Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

This topic has 13 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 5 months ago by amandajhilburn.

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January 8, 2010 at 3:44 pm
nerakr
Participant
I know one of the definitions of twaddle is a book that talks down to a child. I’m having trouble figuring out which of my easy reader books (you know the type, controlled vocabulary, large type, simple sentences) are twaddle and which ones are worth keeping. I know Little Bear and Frog and Toad are good. But what about those that look like they’re written to match state standards or some other criteria? I’m a librarian by training, but the way we select books isn’t always in keeping with the twaddle-free philosophy. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Karen
January 8, 2010 at 4:05 pm
wearejenandkev
Participant
For beginning readers, I like the Beehive Reader sold at the All About Spelling website.
http://www.all-about-spelling.com/ and the books by Nora Gaydos
http://www.innovativekids.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=185&Itemid=341 and rocket readers
from christianbook.com (They are based on the bible.)
For better readers, I like Billy and Blaze series by CW Anderson and the Dan Frontier series by William Hurley. (I have boys, I don’t know if girls would like these books.)
Hope this helps!
Jennifer
January 8, 2010 at 6:00 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
Pathway readers and McGuffey readers are both good.
January 8, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Misty
Participant
Can you get these at the library? Buying easy readers is a lot of money. If anyone has idea’s for getting them through there library I would love this. My almost 6yr wants to read, but it’s hard to just go there and find NON twadle books on the shelf quick! Thanks
January 8, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Esby
Member
I like these: http://www.mainlesson.com/author.php?author=treadwell
Note: These books are FREE online – just print yourself. You may purchase the books, but you don’t have to. The books are part of the Baldwin Project and are in the public domain.
January 8, 2010 at 9:59 pm
wearejenandkev
Participant
I found the books by Nora Gaydos by using the inter-library loan through my library. Also, I have found them at garage sales for about $1. One book has 10 books in it, so they last awhile. The Billy and Blaze and Dan Frontier are at the library, but they are probably too hard for a 6yo. As a general rule, I have had a terrible time finding beginning readers at the library! They are usually very heavy in sight words instead of phonicss and they are very “twaddle.” I use Reading Pathways for my 6yo, also. ( In addition to the others I listed above.) It is more of a teaching book instead of a kid’s book. But, it is very user friendly and very effective. My son reads one pyramid a day which takes about 5-10 minutes. But, it is very phonics based.  I love that, but I know some people don’t.   It is about $15-$20 on Amazon. But, it will last for several years! It starts with pyramids using words like dog, cat, and run. But, it ends with pyramids using words like enchanting, effervescent and breathtaking. It is good for vocab, also!
Jennifer

January 8, 2010 at 10:01 pm
nerakr
Participant
Back to the original topic. I suppose I didn’t make myself clear. I was wondering, when you go to the library or a secondhand store, what criteria do you use to determine if it’s twaddle or not?
January 8, 2010 at 10:49 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
I know that it is really hard to find first readers that are not twaddle. I have resorted to looking at lists on different websites and in some books to use as a guide. I would say that anything that is written based on a movie, a popular toy, modern cartoon series, or is not morally edifying would be considered twaddle. The first readers that your child will be able to read must be easy or else the child will not build confidence in reading gradually. They can’t be expected to read big words yet, so I think the most important thing with easy readers is the lesson that the story teaches rather than the words used to teach it.
Examples:
Pathway readers, McGuffey readers, Otter and Owl (zondervan books), Frog and Toad, Little Bear, CLP Nature readers, Apologetics Press first readers….. and there are links listed on my blog where I have found lists of good literature too. Amanda’s Blog

Does that make sense??
January 9, 2010 at 12:16 am
Rachel White
Participant
I second the Treadwell readers that are free at Main Lesson. When you can buy something, other valuable books are at Lost Classics. The Elson Readers are on the same caliber as the Treadwell and Eggleston’s Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans is worth purchasing as well and an easy read for a 6 yr. old. The syllables are distinguished in the words.
Mine are 8 and 9 and are still enjoying the selections from both Treadwell’s and Elson’s.
Rachel
January 9, 2010 at 2:47 am
Rachel White
Participant
I realize now you had more to your question. I look for books written before 1940. We have very few books written after that, for the exception of a handful of history books (Cheryl Harness, for example). Also, look for the qualities laid out in living books criteria (you can find that critieria on the SCM site, I believe), one of which is the author has a personal experience and love of his subject. I also look for first-hand accounts. The illustrations in picture books must be of art quality (as well as latter ages books), not the modern cartoonish styles. I also want books to have more words than illustrations after a certain age (age 7).
Another thing to really keep an eye out for is whether or not it is abridged. A living book is not an abridged book. The only abridgements I get is if it was done by the original author; like Charles Dickens, he actually abridged some of his own.
I have found that I venture towards certain authors and book companies time and time again. That’s all I can think of at the moment. I hope that helps a little. Unfortunately, the library is getting more and more difficult to find good and real books (kinda like giong to the grocery store, hard to find real food!).
Rachel

January 9, 2010 at 4:15 am
Esby
Member
If I myself am willing to read the book over and over and over (and over!) again, then I figure it’s not twaddle.
January 9, 2010 at 7:43 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
I just wanted to share this from the Tanglewood website. It has helped me to understand how to determine if something is “twaddle” or not.
     “If you have read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, you probably remember the sun-drenched summer play days of Scout, Jem, and Dill. Charlotte Mason would have been delighted to see the Finch children acting out their “list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs” between the giant twin chinaberry trees in the backyard.
     Charlotte Mason recognized the powerful influence literature has over the imagination and stressed the importance of selecting the finest pieces for childhood consumption. No watered- down stories, dry outlines, or “twaddle” should be presented. So, how does one discern whether or not a book meets the standard? Charlotte Mason set forth a four point test to help determine a book’s worth:
     1. Does it provide material for the child’s mental growth?
     2. Does it exercise the several powers of his mind?
     3. Does it furnish him with fruitful ideas?
     4. Does it afford him knowledge, really valuable for its own sake, accurate and interesting, of the kind that the child may recall as a man with profit and pleasure?
     Along with this test, Charlotte Mason advocated reading “whole” books rather than selected portions of books as is commonly found in readers. She also promoted the use of “living” books, usually fiction, which let the reader “live” vicariously through the main character, becoming intimate with the time and realm represented in the book. She believed that a child, having read well-written literature containing noble ideas would remember his lessons for a lifetime.” The Tanglewood School
January 9, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
I like the definitions added as comments on this What Is Twaddle? post. Very helpful!
January 10, 2010 at 7:46 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
I second Sonya’s link! Very good blog posts, too!!!! How did I miss this before???? 🙂