Read-at-Home Mom Report: February 2026

February Favorites

• Exiles Come Home by Winefride Nolan
  This is a vintage British children's novel about the discrimination against Catholics during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and her successor, James I. (It's the sequel to Rich Inheritance.) It was so well-written and captures an experience that American kids might not be familiar with. I like the redemption arc for one main character and the mystery plot involving the kidnapping of a child.
• The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery
  This is another vintage British children's novel. This one involves an American soldier being held as a prisoner of war in a British family's home, and his relationship with both the family and with his friend, another prisoner who is ill. 
• Hearts on the Fly by Toni Shiloh
  This unapologetically Christian romance with a touch of the miraculous was such a breath of fresh air. It's a hockey romance, but a wholesome clean one with a player's blindness after injury at the center of the plot. 
• All of Us: The Collected Poems by Raymond Carver
  I took a class on Raymond Carver short stories in college, but found the analysis aspect difficult and stayed away from his writings for years. But as a writer I'm inspired by his economy of language, and I was in the mood for poetry, so I listened to this and loved it. 

Family Reading Lists 

M., girl, 12 

• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
• The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder  

C., girl, 10

• The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• Holes by Louis Sachar 

E., girl, 8

• The American Revolution by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
• The Secret Diary of Jeb and Abigail by Jean Fritz 

R., boy, 5 

• Walt Disney's World of Nature (selections)

A. girl, 5 

• McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader (selections) 

Dad 

• Two Little Pilgrims' Progress: A Story of the City Beautiful by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Trial Valley by Vera Cleaver 
• How to Enjoy Writing: A Book of Aid and Comfort by Janet and Isaac Asimov
• The Key Word and Other Mysteries by Isaac Asimov
• The Disappearing Man and Other Mysteries by Isaac Asimov
• Kidnapped by Accident by Arthur Catherall