"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
The Book Donation Blues---_Again
I have ranted previously on the junk books people are kind enough to donate to the library. We put a great many of them in our library book sale. This allows us to purchase all the things the library budget somehow doesn't cover--though it should.
We had a ton of books in our storage area. And it occurred to me that if we sorted them by subject, we could set them up that way at the sale. We've always just sorted them by fiction and nonfiction, and it makes it hard to find books by topic. But if people can find what they want, they'll buy it. More books bought=more money for our library fund. Worth a try.
So I decided to take on the task of sorting them.
Memo to self: next time I decide to volunteer to do something, turn and flee in the other direction. Rapidly..........
Thing is, the shelves were crammed with books. More books in boxes. More books on booktrucks. And barely room to turn around in, let alone sort books. And what kind of books?
Lots of good ones. But it was hard to find the good ones, because the good ones were mixed in with tons of junk.
Things like political treatises from the Kennedy administration. Ten year old books on computer systems long retired. Medical books from the 70s. Biographies of long, long forgotten politicians. Economic theories from the 90s. Job search books that predate the Internet. You get the idea.........
The credit for assembling this collection largely goes to our resident schlemiel. One of his regular jobs is supposed to be dealing with the donations. But he just doesn't seem to get that nobody is going to buy old, worn, dated books. Instead of tossing them, he puts them in the booksale!
We have another assistant who is smart and organized and tries to remove the stuff as she sees it. And I do the same, but somehow, tons of it has reached the shelves. So I have spent the last few days sorting the books by category and boxing up tons of rejects.
It's mostly finished. I think it will work well, and I think we can come up with a method for the next sale that will help us to set this up in advance. Though I doubt if there's much we can do about the schelemiel. Oy..
Here's my song on the subject. Those of you who are fans of Doctor Demento will recognize the origin and know the tune:
Dead bookies, dead bookies, dead bookies aren't much fun.
They don't sell, in our sale, please don't drop them in our mail.
Dead bookies aren't much fun......................
