Books my Mother Read Me

[Mara]

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen



I came to really appreciate Jane Yolen as an adult, especially her fantasy novels. In truth, though, she's written on every possible subject for every possible age. (According to Wikipedia, over 300 books...!)

This was, I think, my first exposure to her. This is a melancholy book, another introduction to the Holocaust meant for older children (10-12.) In it, a twelve-year-old contemporary girl is embarassed by her relatives, who went through the holocaust, and is also alienated from her Jewish faith. During a celebration of Passover, she is magically transported back to Poland in the 1940s.

I remember it as being pretty affecting. It's not just about the holocaust, really, but also about respecting religion and family, especially family history.

[Mara]

Okay, all done.

Easy-to-read list:

Watership Down by Adams, Richard
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Alcott, Louisa May
Eight Cousins by Alcott, Louisa May
Little Women by Alcott, Louisa May
The Chronicles of Prydian by Alexander, Lloyd
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Atwater, Richard
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Knee-Knock Rise by Babbit, Natalie
The Devil's Storybook & The Devil's Other Storybook by Babbit, Natalie
The Search for Delicious by Babbit, Natalie
Tuck Everlasting by Babbit, Natalie
The Indian in the Cupboard Series by Banks, Lynne
Peter Pan by Barrie, J. M.
The Oz Books by Baum, L. Frank
The Paddington Books by Bond, Michael
Caddie Woodlawn by Brink, Carol Kyrie
A Little Princess by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
The Secret Garden by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Alice in Wonderland & Alice Through the Looking Glass by Carroll, Lewis
The Tripod Trilogy by Christopher, John
The Ramona Series by Cleary, Beverly
The Dark is Rising Series by Cooper, Susan
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Dahl, Roald
James and the Giant Peach by Dahl, Roald
Matilda by Dahl, Roald
The BFG by Dahl, Roald
The Little Prince by de Saint-Exbury, Antoine
The Whipping Boy by Fleishman, Sid
Johnny Tremain by Forbes, Esther
Julie of the Wolves by George, Jean Craighead
The Wind in the Willows by Grahame, Kenneth
Swan Lake by Helprin, Mark
The Phantom Tollbooth by Juster, Norton
The Ordinary Princess by Kaye, M. M.
The Just-So Stories by Kipling, Rudyard
Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare by Lamb, Charles and Mary
The Earthsea Trilogy by Le Guin, Ursula K.
A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle, Madeleine
The Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis, C. S.
The Pippi Longstocking Books by Lindgren, Astrid
The Dr. Doolittle Stories by Lofting, Hugh
Number the Stars by Lowry, Lois
The Giver by Lowry, Lois
The Light Princess by MacDonald, George
The Dream Stealer by Maguire, Gregory
Beauty by McKinley, Robin
Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner & Poetry by Milne, A. A.
Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery, L. M.
The Borrowers Series by Norton, Mary
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by O'Brian, Richard
The Island of the Blue Dolphins by O'Dell, Scott
The Amelia Bedelia Books by Parish, Peggy
Bridge to Terebithia by Patterson, Katherine
Bill Peet: An Autobiography by Peet, Bill
The Perilous Gard by Pope, Elizabeth Marie
The Westing Game by Raskin, Ellen
Where the Red Fern Grows by Rawls, Wilson
The Light in the Forest by Richter, Conrad
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Robinson, Barbara
The Cricket in Times Square by Seldon, George
Black Beauty by Sewell, Anna
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Spears, Elizabeth George
Dominic by Steig, William
Treasure Island by Stevenson, Robert Louis
The Girl of the Limberlost by Stratton-Porter, Gene
The Thirteen Clocks by Thurber, James
The Mary Poppins Books by Travers, P. L.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Twain, Mark
Charlotte's Web by White, E. B.
Stuart Little by White, E. B.
The Trumpet of the Swan by White, E. B.
The Little House Books by Wilder, Laura Ingalls
The Devil's Arithmetic by Yolen, Jane

[Mara]

*takes bow*

[Melville]

I can't say I'm all that interested in children's literature (though Winnie-the-Pooh, The Little Prince, and Pippi Longstocking are awesome), but I'm glad that this site has a thread like this.

[Ezee E]

Great thread. As I looked over the list, there were more books that came to my mind. Some of them were holocaust books no less. Weird?

[monolith94]

Robert Louis Stevenson is SO great. Ever read Kidnapped? It might be as good as Treasure Island!

[Mara]

Robert Louis Stevenson is SO great. Ever read Kidnapped? It might be as good as Treasure Island!

I don't think I have... or if I did, I don't remember it. I'll have to check it out.

Maybe next year I'll do a thread of picture books, but not every one... just a top 30 or 40. We still have bookshelves stuffed with those things.

Still very influential on me, though. My senior year of college I wrote a scholarly paper on Maurice Sendak's Outside Over There.

[Mara]

Actually, maybe I'll just do the jacked up picture books we read as children. You know: In Defense of the Disturbing.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Just finished printing and highlighting the list with my son, and these are the titles we highlighted (the ones that interest him the most):



The Chronicles of Prydian by Alexander, Lloyd
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Atwater, Richard
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
The Search for Delicious by Babbit, Natalie
Tuck Everlasting by Babbit, Natalie
Peter Pan by Barrie, J. M.
The Oz Books by Baum, L. Frank
The Paddington Books by Bond, Michael
The Secret Garden by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Alice in Wonderland & Alice Through the Looking Glass by Carroll, Lewis
The Tripod Trilogy by Christopher, John
The Dark is Rising Series by Cooper, Susan
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Dahl, Roald
James and the Giant Peach by Dahl, Roald
Matilda by Dahl, Roald
The BFG by Dahl, Roald
The Little Prince by de Saint-Exbury, Antoine
The Whipping Boy by Fleishman, Sid
Johnny Tremain by Forbes, Esther
Julie of the Wolves by George, Jean Craighead
Swan Lake by Helprin, Mark
The Phantom Tollbooth by Juster, Norton
Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare by Lamb, Charles and Mary
The Earthsea Trilogy by Le Guin, Ursula K.
A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle, Madeleine
The Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis, C. S.
The Dr. Doolittle Stories by Lofting, Hugh
The Giver by Lowry, Lois
The Light Princess by MacDonald, George
The Dream Stealer by Maguire, Gregory
Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner & Poetry by Milne, A. A.
Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery, L. M.
The Borrowers Series by Norton, Mary
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by O'Brian, Richard
The Island of the Blue Dolphins by O'Dell, Scott
The Amelia Bedelia Books by Parish, Peggy
Bill Peet: An Autobiography by Peet, Bill
The Perilous Gard by Pope, Elizabeth Marie
The Westing Game by Raskin, Ellen
Where the Red Fern Grows by Rawls, Wilson
The Light in the Forest by Richter, Conrad
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Robinson, Barbara
The Cricket in Times Square by Seldon, George
Black Beauty by Sewell, Anna
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Spears, Elizabeth George
Treasure Island by Stevenson, Robert Louis
The Girl of the Limberlost by Stratton-Porter, Gene
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Twain, Mark
Charlotte's Web by White, E. B.
Stuart Little by White, E. B.
The Trumpet of the Swan by White, E. B.
The Devil's Arithmetic by Yolen, Jane


For some reason he's adamant against The Indian in the Cupboard, The Bridge to Terabithia, and the Mary Poppins books. No matter how much I tried to convince him otherwise, he wouldn't add them to his list. He's a strange child.

[Mara]

For some reason he's adamant against The Indian in the Cupboard, The Bridge to Terabithia, and the Mary Poppins books. No matter how much I tried to convince him otherwise, he wouldn't add them to his list. He's a strange child.

I'm impressed he wants to read as many books as all that; it's startling gratifying.

You raised him good. *sniff*

[bac0n]

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber



My obsession with this book led indirectly to the creation of this entire thread. The book recently came back from out-of-print limbo with a gorgeous new edition, which is, without exaggeration, the third most exciting thing that happened to me this year.

Stylistically, the book is just about perfect. The language is beautiful and clever. The story is funny and exciting and (sometimes) really frightening.

It can be read to children who are very young, but I would really recommend this book for any age. I force it on adult friends all the time, and nobody has killed me yet.

I just want to say that I bought this book 3 years ago for my daughter, then 4, shortly after Mara posted this. She wasn't quite ready for it then.

Three years later, at 7 years old, she is ready, and I must say... words cannot explain how wonderful, whimsical and magical this book is. Camille cannot wait for story time when we get to read the next chapter. And I can't either. Mara and Neil Gaiman are right. This just might be the best book in the world.

Thank you thank you thank you so much for this recommendation, Mara.

[Lucky]

The Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

My grandmother bought me this book when I was a child. Scrolling through this thread and seeing that book cover again took me aback. I remember thinking as a kid (not knowing AT ALL what these books were about) that the woman on the cover was a ghost. I was very disappointed when my young boy self realized this was not a horror story. At all. I think I ended up liking the book ok, though. I remember bear traps and how big a deal it was when Pa went to market.

[Mara]

I just want to say that I bought this book 3 years ago for my daughter, then 4, shortly after Mara posted this. She wasn't quite ready for it then.

Three years later, at 7 years old, she is ready, and I must say... words cannot explain how wonderful, whimsical and magical this book is. Camille cannot wait for story time when we get to read the next chapter. And I can't either. Mara and Neil Gaiman are right. This just might be the best book in the world.

Thank you thank you thank you so much for this recommendation, Mara.

Aw, I honestly just teared up a little. I love this book and I get so happy when children discover it for the first time.

[bac0n]

My daughter is ready for The Chronicles of Narnia. I have been waiting for this moment since approximately Tuesday, September 28th 2004, 7:49 AM Central Daylight Savings Time.