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 

Read-at-Home Mom Report: December 2025 /January 2026

I fell a bit behind with reading updates, so I combined two months for this one. 

December Favorites

Joyride by Susan Orlean

This memoir of Susan Orlean's writing life was so interesting and so well written. It made me want to seek out the books of hers that I have not yet read.

Mint to Be by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc
This was a really sweet YA romance for the holidays.

The Kindness Challenge: A Christmastime Novella by Melissa Cate

Melissa is a fellow Nicole Frail Books author and I had the opportunity to endorse this novella about a grieving family doing acts of kindness in memory of their deceased father and husband during Christmas. This was an uplifting and hopeful holiday read.

12 Knights of Christmas: A Sleigh Full of Love Stories by Button Hall Publishing 

This is a wonderful Christmas collection with a variety of contemporary and historical romance stories that were extremely well written and well edited. 

January Favorites

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans 

I absolutely loved this epistolary novel. I will probably want to read it again someday. 

December Read-Alouds

Greenglass House by Kate Milford 
The Smugglers by Iain Lawrence (audiobook in the car)

January Read-Alouds

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson (read-aloud with twins)
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (audiobook at lunchtime)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (read to E. by dad)

Family Reading Lists

M. (girl, 12 years, 2 months) 

December:

• A Dog on Barkham Street by Mary Stolz
• The Bully on Barkham Street by Mary Stolz
• The Explorer of Barkham Street by Mary Stolz 
• Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

January:

• Fair Wind to Virginia by Cornelia Meigs
• Early Thunder by Jean Fritz

C. (girl, 10 years, 4 months)

December:

• A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
• Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling 
• Oddkins by Dean Koontz

January:

• The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
• Danny: The Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
• The Ramayana by Elizabeth Seeger
• The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
• Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo

E. (girl, 8 years, 3 months)

December:

• Fire on the Wind by Geoffrey Trease
• Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson
• The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds
• The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
• Benjamin West and his Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry

January:

• Catherine the Great by Katharine Sherman

R. (boy, 5 years, 10 months)

December: 

• The Trees Kneel at Christmas by Maud Hart Lovelace 
• Adventures of the Wishing-Chair by Enid Blyton
• The Wishing-Chair Again by Enid Blyton
• More Wishing-Chair Stories by Enid Blyton
  
• Mystery Behind the Wall (Boxcar Children #17) by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine by Jay Williams 

January: 

• Redwall by Brian Jacques
• Betsy and Billy by Carolyn Haywood 
• Betsy's Little Star by Carolyn Haywood 
• Snowbound with Betsy by Carolyn Haywood 
• The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden 
• The Spartan Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins 

A. (girl, 5 years, 10 months)

• Adventures of Sophie Mouse Book 1: A New Friend by Poppy Green
• New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky
• Something Big Has Been Here by Jack Prelutsky
• It's Raining Pigs and Noodles by Jack Prelutsky
• Selections from the Read-To-Me Storybook
• Selections from McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader

Dad

December:

• Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady
• The Smugglers by Iain Lawrence 
• Early Thunder by Jean Fritz 

January: 

• The Drummer Drives! Everybody Else Rides: The Musical Life and Times of Harry Brabec, Legendary Chicago Symphony Percussionist and Humorist by Barbara Brabec
• Tree of Freedom by Rebecca Caudill