Karis finished her Forty Book Challenge back in November, and she is already past sixty books this year!  Here is her reading interview for you to enjoy.

The Forty Book Challenge is really fun. I love the fact that I got to read all sorts of chapter books this year. I really like Psalms in the Bible. I read the whole thing as one of my books, and I really liked that I sometimes found the words of songs I knew from church right there in the Psalms. When I was little, I used to go through the verses of Psalms and try to make my own songs from the words, making my own little tune to them.   I have also been especially enjoying a book of prayers called All God’s Children that I often read before bed. Here is one of my favorites.

From “Timesweep” by Carl Sandburg

There is only one horse on the earth

and his named is All Horses.

There is only one bird in the air

and his name is All Wings.

There is only one fish in the sea

and his name is All Fins.

There is only one man in the world

and his name is All Men.

There is only one woman in the world a

and her name is All Women.

There is only one child in the world

and the child’s name is All Children.

There is only one Maker in the world

and His children cover the earth

and they are named All God’s Children.

I love that the words are so beautiful that he chose. I think the ending of it is really special, honoring God as the Creator.

Facilitating the growth of each unique group of learners is a special privilege, and we teachers closely observe the passions and interests of our young scholars in order to help them along the way.  This year it has been my delight to watch the class develop a very deep interest in reading the Bible on their own using their “grown-up” ESV Bibles.  They constantly share what they are discovering, ask questions about their reading, encourage each other enthusiastically, and apply what they are learning.  Some of them have been highlighting every single verse of every page they read with their bright-colored highlighters, which always makes me smile.  I hope you will be as touched as I am by these two interviews with readers who finished the Forty Book Challenge recently.

An Interview with Martha

Part of my Forty Book Challenge this year has been challenging myself to read the Bible. At the start of the year, some friends and I said, “Hey, would you like to read the Bible together?” And we decided YES!
Our first book was Proverbs. So far I have read Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I’m reading Psalms now. It feels very exciting because I’m on fire with God.
I want to read God’s Word when I’m little because it will help me to go on and on being on fire for God. I heard on “Go Fish” that you should go to the Bible and ask yourself, “Is that okay?” If I want to know the answer to that question, I need to know the Bible.
This school year, I think I will be able to read about half of the whole Bible. I bring home my Bible that the school gave me for my own. That way I can read at home and at school. I got some Bible journals that I am writing in about what I read, and we are all asking each other lots of questions too. We are trying to make connections between all the things we are reading in the Bible. I love my Bible.

An Interview with Jaelyn

I am reading Psalms now. I love learning more about God. It means something, not just a regular old book. It has been helping me because if I have a situation when I don’t really know what to do, I can ask myself, “What did I read in the Bible that would help me decide about that?” It can help me go in the right direction, not the wrong one. I want to stay away from the slippery slope.
We journal each day in our Bible journals. We write verses that we think are important and what our thoughts are about those verses. We also write prayer requests that we share with each other.
The Forty Book Challenge made me feel really motivated to do more than I even thought I could! Martha and I wrote a play together to put the meaning of Christ we had read about in the Gospels, and we are going to perform it for our Bible class this week. I’m going to keep reading and reading until I get to the whole Bible next year.

For our community of avid readers, the finish line of the Forty Book Challenge is not really a finish line at all.  It’s more like a doorway to even more wonderful book adventures! Well, this year’s phenomenal readers have already been pulling past forty, with our first challenger passing forty before Thanksgiving. Here are some of her thoughts about reading.

Autumn’s Interview:

“I’ve gotten a lot faster at reading than I used to be. My reading has really gotten better too. I think I’ve read about thirty Magic Tree House books already this year. I like those because they are at the “just right” level for me right now, and they are really fun adventures. You should start a challenge too, and see how many books YOU can read!”

Martha finished racing past forty books in January!  For her interview, she would like to share with you some of her favorite books of all time.

“I started getting Berenstain Bear books, by Jan and Mike Berenstain, when I was three or four.  I love reading them because they are fiction, and I really like fiction.  They are so cute because they make the characters just come alive!

I have added to my collection by doing chores to earn more books.  Now I have more than fifty of their books I think. I read them a lot, and I share them with my brother Luke.  He enjoys hearing me read them aloud to him.

They have lessons in them, such as earning money by working hard, helping your parents to earn money, and saving what you earn.  Then you can go out and buy something you want instead of just depending on your mom and dad to buy you whatever.  Another book taught proper manners, like keep your feet off the table or not blowing bubbles in your drinks.

I recommend them to younger kids and even older kids because they are just so fun.  I think all ages should read picture books because they can help you build momentum in your reading so when you come to a challenging book you are slower on, you have built reading speed.  I think I will love these books my whole life because they teach lessons we all need.  I’m going to save them for my kids so they will learn these lessons too.”

Karis raced past forty books!  We are just watching these readers with amazement!  She read a bit to her dear principal to celebrate, and she also shared this brief reading interview.

I have loved a lot of books so far this year.  I enjoyed Megan and Mischief.  Megan is a kid who goes to a pony camp, and she is so excited to meet her pony.  When her pony is given to her, she jumps up and down for joy.  I also really love Beatrix Potter books.  They remind me of Aesop’s Fables, which are some of my top favorite things to read.  They both tell you wise and unwise things, like beware of flatterers.  One lesson in Beatrix Potter was to respect other people’s things.

I have read a lot of picture books this year.  They are enjoyable because the artist gives you nice pictures to help you imagine.  In chapter books, you don’t see the colors except in your mind.  I like juicy words, whether they are in chapter books or picture books.

I read all the Star Wars trilogy from the beginning word (which was once) to the very last word (which was galaxy).

Our class decided to add a little people challenge to the Forty Book Challenge this year, since so many of us have really little brothers or sisters.  We made tiny number lines for them, and when we read ten picture books, it counts as a book.  If our brother or sister reads forty books (400 picture books!) with us, we are going to write them their own Story Jumper book!  I read a lot of books to my brother Elisha, even my big chapter books.  He really likes to listen to my voice.  When I read him Aesop’s Fables, I read him the morals.  He just nodded his head very slowly like he understood.  He is seven months old right now, and on Christmas Eve, he will be eight months.  I think he will be a very strong reader someday like I am, with very good fluency and knowing what the words are when he sees them.

*Sarah, what are some of your favorite books so far this year?

I loved reading the Psalms in the Bible. I like them because they talk about the Lord being my Shepherd, and I especially like Psalm 1 about the thriving tree. I enjoyed Judy Moody because it solves mysteries. In one of them it even lists how to solve real mysteries of your own.

*In your opinion, what makes a book good writing?

I like when there is a mystery, and the author uses words like “suddenly” to build suspense. I like when unexpected things happen in the middle of a story that catch you by surprise and keep you reading.

*What’s next?

I would like to be able to get to one hundred chapter books this year. My next book is the Student Dictionary, which the Grange gave to us. In the back there are cool sections such as sign language, Braille, all of the planets and information about them, and the fifty states of the United States. You can even read about each of the presidents.