The Moffats
Recommended. Age: 8+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
This is a warm picture of a poor family that stays cheerful and close. Mama works hard, the children look after each other, and small faults like a selfish nickel are felt and regretted. The one reservation is a Halloween chapter with a pretend ghost and talk of witches and goblins, plus a few small lies that go uncorrected.
For parents
Read aloud from 6, independent reading from 8 or 9. Memoria Press assigns it in grades 3 to 4. Ask how the Moffats stay happy with so little money. Ask whether scaring Peter Frost with the attic ghost was a fair way to answer a bully, and what Jesus asks instead.