Read Aloud Review – The Good Thieves
Ever since my kids were little I have loved reading aloud to them. While I loved reading Bedtime for Tad a million times, I am so glad that my kids (3 out of 4) are now in the chapter book phase. There are so many great books out there that I can’t wait to read to them. The kids and I read some books during the day and we speed through them rather quickly. Other books, like The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell, we save to read in the car and at night so Rob can enjoy them with us.
I keep a running list of books that I want to read aloud to the kids, but this book wasn’t on that list. Nope. This book just caught my eye as I was perusing the “new” section at our library. The title and the cover image caught my eye, so I grabbed it and read the inside cover. It sounded good, so I checked it out, and decided to make it our next read aloud, and I’m so glad I did.
We loved the themes of friendship, family and loyalty that were interlaced throughout the story. The story was set in the 1930s and there were lots of historical references that generated great discussions. We were able to talk about prohibition, speakeasies, and racial inequality.
The Good Thieves is geared for upper elementary-age students, and I’m glad that we read it together as a family because there were several things that I wanted to discuss as we read it. We talked about orphans, moral decisions, and gray areas. Lots of great character-building opportunities.
Rundell did a great job with character development and made it easy for the reader to identify with the strong characters. We found the story to be both funny and heartwarming and finished the book confident that kids can do amazing things.
Let us know if you’ve read The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell and what you thought. If you have any book suggestions for us to add to our running list, leave those in the comments below as well.
36 Comments
Beth Shields
nice to have the review and I like that you read them together. Thanks for the suggestion.
Crystal
Looks like a very interesting book!
Tricia Snow
I never thought about reading in the car. What a great suggestion! And the book looks great too!
Douglas J.
Our son is in grade 6. We will have to check it out.
Danielle Ardizzone
Sounds great!
Holly
Great review! I always appreciate honest reviews so I dont was8mpney on a bad book!
Lisa Manderino
We haven’t read this one but I love a good recommendation!
Kim
My daughter read this! She really enjoyed it. However, now I wish we would have read it together.
Kirsten
Thanks for the suggestion! We’re always looking for new books to add to our collection.
Debbie
How wonderful for your kids that you consistently read aloud to them.
Lee Anne
Sounds like a great book to start conversations!
Lisa Maslyk
Great book for my nieces!
Linda Egeler
I love reading aloud, too, and I was unfamiliar with this book. Adding it to my list! Reading aloud in the car is such a good idea.
Eva Keller
What a neat sounding book. This one probably would’ve grabbed my attention at that age.
heather J jandrue
It looks good. I am going to tell my son about it.
Kendra
This sounds like such a great book for that upper elementary age group. We’re all adults, teens, and toddlers around here currently.
Diane Kurzava
My grandkids are either too young or too old for this book, but it looks like one I’ll have to get and put away to read later.
Charlene
Thanks for the review! I’m always looking for good reads for my students. I’ll take a look at this one.
Santana
Our daughter is only 3 months old right now, but maybe I will grab a copy for when she is older. I hope she’s a book worm like me.
Tonya | the Writer Mom
I’ve never heard of this book, but it sounds like it provided a great learning opportunity for the kiddos. I’ll keep it in mind for when my girls are a little older!
Sandi
I love that you go to the library for your kids books. I think it is important for them to be exposed to the library and all they have to offer.
Katherine Wolfe
My son is 13 and we still do read alouds! I LOVE that time with him,
I’ve never heard of this book and am interested in checking it out. Thanks for the review!
Sara W
My oldest is 11 and sometimes I will do a separate read aloud with him and we alternate reading the chapters aloud. I hope he’s never too old to let me read with him because I enjoy it so much. We have such great discussions when we read together. Right now we are reading Number the Stars which is bringing up great discussions about the Holocaust.
Cindy
I’ve not heard of this book. Sounds like a good read! I loved reading to my children when they were small.
Alice
Sounds like a great book to read and discuss with kids!
Tiffany
I love book recommendations! I have been buying books from local bookstores over the last few months as a way to help out and give back to small businesses!
Sara W
I love this idea.
Melissa Jones
Thanks for sharing!
Ruth Iaela-Pukahi
I’ve seen this book! Possibly one of the new books that came in to our school library… I’ll have to go find it and read it now! Thank you.
Jennifer Van Haitsma
This sounds like a good one. Both of mine are bookworms. They’re only 5 and 3, so I’ll have to keep this in mind for the future.
Tracy
Great review, I’ll have to check this out
Maya
Thank you for the great review! Going to have to add this to the list for sure.
Leslie W.
I need to put this on our list! 🙂
Jess
I don’t think my kids are quiet ready for this, but i May read it myself. It sounds good!
Laila
Awesome! I’ll be adding this to our summer reading list!
Sara W
Great! Hope you enjoy it.