There are all kinds of reasons I have not gotten to this post, not the least of which is, I am not a boy. But, I recently got some input from my brother, John, who is, if anything, more of a book fiend than I am and he gave me some books to contribute to the Best Books for Boys. Some of them I had never heard of!
Unfortunately, some of what I consider to be the Best General Books are what ought to really go under Best Books for Boys and I'm afraid that if I don't put them in this list, boys will think they don't need to read them. So, I'm going to repeat some.
So, here, in no particular order, are 10 of the Best Books for Boys:
1)My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George. A boy runs away from home and is very deliberate and thoughtful about learning how to live off the land.
2) Farley Mowat books. He writes books for children as well as adults about animals that are real, not anthropomorphic. Most famous are Owls in the Family, about a family with two owls for pets and Hatchet, about a boy whose small plane crash lands in Alaska and the pilot is killed. He survives with the hatchet he just received. Farley Mowat's adult book Never Cry Wolf was made into a movie and I imagine it would make a good read for boys.
3) Beverly Cleary books. The best ones for boys are the Henry Huggins books and Ralph, the mouse books. Henry Huggins was the first book that my son read for his own amusement.
4) Mark Twain. I haven't read anything of his I didn't like. Some of it is tongue in cheek and some is quite serious. But, since boys are often the main characters (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper) there is a lot of appeal for the young men in your house.
5) The Call of the Wild. Jack London is great but this one is my favorite.
6) Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and its sequel Catriona.
7) My brother's all-time favorite book as a boy -- Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman. It's about a boy whose father dies climbing in the Alps and he decides to climb the mountain in memory of his father.
8) Stalky & Co., Rudyard Kipling. I know a lot of Kipling: this one I don't. But, my brother recommends it and that's good enough for me.
9) Another recommendation from my brother is Matt Christopher books. John says they aren't great literature, but they are books about sports and are enjoyable for boys.
10) G. A. Henty was considered one of THE writers for boys and was copied by many other authors. These are historical fiction. There is a certain amount of racism, but the main characters are always admirable young men and women.
Showing posts with label book lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book lists. Show all posts
Monday, March 30, 2020
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
The Best Books for Girls
This whole blog series started because a friend asked me what books I recommended for her daughter, who is the fourth of five children and the only girl. They have plenty of boy books in their house but no girl books. My favorite books came from my grandmother, either as gifts or because I found them in her house. Most of these are discoveries from her.
Before we begin, you may ask why I did not include Little House on the Prairie or Elsie Dinsmore. I did not for two opposite reasons. Little House books are so classic and valuable that they are not restricted to girls (my 13 year old son has been taking them out of the library to listen to.) Elsie books, on the other hand, are contrived and forced. They are fairly well written, but I imagine very few children are as persecuted as she is at the same time coddled the way she is, never having put on her own stockings! The later ones are better, to my mind. So, here are my recommendations.
1 -- The Hundred Dresses -- Eleanor Estes. She is a wonderful writer. I'll talk about her books more in a later post. This book is a shorter one but it discusses the difficulties of a poor Polish girl who lives in a small town where her classmates make fun of her and how the other girls learn to be more thoughtful.
2 -- The Goat in the Rug -- Charles L. Blood and Martin Link. This is a short story that is a one-off of a Navajo woman making a goat's wool rug from start to finish -- from the goat's perspective. I just like it.
3 -- Heidi -- Johanna Spyri. You can't beat it. It's got everything: poor orphan, grumpy grandpa, animals, getting to run free in the mountains, Christian growth, a poor little rich girl, rich city house and miraculous healing of body and relationships. It's at the top of my list of girls' chapter books.
4 -- Little Women -- really, anything by Louisa May Alcott. They are fun, the characters are vivid and relatable, even today, and the goal is to be good, even knowing the characters' flaws. After Little Women, you may want to read:
5 -- Eight Cousins and its sequel, Rose in Bloom. There is also:
6 -- Jack and Jill. All of these are great for homeschoolers because the characters are almost all homeschooled! So was Louisa May Alcott. As a result, you get the usual unusual mix of ages and sexes in the interactions of the characters that is typical of homeschoolers.
7 -- Rumer Godden books. The first one my grandmother gave me at Christmas in San Fransisco when I was eight was The Dolls' House. If you are interested in including a little fun Japanese culture, she wrote Miss Happiness and Miss Flower and its sequel, Little Plum. Home is the Sailor was one that I read to my boys -- twice! -- because it is about a boy doll in a dolls house who promises to find the older brother doll and the father doll that were lost. He does. They are full of what might be called, "nursery fantasy," the notion that dolls have lives we are not aware of. However, they can only influence the children who play with them by wishing -- read, praying.
8 -- Carol Ryrie Brink. She wrote Caddie Woodlawn, a historical novel about Brink's real-life aunt, and Baby Island.
9 -- Frances Hodgson Burnett. Her three amazing children classics are A Little Princess, The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. All three fall into what I would call the "orphan fantasy" genre. Though they all take place in England, the author is actually from the American South and these books were based on her fantasies as a poor young girl. However, they are beautifully written.
10 -- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Joan Aiken. She is incredibly prolific but her stories are somewhat farfetched. But, I always like this one. Your children may like to read more of them.
Before we begin, you may ask why I did not include Little House on the Prairie or Elsie Dinsmore. I did not for two opposite reasons. Little House books are so classic and valuable that they are not restricted to girls (my 13 year old son has been taking them out of the library to listen to.) Elsie books, on the other hand, are contrived and forced. They are fairly well written, but I imagine very few children are as persecuted as she is at the same time coddled the way she is, never having put on her own stockings! The later ones are better, to my mind. So, here are my recommendations.
1 -- The Hundred Dresses -- Eleanor Estes. She is a wonderful writer. I'll talk about her books more in a later post. This book is a shorter one but it discusses the difficulties of a poor Polish girl who lives in a small town where her classmates make fun of her and how the other girls learn to be more thoughtful.
2 -- The Goat in the Rug -- Charles L. Blood and Martin Link. This is a short story that is a one-off of a Navajo woman making a goat's wool rug from start to finish -- from the goat's perspective. I just like it.
3 -- Heidi -- Johanna Spyri. You can't beat it. It's got everything: poor orphan, grumpy grandpa, animals, getting to run free in the mountains, Christian growth, a poor little rich girl, rich city house and miraculous healing of body and relationships. It's at the top of my list of girls' chapter books.
4 -- Little Women -- really, anything by Louisa May Alcott. They are fun, the characters are vivid and relatable, even today, and the goal is to be good, even knowing the characters' flaws. After Little Women, you may want to read:
5 -- Eight Cousins and its sequel, Rose in Bloom. There is also:
6 -- Jack and Jill. All of these are great for homeschoolers because the characters are almost all homeschooled! So was Louisa May Alcott. As a result, you get the usual unusual mix of ages and sexes in the interactions of the characters that is typical of homeschoolers.
7 -- Rumer Godden books. The first one my grandmother gave me at Christmas in San Fransisco when I was eight was The Dolls' House. If you are interested in including a little fun Japanese culture, she wrote Miss Happiness and Miss Flower and its sequel, Little Plum. Home is the Sailor was one that I read to my boys -- twice! -- because it is about a boy doll in a dolls house who promises to find the older brother doll and the father doll that were lost. He does. They are full of what might be called, "nursery fantasy," the notion that dolls have lives we are not aware of. However, they can only influence the children who play with them by wishing -- read, praying.
8 -- Carol Ryrie Brink. She wrote Caddie Woodlawn, a historical novel about Brink's real-life aunt, and Baby Island.
9 -- Frances Hodgson Burnett. Her three amazing children classics are A Little Princess, The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. All three fall into what I would call the "orphan fantasy" genre. Though they all take place in England, the author is actually from the American South and these books were based on her fantasies as a poor young girl. However, they are beautifully written.
10 -- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Joan Aiken. She is incredibly prolific but her stories are somewhat farfetched. But, I always like this one. Your children may like to read more of them.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
The Best Books for Kids -- Early Chapter Books
Of course, with books, there are all different levels and different areas of interest. I'll be doing four more lists: General easy, General difficult, Books for Girls, Books for Boys. Here are our General easy chapter books.
1) Winnie-the Pooh! My favorite! Of course, it is classic Pooh, not Disney, and includes Winnie-the Pooh, the House at Pooh Corner, and poetry books (loads of fun!) When We Were Very Young and Now We are Six.
2) Charlotte's Web. This is the #1 bestselling children's paperback worldwide. It's a must. Along with that is E.B. White's other children's books, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.
3) Basil of Baker Street. These are the stories the The Great Mouse Detective was based on. They are a mouse community that lives belowstairs from Sherlock Holmes. Basil models himself on Holmes!
4) The Rescuers. More anthropomorphic mouse stories that created Disney spinoffs. It is wonderful how the mice consider it to be their mission in life to support and encourage prisoners, just like St. Valentine in ancient Rome.
5) The Cricket in Times Square. More mice. But, it gives a taste of the inner city in New York along with classical music and the natural history of crickets!
6) William Steig. He writes stories about anthropomorphic animals such as Abel's Island, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and -- Shrek!
7) The Littles. For everyone who has ever imagined little people running around the house.
8) The Borrowers. More of the above.
9) Little Bear. This should probably go in the easy reader category, but it works here, too. Lovely pictures, simple stories.
10) Time Cat. Lloyd Alexander wrote a bunch of wonderful books, but this one was the first that I ever discovered. It is about a time-traveling cat who takes his master into nine different historical places. I learned so much out of this book. I still read it with my kids.
1) Winnie-the Pooh! My favorite! Of course, it is classic Pooh, not Disney, and includes Winnie-the Pooh, the House at Pooh Corner, and poetry books (loads of fun!) When We Were Very Young and Now We are Six.
2) Charlotte's Web. This is the #1 bestselling children's paperback worldwide. It's a must. Along with that is E.B. White's other children's books, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.
3) Basil of Baker Street. These are the stories the The Great Mouse Detective was based on. They are a mouse community that lives belowstairs from Sherlock Holmes. Basil models himself on Holmes!
4) The Rescuers. More anthropomorphic mouse stories that created Disney spinoffs. It is wonderful how the mice consider it to be their mission in life to support and encourage prisoners, just like St. Valentine in ancient Rome.
5) The Cricket in Times Square. More mice. But, it gives a taste of the inner city in New York along with classical music and the natural history of crickets!
6) William Steig. He writes stories about anthropomorphic animals such as Abel's Island, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and -- Shrek!
7) The Littles. For everyone who has ever imagined little people running around the house.
8) The Borrowers. More of the above.
9) Little Bear. This should probably go in the easy reader category, but it works here, too. Lovely pictures, simple stories.
10) Time Cat. Lloyd Alexander wrote a bunch of wonderful books, but this one was the first that I ever discovered. It is about a time-traveling cat who takes his master into nine different historical places. I learned so much out of this book. I still read it with my kids.
The Best Books for Kids -- Early Books
A friend recently asked me for a list of girls' books because she has one daughter in houseful of boys. As you may know from my previous articles, I am nuts about books! The best books came from my grandmother, who was an English and Speech teacher. I either found them in her house or she gave them to me. So, I am going to give you my ten favorite books by category, either by author or title.
The first category is Easy, but I'm assuming your kids are pretty good readers.
1) Mother Goose. Can't top this. The kids love the rhythm and rhyme. I saw Mother Goose's grave in Boston at the age of nine and was completely thrilled. I didn't know she was a real person!
2) Grimms' Fairy Tales. Don't get the Disney version. The import is lost if Little Red Riding Hood doesn't get eaten.
3) Ferdinand. I discovered this as a child. I just love the artwork and the "sit just quietly."
4) James Arnosky. He writes non-fiction about nature and does the watercolor illustrations himself. It is quiet and beautiful.
5) Robert McCloskey. Remember Blueberries for Sal? Make Way for Ducklings? That's him.
6) Thomas the Tank Engine. The early days. It is fun with flawed characters and a message about pleasing God. The later books dropped away from the message to simple entertainment.
7) Llama, Llama, Red Pajama. My daughter loves reading this with her kids. The rhythm, rhyme, and typical conflict (going to bed) are wonderful for developing relationship with your kids.
8) Beatrix Potter. Of course! Greatest adventure stories in the nursery!
9) ABC books, especially Handmade Alphabet. I started teaching my kids reading from a curriculum. By kid number 4, I was teaching them just with ABC books. Handmade Alphabet has no words but has beautiful colored pencil drawings of hands in the International Manual alphabet. My later kids learned the manual alphabet along with the printed alphabet and it helped their decoding tremendously.
10) Dr. Seuss. We couldn't do without him. The first books I remember reading were Green Eggs and Ham and Hop On Pop. Historically, he rejuvenated the phonics method of reading and got us out of the purgatory of Dick and Jane.
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The first category is Easy, but I'm assuming your kids are pretty good readers.
1) Mother Goose. Can't top this. The kids love the rhythm and rhyme. I saw Mother Goose's grave in Boston at the age of nine and was completely thrilled. I didn't know she was a real person!
2) Grimms' Fairy Tales. Don't get the Disney version. The import is lost if Little Red Riding Hood doesn't get eaten.
3) Ferdinand. I discovered this as a child. I just love the artwork and the "sit just quietly."
4) James Arnosky. He writes non-fiction about nature and does the watercolor illustrations himself. It is quiet and beautiful.
5) Robert McCloskey. Remember Blueberries for Sal? Make Way for Ducklings? That's him.
6) Thomas the Tank Engine. The early days. It is fun with flawed characters and a message about pleasing God. The later books dropped away from the message to simple entertainment.
7) Llama, Llama, Red Pajama. My daughter loves reading this with her kids. The rhythm, rhyme, and typical conflict (going to bed) are wonderful for developing relationship with your kids.
8) Beatrix Potter. Of course! Greatest adventure stories in the nursery!
9) ABC books, especially Handmade Alphabet. I started teaching my kids reading from a curriculum. By kid number 4, I was teaching them just with ABC books. Handmade Alphabet has no words but has beautiful colored pencil drawings of hands in the International Manual alphabet. My later kids learned the manual alphabet along with the printed alphabet and it helped their decoding tremendously.
10) Dr. Seuss. We couldn't do without him. The first books I remember reading were Green Eggs and Ham and Hop On Pop. Historically, he rejuvenated the phonics method of reading and got us out of the purgatory of Dick and Jane.
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