Posted on 11/29/2020 3:15:33 PM PST by Arcadian Empire
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Loved those books as a kid. As an adult, I realize just how hard life was for the pioneers, and how tough the parents had to be in response to keep the children not just safe but feeling secure.
MIRACLES, by C.S. Lewis...a brief treatise on the possibilty of miracles. Reinforced my ineffable, and serious, doubts regarding the overarching claims of strict materialism on knowledge and human thought. Family friendly for searchers.
I keep a list of these to send and give to kids when a gift giving occasion arises.
Second any Laura ingalls wilder books.
Others include randomly the Great Brain books, very funny. Encyclopedia Brown. Any of the Blaze books, beautifully illustrated books about a pony named Blaze. Any of the Misty of Chincoteague series. Anne of Green Gables and its many follow ups. Anything by Beatrix Potter. Little Women and Little Men. The Little Britches series. Katie John. Anything by Neverly Cleary. Just off the top of my head.
BEVERLY Cleary.
Beverly Cleary wrote a bunch of kids books that I loved when I was a boy.
Ben Hur is a beautiful book and a wonderful movie. The book is more “philosophical” than the movies but otherwise the movie is pretty true yo the book.
Ben Hur is still one of my favorite movies.
I LOVE it!
Wow...I typed that post too fast. Excuse the typos please.
Little Women was the first “adult” book I read as a child. I wept when Beth died and learned that human emotions were powerful and soul changing. The book prepared me for the realities of life.
Little Women
_________________________________
First book I recall reading. Was in the lower elementary grades. A librarian pulled me aside from 2 other little girls. She handed me the book and said she thought I would really like reading this book.
Why just me? I’ve no clue. Why me, indeed? I’ve no clue. There was a room full of youngsters.
Don’t even recall her name, though I do recall her face.
Grateful to her. For all the books I’ve read, I owe her for presenting me with the book that got me hooked on reading.
The Railway Children and the Five Children and It ( the first book of a lovely trilogy )and the UK movie of Five Children and It is available in the USA on DVD.
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.
The Grimm's Brother's fairy tales.
Aesop's Fables
The poems of Edward Lear
The Tarzan of The Apes series.
Most of Twain's books.
Treasure Island
Alice in Wonder,land and Through the Looking Glass
The Narnia books
A Wrinkle in Time
Ivanhoe
Knights of the Round Table
Green Mansions
The Blue Lagoon ( and the original movie; NOT the horrid, soft porn remake !
Robin Hood
Jules Vern's books.
Anne of Green Gables `
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.
It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.
The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
By C.S. Lewis
The little britches series.
It is LHOP for boys worth the read
Patrick McManus, once again the books are a essentially a collection of short stories.
The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I have about a dozen books that have traveled around the world with me. This is one. A story of a family during the Great Depression as told through the eyes of the twelve year old daughter.
Fire Hunter by Jim Kjelgaard. This is another. Prehistoric novel of a pair of teens abandon by their tribe and how they survive. Hard to find but you can find "The Hunter Returns" more easily. This is the same store but with the rest of the story written by David Drake. Fire Hunter is fine for the pre-teen crowd but "The Hunter Returns" might be a bit much for them although suitable for teens. Lots of blood and gore.
Anything by Jim Kjelgaard. Mostly stories about boys and their dogs.
The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig. A family of Polish Jews is arrest by the Russians for being "enemies of the people" and sent to Siberia.
Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry, A boy who is afraid of the sea decides to face his fear.
The Bounty Trilogy by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. It relates events prior to, during and subsequent to the Mutiny on the Bounty.
They are:—
Mutiny on the Bounty,
Men Against the Sea,
Pitcairn’s Island
I appreciate your list. I would recommend for children ages eight to eleven, a limited edition book by Ethelyn M. Parkinson, GOOD OLD ARCHIBALD. It is not a classic but it should be. I read it from the church library when I was a boy and later ordered it as a used book and read it to my children. It was published in 1960 and features American kids growing up as uniquely American kids, playing baseball, taking pride in their dogs, having funerals for small animals, getting into mischief, learning to get along with eccentric adults, and having fun.
One can view on YouTube for free, either version of SHADOWLANDS depicting the Lewis relationship with his American wife. The Anthony Hopkins version is good but I prefer the earlier version with Claire Bloom.
I have a thing for Victorian and Edwardian children's books. They do NOT "talk down" to kids, use really good grammar and vocabulary, and most actually teach something in a subliminal way.
Add to my list:
The Water Babies
The stories by Beatrix Potter
Betsy, Tacy, and Tib series ( for young girls )
And for teens:
1984
Brave New Worlds
WE
All of Jack Finney's books and collections of short stories.
Harlan Ellison's books
Roald Dahl's adult books ( mostly mystery short stories and many are quite lovely and creepy ); his children's books for younger ones.
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