"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
Today At Our House
I have done 6 loads of laundry, which combined with yesterday's laundry, makes 12. And if you want the Baby Blues cartoon about this, but if you haven't seen it before it's here. Come to think of it, that blog entry dates almost 1 year ago exactly!
"Mrs White" (my car) came home on Thursday and I was very happy to have her back for all the errands I had to run yesterday because:
It is snowing today and the snow nuts were crowding the stores even early yesterday morning. I'm bummed out about it because it now looks like we'll only get about 3-6 inches, instead of the 6-10 they were predicting. Still,,it's nice to see it looking like winter out there!!
And I am VERY happy because the Man didn't get called for snow duty. Since his last promotion, he is no longer on automatic call to help in bad weather. He's got an AWD car these days, but I still worry when he has to drive in bad weather. And I remember the storm in 2003, when he was gone from home for FIVE DAYS. Not fun!!!
I am going nuts with our computers. The one in SC's room has a Windows XP registration number that Windows won't accept, so she can't use it. Why my brother-in-law (who is my computer fairy godfather and a doll in general) didn't validate the damn thing BEFORE he gave it back to us I will never know.
Meanwhile poor SC can't use her "Lemony Snicket" software on OUR computer because it wants Direct X 3D or some such, and no matter what I do, I can't seem to enable it. Guess I'm going to be calling the brother-in-law, aren't I?
Happily, her new "Harry Potter" games DO work and she is playing one of them right now.
I made a variation on "Hurricane Isabel Soup". I added leftover turkey and a can of creamed corn to it. JR didn't want any, but SC, the Man and I must have eaten about half the pot.
And I FINALLY got this, NOT from Netflix but for keeps:
Beth, are you smiling nostalgically? Are you remembering Albany, and Thursday night trips to the grocery store, then back to watch "Fame" and "Hill Street Blues"?
And yes, I'm remembering your sweet sister, aleha-shalom, and how nice she was to let us use her car for those trips!
This house is considerably warmer than that old house, and I've got a man and TWO cats to snuggle up with as I watch this tonight!!!
But first, I am going to make dough for a batch of bagels (an ongoing attempt to make REAL NY style bagels)
If you're out in the storm tonight, turn on your headlights and DRIVE SLOWLY!
Or, in the immortal words of Sergeant Esterhaus:
"Let's be careful out there!!!"
