Both Berenstain Bears and Marc Brown's Arthur have a series of "chapter books" that deal with everyday problems of the pre-adolescent. Might be worth looking into.
My students also love
Hank the Cowdog and
The Babysitter's Club.
I would add the nonfiction of Gail Gibbons and Franklyn Branley,
The Magic School Bus Series and
The Magic Tree House Series for the 5-9 children. Also any really well illustrated books on Mythology.
Message edited by its author, Feb 1, 2008, 4:45pm.
I think you also need to include something by Shel Silverstein, like The Giving Tree or a collection like Where the Sidewalk Ends
Message edited by its author, Feb 1, 2008, 7:47pm.
I agree with Shel Silverstein, I loved his stuff when I was around 7 and 8.
Not classics, but the Ramona Books, or other Beverly Cleary books. I loved these when I was a kid.
Also the Little House books.
For boys in particular how about the
Great Brain books by John Fitzgerald? They have been favorites of both my husband and son.
ToReadToNap: Just going by what the kids like to have read to them.
Richard Scarry is also formulaic but what kid doesn't enjoy it :) I'd guess that nearly every child today has Bob the Builder or Dora and Diego on their shelves. Dr Seuss and Maurice Sendak my little ones have. Can you give any good titles for the other authors you've listed? As for the other list, having read nearly all those authors, in my opinion you'd have to be nearly 10 or more to read them and appreciate them. I can't see a 6 year having the attention span to sit through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets--though they are must haves for an older child.
I know 5-6yo's who will sit through
Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, Laura Ingalls Wilder,
Mary Norton,
Eleanor Estes, E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, Dick King-Smith,
Tove Jansson, Esther Averill,
L. Frank Baum, and many others.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in particular is neither long nor terribly complex (though
Fantastic Mr. Fox,
The Twits, and
The BFG are better introductions to Dahl). There are some fantastic suggestions for gentle read-alouds at Ambleside Online.
http://www.amblesideonline.org/New.shtml"Under 10" is obviously a broad range. Essential books for a 3 year old are quite different from a 5 year old or a 7 year old, etc. And, in my experience, books which are essential for girls may be a tough sell for boys.
In any case, I'd add all of the
Frog and Toad books, and
The Phantom Tollbooth to the list.
In my experience, these are some instant winners by these accomplished authors:
Margeret Wise Brown:
Goodnight Moon,
The Diggers,
Big Red BarnMo Willems:
Knuffle Bunny,
Leonardo the Terrible Monster,
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,
Denise Fleming:
In the Small, Small Pond,
Time to Sleep,
In the Tall, Tall GrassSandra Boynton:
Moo, Baa, Lalala,
Barnyard DanceNo one has mentioned My Father's Dragon by Gannett. Wonderful and never fails to interest.
A light in the attic by Shel Silverstein - I've had this book for about 25 years and still love it.
Any of the
Just William books by Richmal Crompton - they are hilarious.
The Reluctant Vampire by Eric Morecambe is very good and very funny - a mix up at the hospital means the vampires bring home the wrong baby.
The Great Ghost Rescue by Eva Ibbotson - spooky, funny and with a heart.
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm by Robert C O'Brien - classic story that's really moving.
Any
Mr Gum book by Andy Stanton - new books but my brothers kids love them, they are surreal and funny.
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild - this is funny and very uplifting, a proper story of family life for three adopted orphans in the 1930's.
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson - Tales of the Moomin Family and their very unusual friends.
Mrs Pepperpot by Alf Proysen - when Mrs Pepperpot sneezes she shrinks to the size of a pepperpot and has adventures.
Message edited by its author, Feb 10, 2008, 7:47pm.
Oooh... we loved Mrs. Pepperpot.
For older children who like myths, the series containing
Phone Home, Persephone by Kate McMullan is very funny.
I forgot another one, any
Paddington Bear book by Michael Bond. Those stories used to make me laugh so much and now I read them to my brothers kids and they love them too.
2martins, I'm glad you mentioned
Mrs. Pigglewiggle by Betty MacDonald. A second-grade teachers in town (where I work in the library) got her students hooked on Mrs. Pigglewiggle and those books circulate constantly! It's great when a teacher introduces young kids to "older" books and a whole new generation discovers them.
Also, I second
Daniel Pinkwate. And dare I say it....Dav Pilkey as well!
Just remember that many Newbery winners verge on YA so chose carefully with a particular child in mind as some would be better for 12-14 year olds.
mess 28. If the criteria is that the child must be able to read these books on their own then I would count out many Newbery. But I have many books on my list because the 10 year old would love to have them read to him/her.
I haven't this much fun in ages. It is a new book that I met in the library today. I go in to help our elementary school librarian and the kids were going off the wall for this book and when I started reading it I knew why they couldn't contain themselves.
Have you ever watched how a kid looked when they held a new Harry Potter book. They loved all the hundreds of pages and I don't know, it made them feel smart to be able to read such a thick book? Well, now kindergarteners can get that same rush with
The Invention of Hugo Cabret By Brian Selznick. It is a very clever picture book / graphic novel. Fourth graders were bragging that they could read all 533 pages in one day. Yes, it definitely has more pictures (284 pages) then words, but a picture can tell a thousand words, right? Best of all, kids want to read it and anything that gets young readers into this sport is A+ on my reading list. From the kids,"As good as a new video game." Beat that, play- box-station... whatever! :D
Message edited by its author, Apr 3, 2008, 3:18pm.
lol, i know what you mean! competing with video games and tv and everything is so hard, especially when the kids' parents don't encourage reading themselves! i always tell kids to read the book before seeing the movie, and i actually had a mom laugh at me and tell their kid that movies were better than books because reading takes longer! =0 i was stunned!!! if i wasn't working i would've totally gone off on her, some parents just blow me away sometimes...
My 6 year old son adores all the Bel Mooney books:
It's Not Fair! Why Me? Why Not? I Don't Want to! I Know! I Can't Find It! etc.. (You get the picture.) They are great because they allow him to understand and laugh at himself. I read them to him at first but he tackles them on his own now.
I also read him
The World According to Humphrey series recently which we both love. Any child who's into cute animals (Humphrey is a hamster) will relate to him and all his adventures and thoughts on the world. He voices many of the feelings that kids themselves have about grown-ups, classmates, life at school. They're really lovely books.
My twin ten year olds are avid readers too and since we got
The Ultimate Book Guide (for 8-12 year olds) by
Daniel Hahn et al, we haven't had a single miss. It is the BEST ever guide, which gathers together all the favourite reads (both modern and classic) of many well-known authors and lists age suitability as well as general descriptions and cross-references with other likely books of interest. Apparently they do a younger version for 0-7 olds and an older version for teenagers too. Great stuff.
Message edited by its author, Jul 1, 2008, 9:24am.
How has no one mentioned Babar by Jean de Brunhoff! The whole collection of original books can be found together in
Bonjour Babar! I think this is a must have for any child, and many adults should have a copy to. What's so wonderful about these books is that bad things happen and problems need to be resolved, which teaches children that while the world might not be perfect, anything is surmountable with good friends and a loving family.
My 8 year old has really gotten into Calvin and Hobbes. A few years ago, he was really into Edward Lear. He has also read tons of the Magic Tree House series, but I think he's gone a bit beyond them now.
Two excellent books that my 4 year old and I have enjoyed reading together are Little Golden Books by Margaret Wise Brown,
The Sailor Dog and
The Friendly Book. The illustrations, done in a very old-timey style by Garth Williams, are absolutely fascinating.
Hiya,
I agree, eastofoz, I was thinking peter rabbit too, when I was a young kid(I'm nearly 15 now) I loved loved Peter rabbit! Jemima puddleduck was my fave.
And yeah, Matilda is a good book. What about Roald dahl books? I've only read Matilda though and I love it!
Jen
x
I have 3 published books from "All God's Critters Series" that are recommended reading for children under the age of 10. Rave reviews for all 3...lowest rating 4.4/5...and wonderful comments from readers.
Please check out the videos and books on my personal site at:
http://www.mybingobooks.com.
Blessings;
Jay Miller
Inspirational Writer of Children Literature
I love the Lois Lenski books and my kids have too.
Beatrix Potter is definitely important.
We've also enjoyed
Maj Lindman books, Marguerite De Angeli books, and
The Child's Book of Stories covers so many excellent classic stories.
PowerTales is an excellent series of biographies my kids have enjoyed.
We've enjoyed most of the
D'Aulaire books too.
And last but not least
The Child's Story Bible. These are just what I come up with off the top of my head.
Daphne
I read aloud to my daughter every night until she was in 5th grade. We read and enjoyed so many...
Winnie the Pooh; at age 5 she would randomly quote passages
Little House in the Big Woodset al
The Secret Garden (then we went to see the Broadway musical}
Little WomenA Little PrincessAnd of course, when she was little so many picture books I can't even remember...I worked in the children's dept. of the public library & brought home so many books!
She just became a mom, and one of my gifts to her was a basket full of board books:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar;
Pat the Bunny; Big Red Barn amongst them.
My son, sadly, not so much! He never had the attention span to listen to novels as he got older.
:( To this day, he's not much of a reader, unless you count Sports Illustrated and Mad Magazine!
My 8 year old is just mad for
The Phantom Tollbooth. They were reading it aloud in his class, but he decided he wanted to read it himself to get the maximum effect from the wordplay.
I'm thinking of starting
The Wind in the Willows for my four year old, who is as crazy about animals as his brother was about knights (in those long-ago happy days before Pokemon and Mario Brothers....).
Per my message #40, above, the little one and I found a used copy of Brown/Williams's The Sleepy Book this morning, which we will read for afternoon rest time. I may be more excited about it than he is!
My essential picturebooks list:
Nothing Ever Happens on My Block (Ellen Raskin)
Harold And The Purple Crayon (Crockett Johnson)
Rosie’s Walk (Pat Hutchins)
Little Blue and Little Yellow (Leo Lionni)
Yo! Yes? (Chris Raschka)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick)
Shortcut (David Macaulay)
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (Smith-Scieszka)
Click Clack Moo is ADORABLE!!!
Oh yes, the Magic Treehouse by Mary Pope Osborne, I think that series is suitable for all children until age 8?
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