Library Find Friday: A Good Read Aloud

Want a collection of fairy tales (no pictures in this one) that will expand a child's vocabulary? Actually anyone's vocabulary.  My kids all love this except the three year old...it's a bit much for him.

A Child's Book of Stories, published by Children's Classics, has 85 stories, some short, some long, full of adventure, fear, excitement, and wonder.  The stories, some familiar, some not, are so exciting the kids don't even mind the challenging vocabulary or high literary structure.  Each one of them picks it up to read on his own, or asks for a story when we sit down to read.

In Jim Trelease's The Read-Aloud Handbook, he addresses the uniqueness of fairy tales.  "What distinguishes the fairy tale is that it speaks to the very heart and soul of the child....the fairy tale offers this promise:  If you have courage and if you persist, you can overcome any obstacle, conquer any foe."  

(I'll add in here it's got nothing on the true and amazing stories in the Bible, though).

I'll also add in here a picture of my latest purposeful decor to our living room.  It's used daily as we spend time together reading aloud and silently.

The globe and the dictionary: two items worth having on hand...so that places and words have meaning within the context of stories and life.

Any read-aloud books you've enjoyed lately?