cat named pig

. . . Because you were probably standing by, with bated breath, wondering whether we had decided to continue with the Laura Ingalls books and risk another heartbreaking conversation about death, or go back to princess stories where death is reassuringly cheated every time (Ha! She was just sleeping! And true love’s kiss woke her up! Phew!) or go on to something new altogether.

Well, Siena really wanted to keep reading Farmer Boy. It is a sweet story about a close family who works very hard (kids included) on their family farm and enjoys sumptuous meals together. For the descriptions of the food alone, I was happy to keep reading it. (Apple pie with breakfast, among other deliciousness!)

And it turned out we didn’t need to do quite as much “editing” as we did with Little House on the Prairie, at least not once we got past the part about the big kids trying to thrash the teacher and break up the school. We’ve even had some good talks about the importance of putting money in the bank like ***spoiler alert!*** Almanzo does at the end — a timely lesson if I ever saw one. Overall, a great choice.

When we finished that one, Siena was dying to start On the Banks of Plum Creek, so that’s what we’re reading now. So far, so good. I remember being entranced with the idea of a dugout house with grass and flowers growing on the roof and walls — Siena seems to love it, too. But when we finish this one, I think we’ll move on to something else for a while.

Which makes it convenient that I just came across a book list by Catherine Newman, one of my all-time favorite parent writers (and more recently, food-blogger) here.

She has a similar take on some of the Laura Ingalls stories, and her spot-on description of the modern Winnie the Pooh stuff made me laugh out loud. Siena loved the original Winnie the Pooh, as well as Stuart Little and the Roald Dahl books, so I look forward to trying out some of her other recommendations.

And a kind reader sent me a link to this list of princess-free books — thanks so much, Amy! We have one of these, The Paper Bag Princess, and we love it. (A welcome antidote to the traditional princess fairy tales.) I have not read most of the others, but many of them look cute and I plan on getting a few for Siena’s birthday.

It’s nice to know we’re not the only ones looking for something more than princess stories or board books, but not quite ready for the heavier themes in some chapter books. Also, it’s nice to have something to do besides this:

Anyone want to get her a Kindle 2 for her birthday?