In this episode of the Greta Eskridge podcast, I get to talk to the queen of books herself, Sarah Mackenzie. Sarah is a wife and a homeschooling mom to six kids. Three are in college and 3 are still at home. In her spare time (ha!) she is also the creator of the fabulous Read Aloud Revival podcast, the author of two beloved books, Teaching From Rest and The Read Aloud Family, the founder of the boutique publishing house Waxwing Books and author of three children’s books. This is why I say she had a reading empire! Sarah is an amazing lady and just so much fun to talk to. True to form, I get teary eyed in this episode. But talking books and connection will do that to me. Also, in this episode you can hear Sarah and I not able to do math. We talk about books, not math problems, so what do you expect? This episode is chock full of so many great book titles with you. We like to say we sling around book titles like ninjas. Get ready! 

Here's some more of what we talked about: 

Sarah tells us she loves roller coasters. She recently rode one 6 times in a row and read her kindle while in line. 

This quote by Andrew Pudewa launched Sarah deep into the world of reading aloud with her kids: the best way to help kids become better communicators is to read aloud a ton and memorize poetry. 

Sarah noticed that reading aloud didn’t just make a positive impact on her kids academically, but there was a relational impact happening too. 

She noticed as her kids were growing up and sometimes she and they were at odds with each other, reading aloud put her and her kids on the same side of the fence. 

Sarah says: reading aloud is a powerful way to connect with our kids in a really noisy world. 

Its simple, free, quick: that’s a lot of dividends from a small investment. 

We learn that audio books count every bit as much as reading a book with pages. 

And we learn that data says whether they read early or late, by 8th grade most kids are at about the same reading level if kids are being exposed to good books all along. 

No need to fear if you have a late reader! 

I’ve had 3 myself. 

And here is the list of all the books we discussed together. 

Each one is linked so you can see the cover and even put it in your cart if you want to! 

For the younger kids: 

Buffalo Fluffalo 

Jonas Hanway’s Scurrilous, Scandalous, Shockingly, Sensational Umbrella 

Sheep in a Jeep 

Morris the Moose Goes to School 

For the middle grades: 

Umbrella Mouse 

Note: there is some mild language in this book and the ones below. Sarah and I both feel that mild curse words said in a British accent don’t feel troubling to us, but handle it as you wish. All Creatures Great and Small (children’s version and beloved by my kids) 

All Creatures Great and Small (book for middle grades and up) 

All Creatures Great and Small (show) 

Adventures with Waffles 

Astrid the Unstoppable 

Pipi Longstocking 

Chronicles of Narnia (a must have for every library) 

Tuesdays at the Castle 

Vanderbeekers 

Penderwicks 

For the teens: 

Glitch 

Screwtape Letters 

Surprised by Joy 

Find out more about book clubs for kids and grownups in Greta’s book: Adventuring Together 

Sarah tells us she is chasing joy by playing a new board game with her family called : Seven Wonders 

You can find all of Sarah’s endeavors in the links at the top of these show notes. You’ll want to follow her and glean all the book goodness she has to share! 

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to this podcast, and I’d be so very grateful if you leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.  

Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 

Thank you for listening and being part of my team. 

I love you guys! 

Greta