Fee Fi Fo Fum!

A Waldorf Reader for Late Second Grade

Text by Arthur M Pittis

Illustrations by Ausa M Peacock

Hardbound

$10.00

I have no trouble at all imagining the thrill of delight children will experience as they discovers that now they can read some of their favorite stories themselves. Arthur Pittis retells 24 folk and fairy tales from around the world in this volume, using progressively controlled and increasingly rich sight and phonetic vocabulary development from story to story. Sentence structure also develops throughout the book, taking the young reader from simple sentences to a variety of complex structures in the course of the year.

AND - and this is most important of all, at least to me - these stories simply sing with interest. There is nothing stilted or "dumbed down" about them, even the first one is alive in the telling and rich in the reading. This book and the entire series are a triumph in pedagogical reading material. Hallelujah!

As My Heart Awakes

A Waldorf Reader for Early Third Grade

Text by Arthur M Pittis

Illustrations by Ausa M Peacock

Hardbound

$10.00

Wonderful fables and saints tales greet the third grader in this reader designed for the first half of the school year. As with the entire series, each story builds in vocabulary and grammar, one after the other. And, as with all the books, each story is meaningful, interesting, warm, and often humorous. In this third volume the focus shifts from the worlds of the fairy tale to those that teach us how to walk in peace and love throughout our lives.

I love that it begins with:

John Wesley's Rule

Do all the good you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

I can't think of anything else that speaks better to the heart of a child commencing third grade. And the entire volume moves forward from that jewel-like beginning.

When I Hear My Heart Wonder

A Waldorf Reader for Late Third Grade

Text by Arthur M Pittis

Illustrations by Ausa M Peacock

Hardbound

$10.00

When I Hear My Heart Wonder picks up where As My Heart Awakes with even more fables and stories of saints. There is a joyous lilt to these stories, that lifts the heart as they are read in order. What a lovely thing for a child: by the end of the year, I believe these stories will entrust them with the feeling of not only having crossed the Jordan, but of having created a home for themselves in their hearts as well. Oh, and they will be learning to read very well, too.

Here's the opening verse:

When I here my heart wonder,
The song in my soul sings
And wakes me if I slumber
To the joy of all good things

Snip, Snap, Snout!

A Waldorf Reader for Third Grade Extra Lesson Work

Text by Arthur M Pittis

Illustrations by Ausa M Peacock

Hardbound

$8.00

By third grade, if a student is still having significant struggles with the written word, extra lesson work is often recommended. Snip, Snap, Snout! is perhaps the best remedial reading book ever written. Stories are kept short, but they are never dull or contrived. The trained eye can catch that each story focuses on different word groups, sounds, punctuation and grammar, but all this is done so very artistically that someone who didn't know this was a book of stories for remedial reading would never notice. As with the other grade 3 readers, this one recapitulates the grade 2 curriculum of fables and saints, and does so with grace, charm and warmth.

Sun So Hot I Froze to Death

A Waldorf Reader for Advanced Fourth Grade

Text by Arthur M Pittis

Illustrations by Ausa M Peacock

Hardbound

$12.00

The sometimes outrageous folk tales of the early days of America are the focus of this riveting reader for advanced fourth grade. You'll find Brer Rabbit, Davy Crocket, John Henry, Johnny Appleseed, Sweet Betsy from Pike, Pecos Bill and more in this book that takes the young reader through written English and on beyond into the worlds of dialect and (appropriate) slang. What a great way to harness fourth grade energy! This reader is such fun it was hard to put it down so I could write about it.

The Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter

Padraic Colum

Illustrated by Patrick Reinhart

Wonderful as a 6th Grade Reader - a beautiful read-to for earlier years

Softbound

$10.95

Padraic Colum was one of the greatest English language storytellers ever to have lived. In general, his work was focused on retelling the classic tales of Western history, shaping them with vivid language and a lilting cadence such that you could almost hear his Irish voice ringing forth from the pages. Sometimes, however, he burst into a tale of his own (see, The King of Ireland's Son, for instance) and took us into new worlds with a feeling for both story and language that is rare and unique. I just love his work.

The Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter is one of Colum's own creations - and it is a rich and masterful treasure. It languished in the hazy realms of out of print books for years and years, almost entirely forgotten save by a few whose tattered copies were still passed from hand to hand. Now, one of my favorite publishers, Whole Spirit Press, has brought it to life again. Hooray! It is a perfect 6th grade reader and a wonderful read-to for earlier years.

The story unfolds during the Middle Ages and is filled with mystery, intrigue and adventure. There are battles against evil in several forms, and a long journey to find the truth and Merlin the Magician (who knows all the answers). Revelation and adventure abound and include Eean arriving at the Tower of Babylon and meeting Chiron the Centaur and Hermes Trismegistus.

This is fabulous, wonderful reading that will fire the imaginations f children and adults. How lovely to see it in print again.

Geron and Virtus
A Fateful Encounter of Two Youths
A German and a Roman

Jakob Streit

A Reader for 6th or 7th Grade

Softbound

$10.00

Geron and Virtus written by master storyteller and Waldorf teacher Jakob Streit, is a remarkable book. It is a story about two boys during the Roman campaign to conquer the Germanic tribes. It was out of this Roman/German encounter that a new Europe and the transition to a new time was born. The story is about friendship, slavery, honor, and adventure. The text is rich with spiritual insights provided by Druid priests and their stories of Nordic mythology. The book has vivid illustrations and is aimed at sixth and seventh grade students.

Copernicus
Struggle and Victory

A Reader for 7th and 8th Grade

Heinz Sponsel

Translated by Monica Gold

Softbound

$12.00

Originally published in 1949, this lively book is an established treasure in Germany. It depicts the life struggles and striving of the Polish astronomer Nikolaus Copernicus and makes a wonderful reader for seventh and eighth grade Waldorf classes, as well as an excellent book for anyone interested in Copernicus and his world.