Friday, August 1, 2008

Favorite Books for Children/Teens

Here is my list of favorite books for children - some were my favorites as a child/teen, some have become new favorites...books I've only come across since I got married and or had children of my own (I've put an asterisk next to those ones). I'm sure there are more - but these are the ones that I can remember now.

You will note that there are a lot of mysteries - I still enjoy them. Very few animal type books - which I generally despise and always have. I do not like Dr. Seuss books and only have two listed below.

My philosophy on books for children:

1. Books for children do not have to be dreadful for the adults reading them! If I'm going to read a book to the kids, regardless of their ages - I want it to be one that does not drive me crazy in the process!
2. Read to your kids a lot.
3. Don't only read age appropriate books to your kids. It's OK for the 5 yr old to sit in on a reading to the 10 yr old.
4. Read fiction and non-fiction.
5. Utilize your public library to the fullest - but also have a good selection of books at home.
6. For homeschooling I prefer to use "living books" for most subjects. What is a living book? I found this definition on a website..."Living books are usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style. The books pull you into the subject and involve your emotions, so it’s easy to remember the events and facts. Living books make the subject “come alive.” They can be contrasted to dry writing, like what is found in most encyclopedias or textbooks, which basically lists informational facts in summary form."

An Edward Lear Alphabet*
Betsy Tacy*
Bill Peet books*
Bread and Jam for Frances*
Cheaper by the Dozen*
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs*
Frog & Toad*
Gone Away Lake* & Return to Gone Away Lake*
Island Boy*
Linnea in Monet's Garden*
Locust Pocust*
Lord of the Flies*
Mud Pies and Other Recipes*
More Spaghetti, I Say!*
My Side of the Mountain*
One Thumb, One Thumb, Drumming on a Drum*
Owl at Home*
One Morning in Maine*
Rabbit and Skunk and the Scary Rock (Carla Stevens)*
Roxaboxen*
Some Little Golden Books (Theodore Mouse Goes to Sea, Dr. Dan, We Help Mommy, We Help Daddy, The New Baby)*
Snowflake Bentley*
Stellaluna*
The Hundred Dresses*
The Ox-Cart Man*
The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe*
Uncle Wiggly*

A Child's Garden of Verse
Anne of Green Gables
Blueberries for Sal
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlotte's Web
Cherry Ames Mysteries
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Ginny Gordon Mysteries
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Hardy Boys
Heidi
Little House on the Prairie
Little Women
Love You Forever
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
Nancy Drew
Pippi Longstocking (I still remember Pippi's full name - Pippilotta Delicatessen Windowshade Emilie's Daughter Longstocking)
Robinson Crusoe
Swiss Family Robinson
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
The Boxcar Children
The Girl Who Owned A City
The Secret Garden
The Sea of Adventure by Enid Blyton
The Ship of Adventure by Enid Blyton
The Island of Adventure by Enid Blyton
The Tanglewood Secret
To Kill A Mockingbird
Tom Sawyer
Trixie Belden Mysteries
Winnie the Pooh

5 comments:

ames said...

Hooray, you did a children's books post too! The Chronicles of Narnia books and Stellaluna are also some of my favorite later-in-life discoveries too (did you get the copy that comes with the finger puppet? Adorable!).

What a great list, I'm going to have to check some of ones out for sure, thanks!

CanadianGrandma said...

Most of the books you read as a child are the ones that I enjoyed as a child too! How I love to read!

Kristen said...

What a great list. We've read some of those, but many we haven't! Thanks for the ideas.

Kiriel du Papillon said...

Where the wild things are is up there among my favourite children's books of all time. Sadly I missed out on reading it as a child, but when I became a child care worker I met this wonderful book and have never looked back. 'and they roared their terrible roars, and gnashed their terrible teeth until Max said "be still!" and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once'.

Blogger said...

QUANTUM BINARY SIGNALS

Get professional trading signals delivered to your mobile phone every day.

Start following our trades today & make up to 270% a day.