Looking for a lovely read aloud for elementary students? The Ramble Shamble Children by Christina Soontornvat is a perfect fit. The five ramble shamble children live together in a ramble shamble house. When they see a proper house in a storybook, they ponder whether their home needs changes. The changes they make don’t turn out quite as they’d expected, and lessons are learned in the process.
Christina Soontornvat’s writing and world building are reminiscent of those classic stories where children live in a world of their own. The characters are memorable and the story is charming. Lauren Castillo’s illustrations bring the world to life in a beautiful way.
My third-grade students loved reading about the ramble shamble children and their ramble shamble house. When asked about their takeaways, they shared:
- “The kids thought they needed to change their house to be perfect, but their family made it perfect all along.”
- “The illustrations are BEAUTIFUL!”
- “This story felt like magic.”
- “I loved it!” ❤️📚
