Let's talk children's classics

[daylily]

Do you think it's important for kids to read classic lit for kids? Which were your favorite classic books when you were growing up? If you could name one essential book (or series) that you thought all kids should read, what would it be?

As for me, I think the top essentials are:

1.The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
2.The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hogson Burnett
3.The Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
4.Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little by E.B. White
5. E. Nesbitt's series about the Bastable children, and her other one that starts with The Five Children and It
6.Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
7. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
8.Thimble Summer and The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
9.Susan Cooper's "Dark is Rising" series

If I had to pick one book or series that I felt all kids should read, it would be the Little House books.

[UnschoolnMa]

I have recommended many to the kids, but they read whatever they decide on. My son reads tons of adult fiction (he is a mythology, Sci-Fi, Fantasy nut) and my daughter loves stories of girls her own age doing cool things. Here is my list of good stuff (some you have on your list too! I bet we see some of these repeated a lot lol)
In no particular order:

1. The Secret Garden
2. Wrinkle in Time series
3. Dark is Rising series (my son is a huge Cooper fan)
4. His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman (son says it rocks lol)
5. Where the Red Fern Grows
6. Charlottes Web

There are more that I am forgetting. If I had to name just one I would say The Secret Garden. It's one of my very fave stories.

[stillnominivan]

I think there are fifteen books in the OZ series?
They have been our best book investment! They make reproductions of the original hardback series. Kinda pricey but I bought them one at a time over several years. We read and re-read them.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

[Plady]

I am a big fan of:

The Narnia series
Anne of Green Gables
Wind in the Willows
Paddington Stories
Winnie-the-Pooh (not the stupid Disney books!)

Also, while not exactly classic children's lit I devoured the Black Stallion series and that Misty of Chincoteague series.

My brother LOVED the Swallows and Amazons series about kids in the Lake Distrcit who sail around and have adventures.

[Victorian]

I like the ones mentioned (and need to read some of them) and I wanted to add:

Pippi Longstocking
A Cricket in Times Square E.B. White
Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White.
Little Women and the rest of that series (little men, ect.).
The Collected Works of Hans Christian Anderson
The Hobbit (and the LOTR for older children)
Lion, Witch and the Wordrobe series
The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
The Box Car Children
Nancy Drew Mysteries
Trixie Belton Series

I am sure there are more that I loved, will post more if I think of them.

V.

[lorijds]

What about classics that aren't necessarily for kids? I started reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" to my dd when she was 8, but it was a little too over her head, so we stopped. I think I'll try again when she is ten.

We didn't read all of the little house series, just the first two. My kids liked them, but didn't really want to read further. We read the first in the Narnia books, but then I started the second, and it was so violent (the uncle's army hunting down the nephew to kill him) that I didn't feel it was appropriate; we put it on the back burner and haven't picked them up again, though my kids are old enogh now for it (we read the first on when oldest dd was around 6 or so). The Secret Garden is one that we have enjoyed. There are some new books out called the Spiderwick Chronicles that my girls have really gotten into. Other classics? I can't really think of any right now that the girls have read and enjoyed. Oh, Shel Silverstein, of course. But alot of times I get a book that *I* think they should enjoy, and they end up being bored.

I agree that the Hobbit is fantastic; my girls sat through all of the LOTR books, my youngest was 5 when we read them. But I had read them a couple of times, and really understood what was going on and could explain things. I would sometimes skip a couple of paragraphs; Tolkien is so descriptive; sometimes that gets a little long for younger ones. But LOTR is great if you are a fantasy reader, because so much fantasy literature draws from LOTR; like the "Harry Potter" books, and the "Taran/Prydain" books from Lloyd Alexander. My girls love to point out LOTR influences in the other books that they read.

Maybe that is the point of the classics; to gain an understanding of the history of the author's experiences and influences; to deepen ones understanding of a character. Like my dd said -- Dementors are a heck of alot scarier when you think of them as relatives or reincarnations of Nazgul.

Lori

[Ann-Marita]

Originally Posted by Plady

Also, while not exactly classic children's lit I devoured the Black Stallion series and that Misty of Chincoteague series.

OT: I loved Misty of Chincoteague. But HOW do you pronounce Chincoteague?! I never did figure that out, ha ha.

[daylily]

Chincoteague: pronounced CHIN-co(long O)-teeg

Maybe that is the point of the classics; to gain an understanding of the history of the author's experiences and influences; to deepen ones understanding of a character.

I agree, only I feel it goes farther than that. Good quality fiction gives one a deeper understanding of human nature. It creates empathy. It helps us understand things we've never experienced and it also validates our own experiences.

[Daffodil]

If I were going to try to come up with a list of books all kids should read, it would probably include:

The Jungle Book
the Beatrix Potter stories (particularly The Tale of Mrs. Tiggywinkle and The Tale of Samuel Whiskers)
The Secret Garden and A Little Princess
Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

Maybe also the Mary Poppins series, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Peter Pan, and The Chronicles of Narnia. I'm tempted to include Little Women, but as much as I hate to make sexist assumptions, I have a hard time imagining any boy would enjoy it, and I suspect a lot of girls might find it boring, too.

[pickle it]

I also loved the Trixie Belden books.
I think as a child I was always reading one of the following: Little Women; The Wolves of Willoughby Chase; and Harriet the Spy. I was a read three or four books at the same time reader, so I would have other new ones going on at the same time, but I would always come back to those three.

It is soooo fun to shop for books for my DD that I haven't thought of for years, and remember the joy they brought me.

[ja mama]

We are currently reading Dr. Doolittle (the one that was reprinted in 1968) and it is sooo good! Both my 4.5 yo and I are really enjoying it.

[obeyacts2]

Oh....what a great topic!!!!!!!! My childhood faves were the 15 vol OZ series (read these during one long hot summer) Nancy Drew mysteries and when I was little, Dr Seuss books.

Laura

[JessicaS]

Some of my favorite books as a a child
Narnia Chronicles
Wrinkle in Time series
Ann of Green Gables series
The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hogson Burnet
Little Women Louisa May Alcott (makes you cry!)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Books by Jack London Call of Wild...ect
Tom Sawyer
Rudyard Kipling (Jungle Book, Captain's Courageous (may make kids cry))
Books by EB White (Charlottes Web (kids cry!) Trumpet of the Swan)
Bridge to Terabithia
Black Beauty
Books by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach
Where the Red Fern Grows (makes kids cry!)
Little Prince
Alice in Wonderland
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
Peter Pan
Around the World in 80 Days
Island of the Blue Dolphin (first chapter book I read)
Robin Hood
Treasure Island

Of these I believe the easier reads are
Chronicles of Narnia
Island of Blue Dolphin
Roald Dahl books
Mark Twain
Black Beauty
E. B. White

[jempd]

V ictorian, George Selden, not E.B. White, wrote The Cricket in Times Square. What a great book, huh. The same illustrator did that book and the original Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web so maybe that's why you connected them.

I would be repeating these lists to list my own favorites as a child (and I still love them) so I'll refrain.

[Ann-Marita]

Oh, I LOVE Island of the Blue Dolphins! Made me cry, even as an adult, when her dog died.

The Incredible Journey - about two dogs and a cat that make their way across Canada. As a child, the ending (where the little girl hears the dogs barking) gave me chills. Then, thirty or more years later, we listened to this book on tape during a long car trip. The ending came, and I got those same chills again!

[Victorian]

Originally Posted by jempd

V ictorian, George Selden, not E.B. White, wrote The Cricket in Times Square. What a great book, huh. The same illustrator did that book and the original Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web so maybe that's why you connected them.

I would be repeating these lists to list my own favorites as a child (and I still love them) so I'll refrain.

I stand corrected - I just went and looked and you are right. My 2nd grade teacher read that book to us in class and I have always loved it sense.

V.

[calpurnia]

British and American kids obviously read most of the same "classics". Lots of the ones I would have gone for have already been mentioned!

ALWAYS recommend strongly anything by Joan Aiken and Rosemary Sutcliff. Any of Alison Utterly's books. Shirley Hughes for younger children.

Do American kids read Enid Blyton? Is she around much? I hate her :

[journeymom]

Little House
Little Women
Anne of Green Gables
Chronicles of Narnia
Wrinkle in Time
Lord of the Rings
Grimm's Fairytales
George and Martha, etc.
Go Dog, Go!
Bambi (the book by Felix Salten)
101 Dalmations (the book by Dodie Smith)
Jungle Book

Stuff by:

Dr.Seuss
Margaret Wise Brown
Eric Carl
Maurice Sendak
Russell Hoban (Bedtime for Frances, etc.)
Mercer Mayer

One that's a "new" classic in our home, "The Seven Silly Eaters", by Mary Ann Hoberman.

I'm sure there are more that are must-haves for our library that I can't think of right now.

Now I've gone back and read what everyone else wrote, I have to second:

Wizard of Oz series
Where the Red Fern Grows
Island of the Blue Dolphin

And regarding Little Women, I loved it! I wasn't a little girl, I was probably 13 or so by the time I had the patience to read it all the way through. But if I understand correctly, Alcott wasn't writing a children's book with Little Women. It was serialized in the local paper. I think I enjoyed it more when I was old enough to have a better sense of adult romance issues. Prior to that I didn't really care if Jo and Lawrence got together.

A lot of books traditionaly catagorized as "children's classics" were not written for children.

[sincitymama]

Oh I love threads like this, because there are so many classics I never read as a kid! I'm adding things to my list of 'stuff to read' from all the previous posts...even the kids books I appreciate now as an adult!
Some of my favorites:
-The Chronicles of Narnia
-Little House series
-Little women (I didn't really appreciate this until I was older)
-The Secret Garden
-Anne of Green Gables
-Tom Sawyer
-Not sure if it counts as it's not a novel, but also Where The Sidewalk Ends. I loved those poems!

Also, while certainly not what I'd call classic, I plowed through the Babysitters Club series like mad! Luckily my mom was just happy that I loved to read so much and didn't try to force me to read ONLY 'quality' stuff. I've always heard that kids who love to read 'junk books' (comics, stuff below their technical ability, trashy series, etc..) grow up to be great readers as adults, because they've had so much practice and were able to keep that love of reading intact. That proves true for my husband and I for sure.

ETA-anything by Judy Blume!

There are also things I didn't read (or weren't yet written) until I was older, but definitely plan to have around for ds.
-Harry Potter series
-Great Expectations
-The Hobbit, and the following trilogy
-1984
-Science As A Candle In The Dark (by Carl Sagan)
-Sybil


There are so many I'm forgetting! Oh, y'all should see our house, we are such book hounds!

[OhMel]

Originally Posted by daylily

Chincoteague: pronounced CHIN-co(long O)-teeg

In Baltimore we pronounced it chink-o-teak.