Well, I said I wouldn’t be posting any Picks this summer. I was wrong. As June waned, Ada and I decided to embark on a New York City read-aloud. (Even though, looking back at previous Picks of the Week, I see that NYC is the subtext of a lot of our reading. Oops.)

The first book we read was:

Honestly, it’s a bit too simple for a read-aloud for a newly-minted 5th grader. But I’d never read it either so, what the heck.

Next up was:

Yes, an unusual choice, I’ll admit it. But Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters is one of my own top 5 favorite books. So once again, what the heck.

Third:

By the same author as A Cricket in Time Square—George Selden who is, I think, somewhat overlooked of late. Which is a pity. Because this is one the most uproariously funny books I’ve read, plus it’s all about magic, and New York City. So really, it’s got everything. Plus this: a cover illustration by Leo and Diane Dillon, who live, or lived, around the corner from us. So it’s also a neighborhood book, from our perspective.

Finally, we’re on to this:

Yes, four books, two authors, although I didn’t really plan this; it just sort of evolved.

Ada has loved each book, even though A Cricket in Times Square was a little young, and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters was a bit advanced (less so after I gave Ada an  introduction to the Glass family)—although The Genie of Sutton Place and The Catcher in the Rye have proved to be just right. Besides the fact of their New York-ness, they have something else in common. What Ada says she likes about each of them is their characters: the devoted animal friends in the first case; the ridiculous sturdy complaining-ness of the matron of honor, in particular, in the second; the pathos of the dog-turned-human, and the exuberance of the genie in the third; and finally: Holden and his cursing.

Do you have any favorite New York City read-alouds? Write in and let me know!