"Classic" Children's Novels I Recommend To Patrons and Friends
All of A Kind Family
by Sydney Taylor
First in a series about 5 little girls growing up at the turn of the century on the Lower East Side of New York. I learned a lot about Jewish culture from these books, but above all they're great family stories.
Anne of Green Gables
and all other books by L.M. Montgomery
They are aimed at children, but the picture of life in turn of the century Prince Edward Island is a delight for adults!
Ballet Shoes
by Noel Streatfield
Very English and very charming.
Betsy-Tacy
First of the series, by Maud Hart Lovelace
My older daughter(10) loves these too.
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
First in the series by Hugh Lofting.
Don't settle for the movie messes made of these wonderful books!
Heidi
by Johanna Sypri
This is not that easy for a kid to read--and some may find it saccharine. But it's always enchanted me...
Little House in the Big Woods
first in the series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Another series my daughter loves as much as I do!
A Little Princess
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
There's only been one good version of this on film--a BBC mini series. If you haven't seen that one, you don't know this story!
Little Women
and all other books by Louisa May Alcott.
I read this first in 6th grade, but I didn't understand a lot of it until college..
The Moffats
by Eleanor Estes
A family you'd love to belong to.
Pinky Pye
also by Eleanor Estes
You don't have to be a cat lover to love this, and if you're not, Pinky just might convert you!
Mr Popper's Penguins
by Florence Atwater
The tone is deadpan but the humor is pure slapstick.
A well loved read aloud.
The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
There have been good films of this, but nothing beats the book, especially with the delicate Tasha Tudor illustrations!
The Trumpet of the Swan
by E.B. White
I love Charlotte's Web , but kids should also meet Louis the mute swan who gains a voice and a love. And if you liked Make Way For Ducklings (another favorite of mine) you'll recognize one of the settings......
The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
Not a young child's book at all,but a beautifully written book about friendship, greed, self centeredness and love.
The best illustrations are by Ernest Shepherd. He was also the first (and only REAL!) illustrator of Winnie the Pooh!
Blueberries For Sal (& One Morning In Maine)
and other books by Robert McCloskey
The Nutshell Library
4 book set by Maurice Sendak
The music to go with the books is on:
Really Rosie by Carole King
Where the Wild Things Are
also by Maurice Sendak!
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
by Hildegarde Swift
(A beloved NY landmark!)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
and every other book by Eric Carle
Caps For Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
Madeline
by Ludwig Bemelmans
Beloved by little girls long before the toys or the movies!
Yes, I Read "Grownup" Books Too--When They're Worth It!
And These Are:
Silver Pigs
(1st of the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries) by Lindsey Davis
Welcome To Temptation
(and all other books) by Jennifer Crusie
Breakup
(Kate Shugak mysteries)by Dana Stabenow
And Ladies of the Club
by Helen Hooven Santmyer
The Cazalet Chronicles
(4 books) by Elizabeth Howard
Poldark
(the whole series)by Winston Graham
The Mitford Years
(series) by Jan Karon
Stranger In A Strange Land
(& just about any other book) by Robert Heinlein
Chutzpah
I am infuriated beyond belief by some of the behavior of Jews being removed from the Gaza "settlements".
The behavior of the family who wore yellow Star of David armbands,had their children raise their arms as if under arrest and called the soldiers "Nazis" is extraordinarily offensive to me.
Yes, they are being removed from their homes. But they are not being taken off to concentration camps, or being put up against a wall and shot!
For these people to compare this to what happened during the Holocaust is a slur on the memory of the 6 million dead, and to the survivors, many of whom ended up settling in Israel. A lot of those zealots screaming "Nazis" may very well be the children and grandchildren of those survivors!!!
And it never strikes any of these folk that the Palestinians who will now live in the Gaza well may be the children and the grandchildren of those people THEY displaced in the same way decades ago. People who didn't get compensated for their land the way these "settlers" will.
This is why I am not and will never be a Zionist. Israel may be the "home of the Jewish people", but they are people who have perpetrated against others much of the same injustices they faced in other countries themselves.
Israel is not my home. These people are NOT my people. I am proud of my Jewish ancestry, but I am equally proud that my famiy came here and became Americans. I will rant and rail against our government, because that is my right as a citizen. But I do believe it's the best system out there!
It needs work, but................
Chutzpah means sheer, incredible gall. Perhaps later I'll do a more lighthearted definition of it. But right now, you are seeing a fine illustration of it, live on CNN.
Shalom Aleichem everyone. And salaam alaikum.
They both mean the same thing: "peace be unto you"............................................
