Little Hobbit All-Stars

Our year-round school year has finally made it full circle. Eowyn finished her school year two weeks ago, but the little hobbits and I took a couple of extra weeks to finish. Since I previously published Eowyn's all-stars, I will now publish the favorites of Frodo and Pippin.


Frodo:
Bambi by Felix Salten
Mattimeo by Brian Jacques (not an AO book, but he loves the Redwall series)
Lassie, Come Home by Eric Knight

It's not a very long list, but then Frodo will never admit to liking any book. He was especially certain he wouldn't like Lassie due to the title being "girlie", but this turned out to be his favorite book of the year. I'm sure there were others he enjoyed, yet won't admit to.


Pippin:
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (he liked this one so much we're reading it again this year)
Little House in the Big Woods (he especially liked the little stories about when Pa was a boy)
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne
Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (he carried this book around for days after reading it)
Buffalo Bill by Ingri D'Aulaire
Aesop's Fables
The Burgess Bird Book by Thornton Burgess
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot

Coming to the end of our first year of AO is bittersweet. Some of these books have become like friends to us, and we're sorry to be moving on. A few were so greatly loved that they will surely make their way into the rotation of bedtime stories with Papa. I am looking forward to making new friends though. Come Monday morning I will be saying, "Welcome!" to AO2 and AO5.

What's So Amazing About Grace...

...land? Apparently not much by the look on Pippin's face.

I guess if you really want to have a good time in Memphis you'd better hit Beale Street...

...for a plate of ribs. (check out Frodo's bowl of rib bones!)
And, the always entertaining Elvis impersonator!

Then it's time to head back to the hotel for some real fun...the pool and hot tub.

But, if you're from the Shire, you'd rather see wildlife than nightlife. The world may know Memphis for Elvis, Graceland and Beale Street, but the hidden gem of the city is their pretty cool zoo.

Eowyn's All-Stars

Eowyn has finished Ambleside 6 and has now moved into House of Education 7. What started out as a year of grumbling and complaining has turned into a year of joy and new discoveries. Eowyn has learned that she does like to read after all, and here is a list of her favorites from the last year:

Story of the Greeks
Story of the Romans
Where the Red Fern Grows
Call of the Wild
White Fang
The Hidden Hand
The Bronze Bow

She also learned that just because you don't LOVE a book doesn't mean you can't read it. There are other books from the AO6 list that she read and enjoyed, and some that she read and tolerated, and a few that she read and despised. Through it all she learned that she can accomplish more than she realized.

Now that she has started House of Education 7 she has already found a book she loves in the first week, The Gammage Cup. I wonder what other great books she will discover this year?