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I know I mentioned this before but I feel the books deserve a chance. My daughter is enjoying the Burgess books, but has also enjoyed the Cul-De-Sac kids series which seems to be the same basic setup with short chapters and a few pictures. So far, those are the only books we've found that are close in length with good stories that actually relate to kids today without the talking animals. So if you decide not to use the Burgess books, you should take a look at this series put out by Beverly Lewis. Our friends son also uses these books for his simple read alone readers. He is 7 and seems to enjoy them too.

Teri, I sent you a private message
Dorla

After about a week of the Burgess books, and having to talk about the things that are condoned by implication (such as the first Reddie Fox story - stealing, lying, trickery), I have decided to look for something else. I was on the fence about the animals talking issue, but since I grew up with it and never actually believed animals could talk etc, I thought I'd give it a shot. The other issues made the decision for me.

We're only just beginning narration, and we want to focus on:
1) Reading through the story together without having to interrupt all the time to talk about why something was wrong
2) Reading through the story just to enjoy reading, without having to turn it into an explicit lesson
3) Learning the skill of narration, without the distraction of the "lessons" I keep having to teach

I have looked through the previous suggestions, and haven't seen anything that I've thought we'd really get into or enjoy. If anyone else has any other ideas I'd greatly appreciate it!

I only have a minute, and haven't been around this week, but I have to reply to this one.

The Burgess books in no way condone the behaviors and actions mentioned above and if read in it's entirity, the book goes on to teach some very valuable character lessons. I don't know that I've ever read any book in which one of the characters didn't do something that was wrong and had to be corrected....even in the R&S books lessons are learned. I think you will find it to be a very dull book in which there is not a lesson to be learned.

The Burgess books are just wonderful and I don't want someone to read this and get the wrong idea. Carrie goes to great lengths to pick high quality books for her programs, and these are no different.

I've forgotten how old your dc is, but it could be that they are just not ready for the books. If you wait some, you might be able to read without so much explanation.

I wish you luck in finding something suitable for your family.
Melanie

Thanks for that, Melanie.

My kids are 6 and 5. There are so many other areas in which lessons are learned that sometimes it's nice to read just for the joy of reading.

That being said. I have come to trust Carrie through the content of her curricula. So I know there's a good reason behind these books. I agree that a book with nothing to be learned might be a boring book We haven't come across the lesson yet.

I usually read ahead of my kids, but just haven't had the time. So perhaps we'll just stick with this all the way through the first book to get a real sense of the author.

Thanks again!

I was having a hard time with Reddy Fox, in fact we did not read it. But when it was time for Peter Rabbit we gave Burgess a try again. And now we love our story time.

Another option, but perhaps slightly longer than the Miller stories is "A Hive of Busy Bees" and the second book called "Another Hive of Busy Bees" The first one is by Effie Williams. I would assume that the second one is by her as well, but I am not sure. The first one is sold by Rod and Staff. The second one is harder to find. I think Anabaptist books carries them. The stories are a bit longer, but talk about character traits. (honest, truthful, kind....)

Dorla wrote:I was having a hard time with Reddy Fox, in fact we did not read it.

ya might not want to miss him.. My dd is very Sly... so she really could relate to Reddy. In fact for a while she loved him till well she stopped feeling sorry for him. And later on when Reddy shows up again and gets his comeuppance its worth it.

But her favorite of all time is Chatterer she spots squirrels every where. so I see my dd being more of an observer of nature because of these books. Thanks Carrie.

Don't you also feel like you have learned a lot about these animals too?

of course!

Have you looked at Christian Light Education (CLE)....I believe that they dont use talking animals as well. You may be able to get their readers (which have awesome character building stories)!

I am revisiting this issue again since we are going to be starting Little Hearts soon.

Melanie gave me a title that sounds like it might work:

Cornfield Babies and other Nature Surprises
by Rod and Staff publishers

(Thanks Melanie )

I may go with that.

We have ordered Wee Lambs in the past, but it doesn't seem to hold their interest very well, although I do like the character stories in it.

What I would really like to find is a book that indexes different character traits and then has stories listed for those specific traits. I think that maybe then I could line up the stories better to go with the questions in the guide for the Burgess books.

Anyone know of a book like that?

You are very welcome, Terri!

Have you looked at this series....A Child's Book of Character Building?? I think there are 3 books in the series. I have Book 1 and we enjoyed reading the stories and it is divided into traits such as Faith, Diligence, Attentive, Patience, Honesty, etc. and each unit has a memory verse.

We have officially finished all of the Burgess books recommended in Little Hearts and are now starting on "extras". My kids can't get enough of these sweet stories, and now I've got my nephews hooked on them! We're starting the Adventures of Old Man Coyote tonight!

I think we may also try the Cul-De-Sac books in lieu of the Burgess books for now. If you look at the excerpt at Christian Book, you can read a chapter and view the description for each book. From the description, you can tell which character trait/issue is addressed. Hope this helps!

Character Sketches is a curriculum for character traits. Each trait has an animal with that character that is linked to it, but it tells facts about the animal, it doeasn't give it human characteristics.

Like the ant is hard-working, etc.

There are three volumes. Each volume is $40, or you could buy them together for $105.

Here's a sample chapter.
http://iblp.org/iblp/media/products/c1/ ... ?show=true

Here's a link to the main page.
http://store.iblp.org/products/C123/