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 | the making things up library |
Books we like, you say? For the under-six set? Okay, I’ll tell mine if you’ll tell yours. We’re always looking for good read-alouds (current listeners: ages 3 & 6) and read-alones (with not-too-mature content, as she’s only 6). Here’s a sampling from our bookshelf right now:
Socks – Socks the cat copes with a new baby in his owners’ family.
All About Sam (and Attaboy, Sam) – All about newborn (and growing) Sam Krupnik. Told from his own point of view, of course.
Ruby Lu, Brave and True – The best thing about Ruby Lu is everything. Kinda sums it up, don’t you think?
My Father’s Dragon (and sequels Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland, or all three together in one volume) – A boy sets out to free a captured baby dragon, and outwits animals who would deter him along the way.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins – The Popper family trains a troupe of penguins as a traveling stage show.
Sarah, Plain and Tall (and the rest of the series: Skylark, Caleb’s Story, More Perfect Than The Moon, Grandfather’s Dance) – A widowed prairie farmer places a newspaper ad for a bride, and Sarah responds.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – We love Roald Dahl.
Charlotte’s Web – Um, obviously.
Understood Betsy – Betsy’s intensive-parenting aunts have to go away, leaving her on a farm with guardians who take a more hands-off approach to childrearing.
Emily’s Runaway Imagination – Emily’s farm town doesn’t have a library, but her mother has a plan.
The Ramona Quimby books – Yes, Ramona is a spirited child.
The Year of Miss Agnes – Miss Agnes comes to teach in an Alaskan one-room schoolhouse where teachers never stay all year.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – A brother-and-sister team run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and investigate a mysterious sculpture.
By the Great Horn Spoon – A boy and his butler stow away on a ship bound for San Francisco and the gold mines of 1849. My copy doesn’t have brawling men on the cover. My loss, I suppose.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Oooh. Part novel, part graphic novel—the story of orphaned Hugo Cabret, living in hiding in the train station of Paris and rebuilding an automaton his father first discovered. And that’s just the beginning.
We’re also big fans of histories and historical fiction, though the content does tend to be a bit more mature—books like Island of the Blue Dolphins, Twenty and Ten, The Birchbark House, Sing Down the Moon…
I’m sure I’m forgetting zillions of titles, but it’s your turn anyhow. What do you love to read with your kids?
We’ve also been on a big ole Roald Dahl kick around here, and many of the same books are on our “to be read” list. We did just finish up “The Boxcar Children,” which was very simple and sweet and provoked quite a few discussions about poverty and how people lived 75 years ago, 50 years ago, 25 years ago, etc.
You know, we have Boxcar Children, too. I really like the first one and really hate the sequels. Is that bad, do you think?
that’s a fine selection of reading matter. takes me back too! i still read to the twins, although they’re nearly 13!!!!! – help!!!!!). this is my new premises, btw. stop by sometime)
x
I like The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein and the stories by Virginia Lee Burton like Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and The Little House. Also Katie and the Big Snow.
Thanks, guys! Yay books.