I�m still waiting on summer reading recommendations from some of you, but in the mean time, here�s a list pirated from ABDMom. Below is the NEA�s (that�s the National Education Association, not the National Endowment for the Arts) top 100 children�s books. Titles in bold old I have read myself. Those in I have read with AJ. Those in both categories are both bolded and italicized. Many of my favorite books are on here, including the one that is the source of my online persona. But, as ABD Mom pointed out, there are some notable omissions. She mentioned the Betsy-Tacy books, which I adored. But there are many others: Carol Ryrie Brink�s Caddie Woodlawn, Frances Hodgson Burnett�s The Little Princess, Beverly Cleary�s Henry Huggins, Walter R. Brooks� Freddy the Detective. Marjorie Flack�s The Story of Ping and the Angus books, Dodie Smith�s The 101 Dalmatians (so much better than the Disney version), the Nancy Drew books (I had an old set of the originals from the 1930s that were my grandmother�s), Arlene Mosel�s Tikki Tikki Tembo, Rudyard Kipling�s Just So Stories, Mary Norton�s The Borrower, Lucretia Hale�s The Peterkin Papers, Little Babaji (a wonderful book that takes the good parts of the old Little Black Sambo tale and leaves the racist remarks out), Margaret Sydney�s The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, the wonderful works of E.L. Konigsberg (my favorites were �Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me Elizabeth� and �A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver,� a fantastic book about Eleanor of Aquitaine), he Harry Potter books, Noel Streatfeild�s �Shoes� series (especially Ballet Shoes), Encyclopedia Brown. Most of these (and many on the list below) were things my own mother had read that she passed on to me -- the family legacy of children�s literature. Still, the NEA�s list is a pretty good one. I was amazed at not only how many I�d read, but how many we have in this house somewhere. 1. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White 2. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg 3. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (this is reportedly the first book I ever read by myself) 4. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss 5. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak 6. Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch (this book makes me cry) (this book creeps me out) 7. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein 8. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle 9. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls 10. The Mitten by Jan Brett 11. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown 12. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen 13. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis 14. Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein 15. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson 16. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon 17.Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss (Ok, so I read this as an adult, but it was pre-Pistola. This is currently one of the two books she demands at bedtime) 18. Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola 19. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst 20. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr. 21. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl 22. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams 23. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 24. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 25. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss (I own a copy of this in Latin. How much of a geek am I>) 26. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka 27. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault 28. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder29. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 30. The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne (I�ve read them all, but AJ�s just heard a few so far) 31. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner 32. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (I think I read this one as an adult) 33. Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks 34. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (This, along with My Side of the Mountain, was a bible for me when I was a kid. I used to have fantasies about wilderness abandonment. Yeah, I was a weird kid. 35. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli 36. The BFG by Roald Dahl (I have never read this one, but I�ve read most of his other kids books) 37. The Giver by Lois Lowry 38. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff 39. James and the Giant Peach: A Children's Story by Roald Dahl 40. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder 41. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor 42. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien 43. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss 44. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner 45. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry 46. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien 47. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (I read it every Christmas Eve. I know I�ve written an entry about this at some point, but I�m too lazy to look for it) 48. The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister 49. Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman 50. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson 51. Corduroy by Don Freeman (This is probably on AJ�s top 10 list 52. Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg 53. Math Curse by Jon Scieszka 54. Matilda by Roald Dahl 55. Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls 56. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume 57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (I can�t wait to read about Henry Huggins and Ramona with AJ) 58. The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White 59. Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman 60. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (Hey, wasn�t the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe already on this list somewhere?) 61. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey 62. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss 63. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (Another of my childhood favorites. There was a wonderful animated film made of this that I�d love to see again.) 64. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (I gave this to AJ 65. The Napping House by Audrey Wood 66. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig 67. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter 68. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt 69. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum 70. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (I liked the Emily books even better than the Anne books) 71. Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss 72. Basil of Baker Street, by Eve Titus 73. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper 74. The Cay by Theodore Taylor 75. Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey 76. Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox 77. Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown 78. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson 79. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes 80. Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder 81. The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton 82. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown 83. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar 84. Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish 85. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (well, duh!) 86. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein 87. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater 88. My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett 89. Stuart Little by E. B. White 90. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech 91. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare 92. The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola 93. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina 94. Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell 95. Heidi by Johanna Spyri (I liked Cornelli better, but it�s hard to find) 96. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss 97. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare 98. The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis 99. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney 100. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch [Second entry today� click back to see how AJ deals with screaming 7 year old girls]
0 people said it like they meant it |
|