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Smiling Shelves

The Year of Miss Agnes & Little House in the Big Woods

1/28/2016

6 Comments

 
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I read The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill for the Reading Together book club. The book club is designed to be family-oriented, so sharing the books with your children is encouraged. Well, my child (while he does get a bedtime story every night) won't be able to show me his reactions until April (unless a few good kicks count). So I have no kid thoughts about The Year of Miss Agnes to share, but I'll share a few of my own!

I'm a teacher, so this story really resonated with me. Miss Agnes is exactly the sort of teacher I dream of being - she constantly has creative activities which make the learning come alive (and stick) and she does everything she can to help her students and their families. As a result of this, her students are inspired to go beyond what they dreamed was possible. I need to read a book like this every once in awhile to remind myself why I spend hours working on lesson plans and grading papers. The Year of Miss Agnes​ was just the sort of book I need to encourage me to head back into the classroom tomorrow morning refreshed and ready to teach!

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I somehow missed out on reading the Little House books when I was a kid. I tried them and they just didn't interest me. I've always felt that I was missing something by never having read these books, so I'm glad the Little House Read-along has encouraged me to try them all!

I really enjoyed Little House in the Big Woods. The story was sweet and innocent, and I loved being welcomed into the Ingalls family. I'm also exceedingly glad that I live in a day and age where I have modern conveniences. I'm not sure I could survive doing all the work that Ma has to do to feed and clothe her family. We are truly blessed in the 21st century! Still, there are some parts of days gone by that we are lacking today - such as respect for elders and the willingness to work hard. Things like that should never go out of style. Fortunately, we can return to the little house and the Ingalls family to remind us how we should live our lives surrounded by the love of our family.

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6 Comments
Carrie @ The Lion is a Bookworm link
1/30/2016 07:46:19 am

I read Little House as a kid, but didn't remember much of any of them! I started reading them aloud with my oldest a couple years ago (when she was still resting in the afternoon, and before she started school), but we stopped once school started. I might have to work it into our schedule again, I love reading about life back then!

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
1/30/2016 03:55:28 pm

Isn't it fascinating how far we've come from the way life was back then?

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Kim link
1/31/2016 12:09:51 pm

Welcome to the world of Little House! It is fun to share in this reading adventure!

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
2/2/2016 07:11:42 pm

It is fun to read along with other people! :)

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Lynn @ Smoke & Mirrors link
1/31/2016 02:09:39 pm

It is amazing how much easier our "work" is now for survival, however, we sometimes do lack some of the virtues of life in the past, don't we? I always think of the time to ourselves we rarely get any more, just to ponder and consider life. Glad you've joined us #LittleHouseRAL!

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
2/2/2016 07:20:50 pm

You're right - there is a lot less time to just think now. We're always reaching for our phone or something to occupy us. That's definitely something we've lost in today's age!

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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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