
I did not relate to the home-school experience or the weaving Christian religious offerings as much.
I was torn between giving this 3 and 4 stars. I’m a big fan of the Read Aloud Revival podcast and was excited to check this out.
The good: I think this book does a great job of explaining why reading aloud is great for kids of all ages and how it benefits them long term. The book lists also seem great and I’m looking forward to picking up many of these titles at our local library and book store. I love the idea of creating a book club culture at home (the podcast on that topic was one of my favorites) and I think the 10 book conversation questions will be a great tool for my family moving forward.
The bad: I am not a Christian and the discussion of Jesus and Bible-related topics throughout made me feel like this book wasn’t meant for me. Christianity is not the focus of this book by any means but it was mentioned enough consistently through each chapter that it made me feel like an outsider, intentional or not. I also felt like the section on how to manage the competition of reading aloud with screen time was very glossed over. “Limit screen time” is kind of obvious advice and I did not leave that chapter feeling confident I could overcome my families love of tv and smartphones to make reading aloud part of our day but I’m hoping my kids are young enough that we can make turning off the WiFi a habit early on.
Overall, I finished the book enthusiastic to incorporate reading aloud into our family life.
The good: I think this book does a great job of explaining why reading aloud is great for kids of all ages and how it benefits them long term. The book lists also seem great and I’m looking forward to picking up many of these titles at our local library and book store. I love the idea of creating a book club culture at home (the podcast on that topic was one of my favorites) and I think the 10 book conversation questions will be a great tool for my family moving forward.
The bad: I am not a Christian and the discussion of Jesus and Bible-related topics throughout made me feel like this book wasn’t meant for me. Christianity is not the focus of this book by any means but it was mentioned enough consistently through each chapter that it made me feel like an outsider, intentional or not. I also felt like the section on how to manage the competition of reading aloud with screen time was very glossed over. “Limit screen time” is kind of obvious advice and I did not leave that chapter feeling confident I could overcome my families love of tv and smartphones to make reading aloud part of our day but I’m hoping my kids are young enough that we can make turning off the WiFi a habit early on.
Overall, I finished the book enthusiastic to incorporate reading aloud into our family life.
This book was so inspiring! The knowledge as well as her personal stories make this an easy read, and yet it inspired me to be a read-aloud advocate! The last three or so chapters are recommendations, and I can't wait to dive in and read them!
I absolutely loved this book. If reading is important to you and you want to foster a love of reading and books in your children READ this book. I've always been a voracious reader and want to share my love of books with my kids. Since that is something important to me I've already been doing a lot of what is suggested in the book, but it was still so motivating for me to continue those things and develop our family culture around books. It just really reinforced to me how important it is to read aloud to your kids (even through their teenage years). As I was reading I kept telling my husband that if there was a parenting book that contained my parenting philosophy, this was it. It is also filled with book recommendations for different age groups and activities kids can do during read aloud time, which was immensely helpful. This was a definite 5 star read and I know I'll be coming back to it and re-reading it several times as my children grow up. I can't recommend it enough, every parent should read it!
I enjoyed this book. It felt like a great compilation of the podcast, and it was nice to have it all in an orderly fashion. I’m fully on the Read Aloud Train, so much of the background information I didn’t need.