What We're Reading: Book about Big Families (and a list!)

Since we're expecting Little Hough #5 in August, we've been starting to adjust to life as a "big family." Mark and I were both the middles of five children families, so calling that "big" seems rather silly to us...but there's no contesting the looks in the grocery store, the comments at the playground, and the fact that when one of us catches a cold, it takes two weeks to make it through everybody.

Luckily, we've spent our lives surrounded by beautiful large families, so we know that the joys and conveniences and just plain fun that having lots of children/siblings (depending on one's perspective) brings will always far outweigh the annoyance of telling another cashier that yes, they are all ours; and yes, we will be thrilled if it's another girl; and yes, we've heard of television but frankly it doesn't even compare, but it's funny that you think it does.

Mark and I also grew up getting acquainted with wonderful and fun families in the world of literature, which made being one of five something exciting rather than something strange. As a theme of sorts for this pregnancy, we've been pulling some of our favorites off the shelf and reading aloud to the girls--as well as exploring new (to us) titles that have been recommended by the really smart people who read this blog.

Here are some recent reads, and below them is a list of some of our favorite books about families with five or more children.

All-of-a-kind Family, by Sydney Taylor. Many, many thanks to Jess Lawson for recommending this to me, as an example of a book with a great oldest sibling character. (Lucy loved that the oldest sister was kind and spunky!) We all enjoyed the peek into the life of a turn-of-the-century Jewish family with five daughters. Obviously, the similarities to our own life were striking. Just replace the Yom Kippur celebrations with Easter Triduum, perhaps...

 

Spencer's Mountain, by Earl Hamner, Jr. This one also came up in the discussion of good oldest siblings, and I will say that Clay-Boy Spencer is an exemplary older brother. I was rather surprised that this book, which inspired The Waltons, was so, um...well, there was a lot of drinking and sex in it. Rather, there was a lot of talk about drinking and sex. (Needless to say, this was not a read-aloud.) But I loved the emphasis on how living a simpler life brought so much joy to a family who simply enjoyed being together. The parents obviously loved each other, loved having children, and loved spending time with them.

Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Ahhhhhhh. I love this book so much. I've read it precisely a gajillion times, and like it more each reading. We decided to read it at this particular moment in time because both Mark and I were getting really tired of the general inefficiency that comes every single Sunday morning when we're getting ready for church. Specifically, WHY are the two church shoes never together, and WHERE do they go, and HOW COME no one sees the relation between flopping them off any which way one night and the general misery five minutes before we're supposed to get in the car? So. A little motion study in our life is going a long way (everyone knew where her shoes were yesterday!) and the entertaining and poignant story of the Gilbreth family is keeping us all laughing. If you haven't read this....you just have to.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, by Maria Augusta Trapp. To stick to Modern Mrs. Darcy's reading challenge theme, I decided to read this in May (to myself, not aloud) as it's "A Book My Mom Loves." What I love the most is Maria's unwavering faith that following the will of God will always bring joy. I got choked up when she gushed about how lucky her family was to lose everything in a bank crash, because I'm no stranger to tight times and I've often considered them one of the greatest blessings of my life. Most people don't get that...but Maria certainly did. And she also knew that financial difficulties are transient, whereas the time you spend as a family and the work you do out of love for God and each other is eternal. Finally, I just loved the way she talked about the births of her children. Her argument for home births is surprisingly modern, especially considering how totally "against the tide" they were in the 1930's and 40's. I may quote it here one of these days.

And now, my favorite thing ever: a list! These are some of the best books about large families that I've read, with a very general age appropriateness "rating" next to each (you know your own children, and I'm assuming some help with reading when I list them as appropriate for the pre-second grade crowd). I'll definitely be coming back and adding to this list as I discover or remember more, so be sure to share your favorites in the comments!

The Seven Silly Eaters, by Mary Ann Hoberman (age 2/3+)

The Rattlebang Picnic, by Steven Kellogg (age 2/3+)

The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew (and series), by Margaret Sidney (age 5+)

All-of-a-kind Family (and series), by Sydney Taylor (age 5/6+)

The Mitchells: Five for Victory (and series), by Hilda Van Stockum (age 7/8+)

Rainbow Valley, by L. M. Montgomery (age 8+) (This is the second to last of the Anne series, so if somehow your child doesn't know that Anne and Gilbert end up together, you may want to hold off on it to avoid spoilers!)

Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (age 8+ or younger if read aloud and explained a little.)

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, by Maria Augusta Trapp (age 11+)

The Family Nobody Wanted, by Helen Doss (age 11+) (This is a beautiful story about an adoptive family with 12 "unplaceable" mixed-race children.)

Spencer’s Mountain, by Earl Hamner, Jr. (age 15+)

Just as a bonus, here are some of our very favorite books about "almost big families," with 4 children:

The Moffats (series), by Eleanor Estes (age 5/6+)

The Saturdays (series), by Elizabeth Enright (age 5/6+)

The Bobbsey Twins (series), by Laura Lee Hope (age 5/6+)

The Boxcar Children (series--we prefer the old ones), by Gertrude Chandler Warner (age 5/6+)

Half Magic, by Edward Eager (age 6+)

The Penderwicks (series), by Jeanne Birdsall (age 7/8+)

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (age 8+)

Even though it's not Wednesday, I'm linking up with Jessica for What We're Reading Wednesday, as she's kindly keeping the link list open all month. (This was supposed to go up last Wednesday, but spring colds/flus interfered.)