Book Sharing Monday: ROAR by Heather Kopp with David Kopp

For this months book club we have been reading:  The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis.  The kids love the Narnia Series, and I have read a loud most of them together with the eldest two.  The last couple novels, I had them listen to an audio version of the books.  Heather has listened to the The Silver Chair on audio but I am having her sit in on the readings anyway.  She bucked me at first saying she had previously read it but true to form, she is absorbed in the readings as I do them (I knew that would happen! hehe).  I also wanted to add in ROAR by Heather Kopp with David Kopp.  This book came recommended to my by a friend and after having a look through it at her home I knew I wanted to add it to our library resources.  You can get them new or used on amazon. We paid around $10 for ours. 

 This is a beautiful companion book to the C.S. Lewis novels.  It has five different sections, including some biographical information on Lewis, thoughts and reflects for each of the Narnia books from The Magician's Nephew to The Last Battle broken down in chapter by chapter format, final review or 'exam' for the books, a section devoted to explaining why Narnia is an allegory, the use of magic etc and lastly, Roar Fact Files. I have been reading through parts of the book this past weekend.  The more I read it the more I love it!  In terms of our read a loud time; we'll be reading the chapter from The Silver Chair first, ending it with the companion chapter from Roar.  The chapter from Roar gives a synopsis from its Narnian chapter along with definitions of words from the chapter, 'grown up' thoughts, a verse containing wisdom related to the chapter and some stimulating questions to chat about.  I don't usually do read a louds in this format as the kids have obtained excellent narration skills but this book is worth it!  I wanted to draw more out of C.S. Lewis' works.  They are jammed packed with illustration, imagery and critical thinking skills, beautifully written and incredibly thought provoking.  I may have them do some journaling with this one too.  I haven't completely thought that through as yet.

This is also an eye catching book, its lay out and illustrations are pleasing to the eye.  I really am impressed all the way around.  I am also hoping that I get some inspiration from the book for an activity to do at book club. :)