Great Post! Do you have access to the list of books that Mrs. Bush recommended?
From Whitehouse.gov
Laura Bush's Recommended Reading
Katherine Anne Porter, Ship of Fools; The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
Toni Morrison, Beloved
Truman Capote, Music for Chameleons
John Graves, Goodbye to a River
David McCullough, Mornings on Horseback; and other biographies
Rudolfo A. Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima
Willa Cather, My Antonia; Death Comes to the Archbishop
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
Recommended Family Reading
This list represents only a sampling of the many excellent books for children, young adults, and families. For more suggestions ask the librarians and teachers at your school or at your public library.
Family Reading
To be read aloud as a family. These titles are also good for independent readers.
Charlotte's Web, E.B. White
Hank the Cowdog (series,) John R. Erickson
Little House on the Prairie (series), Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Old Yeller, Fred Gipson
The People Could Fly, Virginia Hamilton
Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
Winnie the Pooh (series), A. A. Milne
Books to Read to and with Young Children
These titles are also good for early independent readers and those children just learning to read.
Bedtime favorites and Lap-time reading:
Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
Babar (series), Laurent De Brunhoff
Carlo Likes Reading, Jessica Spanyol
Clifford the Big Red Dog (series), Norman Bridwell
Corduroy, Don Freeman
Frances the Badger (series), Russell Hoban
Hop on Pop, and others by Dr. Seuss
Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey
Mother Goose Rhymes
Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs, Tomie De Paola
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Simms Taback
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears, Verna Aardema
Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, Richard Scarry
Cuadros de familia/ Family Pictures, Carmen Lomas Garza
Curious George, H.A. Rey
Frog and Toad (series), Arnold Lobel
George and Martha (series), James Marshall
If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Laura Joffee Numeroff
Little Bear (series), Else Holmelund Minarik
Magda's Tortillas, Becky Chavarria-Chairez
Officer Buckle and Gloria, Peggy Rathmann
Sarah's Flag for Texas, Jane Alexander Knapik
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig
The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
Tomas and the Library Lady, Pat Mora
Amazing Grace, Mary Hoffman
Books for Intermediate and Independent Readers
Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan
Love that Dog, Sharon Cheech
A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck
Because of Winn Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
Adaline Falling Star, Mary Pope Osborne
Joey Pigza Loses Control, Jack Gantos
Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson
Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
Miracle's Boys, Jacqueline Woodson
Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein
Homeless Bird, Gloria Whelan
James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia Maclachlan
Ramona (series), Beverly Cleary
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt
Special Comfort Books
The Story about Ping, Marjorie Flack
The Tenth Good Thing about Barney, Judith Viorst
I Love You, Little One, Nancy Tafuri