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.)
 

Comments

  1. This is so funny (and a little uncanny): My post also includes the All-of-a-Kind Family, Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Trapp Family Singers! Great minds. Have you read Bells on Their Toes, the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen?

    Congrats on baby #5. xo

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    1. Which post is that, Caroline? Did I miss one? But yes, very funny and uncanny! I have read "Bells" and while I didn't like it as much as the first book, I liked learning more about Lily. I've heard there are more serious books about her life, and I'd very much like to read one.

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  2. Congratulations, Faith!

    Cheaper by the Dozen is a wonderful book. I've read it several times (and the sequel once). I remember reading Cheaper By the Dozen for the first time in sixth grade and absolutely loving it (and wanting to be an efficiency expert).

    I've read the others you featured too, except, I'm ashamed to admit, I've never read All-of-a-Kind Family. I really should do something about that.

    As for the Boxcar Children, I only read the first 19, which Gertrude Chandler Warner actually wrote, to my kids. I told them they were welcome to read others, and my older son did, but he admitted they're not as good.

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    1. Thanks, Joanne! So did you cry when you reached the end of Cheaper by the Dozen? I still can't help blubbering.
      Yeah, I read a couple "new" Boxcar Children books as a kid, and just couldn't get into any of them. They all seemed a little forced.

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  3. LOVED All of a Kind Family. The whole series is gold.

    ...and, okay, maybe sometimes I still check the Seven Silly Eaters out from the library....

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    1. I'm glad you like the whole series, Annie--now I have some new books to look forward to. I think Lucy almost sprained a cheek muscle smiling when she found out it was a series. :)
      And, yes! Seven Silly Eaters is one of the true greats! It's the one picture book I had to buy a replacement copy for because we wore out the first one.

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  4. I remember my sixth grade teacher reading Cheaper By the Dozen to us as a class. That family was twice the size of mine (at the time--eventually there were seven of us). Hurray for big families!

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    1. My first experience of Cheaper by the Dozen was when my mom read it to us, too. I remember being so jealous that we only had five kids. I wanted to be able to sing in harmony, with more than one of us to a part!

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  5. Thank you for sharing this list! I can't wait to do read alouds with my growing family :)

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    1. You're almost at that point. :) Congratulations on the growing family!!

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  6. What a great list, Faith. Cheaper is my favorite on this list. I loved Maria's book and realized it was nothing like the movie, but I still love the movie, all the songs, like a good Indian movie. Hah! Coincidentally, I'm reading The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How my mother raised 10 kids on 25 words or less. I think you would enjoy it very much, Writer-Mama.

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    1. Yes, I love the movie, too, though for different reasons than the book. Julie Andrews is lovely. :)
      Thanks for the recommendation! I'll have to hunt it down.

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  7. This is a great list. My very first novel (written at the age of 11) was about a family of 10 kids! (I was an only child.) Sharon Creech's Absolutely Normal Chaos is about a family of 5. I think it's for ages 8-12.

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    1. I can see why as an only child the idea of a big family would be fascinating! I'm sure that has a lot to do with the success of some of these books: they provide typical American kids with a fantasy world where they're always surrounded by siblings! Even as one of five, Cheaper by the Dozen felt like that to me.
      I've been meaning to read that Sharon Creech books, as I love all her others that I've read!

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  8. Such a great list! So many of my favorites, from Rainbow Valley to Cheaper by the Dozen and the Penderwicks. Have you read the latest Penderwick? It's my favorite! I'll be checking out The Family Nobody Wanted and The Von Trapps--I've been meaning to read that one forever.

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    1. Thanks, Jenni! No, I haven't read the latest Penderwicks, but I'm dying to... :)

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