I love, love, loved the Jan Karon books the most ever this time around. Give the series a try today!
I read Abel’s island as a kid, to my boys when they were smaller, and this month, to my 3rd grade ESL students. It wasn’t the perfect read-aloud for them. Too much to explain. Abel’s not just an anthropomorphic mouse trying to survive on an uninhabited island, which is all I remembered, but he’s a quirky, fussy, Edwardian mouse. I recommend it, but not for beginning English learners.
I checked this out for my kids to take on Spring Break, but I was the only read it. Historical fiction. My fave. Recommend.
I got this Emily book out of a “Book Box” at a goat farm, and it was fantastic! It’s by the author of the Betsy-Tacy books I loved as a kid! She even ends up teaching English to Lebanese kids in it. Chris says our last name is Lebanese and his great grandparents came from Lebanon. Jennifer and my mom both read it after me and enjoyed it thoroughly.