A few weeks ago in our chat we were discussing books. In particular, I was making my pitch for each of us doing our part in collecting the real life, paper and ink books. Digital is but a whiff in the air, easily carried away on the winds. The tangible stuff, the real books of ole with stories from a time when morality and courage mattered, when traditional skills were shared, and when tales were told without the blunt force of modern day ideologies are a treasure that must be preserved.
Today we are learning that even old books are being rewritten to preserve our modern day sensibilities. I don’t want rewritten and refined. What are we if we’re only worthy polished and buffed into the acceptable standards of the censors? No, thanks. I’m glad I have the original versions of these books. What else will become censored? I think of the Judy Blume books that were a treasure and a friend to me during some of my tumultuous early years. I can’t imagine even the title “Blubber” would clear the censors once they get their hands on it. If they can get Dr. Seuss, anything is up for grabs. Exactly why I am preserving these treasures today for my grandchildren, many of our grandchildren, tomorrow.
Used bookstores are everyone’s best friend when you’re growing your own personal library.
To that end I was sharing, on our substack chat, my present adoration of old books by naturalists. I suppose that’s driven in part by my fatigue of everything in our culture needing to always be “edgy” and “provocative”. How many edges will they find to topple us over? The more they push for depravity and the parroting of nonsense, the more I crave wholesome common sense - with all its gritty flaws and humanness.
I read mostly nonfiction books now, but historical fiction and books about nature from a time when all of nature was understood to be respected (not just the disney-fied version) are ones I’m most fascinated and delighted by. In our chat I shared that I think every young person would love the story of “Rascal” by Sterling North. That got many of the mamas in the crowd discussing books that their kids loved. Many of those books surprised the parents. They thought the concepts would be beyond their kids or somehow bore them, but it turned out that wasn’t so.
So this discussion thread is opened by me, but turned over to you. If you have some books or resources you found for your kids, young and old, that you would like to share, please do. We’re specifically looking for recommendations that involve concepts like values, responsibilities, morality, overcoming challenges, imagination, growth, virtues, books on our connection and belonging within nature, and concepts that teach empowerment and authentic confidence through the earning of it.
My recommendations involve books by Sterling North, “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be” by Farley Mowat, the Little House series, books by Tasha Tudor, everything by James Herriot, and the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. And you?
Gosh - there are so very many. I’ve homeschooled 4 kids....mostly for the very reason of being able to read them incredible “old” books. Caddie Woodlawn, Sign of the Beaver, Year of Miss Agnes, Trumpet of the Swan, My Side of the Mountain, Little Britches, Emily of New Moon, Anything by Elizabeth Goudge, Little Women....just to name a few. Literature for children and adults is so important in developing language and moral character.
The Little Britches series by Ralph Moody is an absolute favorite/must in our house. Also, the Melendy and Goneaway Lake series by Elizabeth Enright. Also the Living Forest Series by Sam Campbell -- don't give up after the first book, they get better after that. I second many of the books already listed here.
I so appreciate this discussion -- rescuing used books, especially children's books is a particular passion of mine 😊💛
Our home has grown to include 17 bookshelves lined with classics (I collect them from book depots and used bookstores and library sales), fiction, non-fiction, most in English, some in French, some German. I am starting to collect multiples of my favourites ( David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre, Jungle Book, Tom Sawyer, anything by L.M. Montgomery etc.) so that the children will be able to take them along to their homes once they move out. As libraries continue to shed great classic picture books I am scooping those up as well.
We also built a "Little Library" on our front lawn (which looks essentially like a giant bird house) where we place books that people can take or borrow; they in turn can drop off books they no longer want.
A wonderful nature book that my 10-year old loves to look at is Edith Holden's a Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady; it has wonderful watercolour illustrations of flora and fauna.
All of a Kind Family, Pippi Longstocking and real dinkum Roald Dahl in all his disturbing glory. Huge favourites at our house. Also Half Magic and anything by Edward Eager.
How are any of us supposed to learn the humility that comes from understanding that our own perspective is limited by the time and culture in which we live, if the best authors of the past are sanitized so we cannot view their limitations through the perspective of cultural change? They were intelligent and also limited in how they perceived the world - just as we are. The perspectives of our time and culture certainly have their limitations and flaws - we are often just too embedded to be aware of them. Dickens was brilliant and sexist. E. Nesbit was brilliant and racist. These things can coexist. The great authors of now (and formulaic AI already seems to be producing half of Scholastic's inane library so NOT that) will have their contradictions and limitations too. Let us see and learn from the flaws and limitations of previous generations as well as from their brilliance. Sigh.
My mother grew up in the Prairies and loved the Little House on the Prairies. I have her set of books that are falling apart. As she was dying with AZ, I read her the books out loud. I am now re-reading James Herriot books.
This is an incredibly important thread - thank you Tara! Retired teacher here weighing in here. So many books teach about life, values, how to be a good human, in an indirect way, and the best books (thinking of Cat in the Hat, for example) spark conversation/discussion and exploration. A very recent example for me: I was an avid reader of Marguerite Henry's books growing up (horse crazy girl, horse crazy still). A friend just gave me an old edition of Black Gold, which I had never read. It's a fictional account of a real race horse, circa 1920. At one point she has the words to the Kentucky state(?) song (at the time?) and it includes the word "darky." That took me aback for a moment, but those are the teaching moments with children. If we whitewash (no pun intended) all sorts of history, how do we know about learning and growing a different way? The missed opportunities for discussion are mind blowing if you take it all out. Kudos to all here, and thank everyone for their recommendations and thoughts.
The USA-based publisher Good and the Beautiful is right with you on this thinking. They've been diligently finding and republishing older books. We love so much of what they've republished. I just read Marjorie (originally Marjorie of Monhegan) and it really got me thinking. I read it aloud to my husband and son also. Then there's The Other Side of the Wall (originally published in 1826!). You might really enjoy two of their nature books. One is Nature Reader Birds, the other is Nature Reader Insects and Arachnids. Both contain 3-4 republished stories from the 50's or 60's. It was a jolt when I first opened one - my sister and I read these books as kids, the memories came flooding back. The wonderful thing about the publishing companies playing these games with rewriting the kids books is that it's sending droves of us looking for older books and into used book stores. We've been having the most wonderful time finding the most wonderful stories! P.S. We love everything on your list. Just need to read the Farley Mowat title!
I’m super picky about high quality writing for my kids to read regularly! The older books are SO much better in this regard. Particularly interested in nonfiction as I prefer them to read real stories for at least 75% of their reading. We have read TONS of Holocaust/communism/world war II stories. We are Christians so we also read and/or listen to tons of missionary/martyr books. We listened to Rascal after Tara wrote about it and LOVED it!!! But I also love classics like Old yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Incredible Journey.....Highly recommend Old Squires Farm and the sequel Sailing on the Ice, and Ben Logan’s The Land Remembers. Anything Wendell Berry.
Oh I love this thread! I am in my early 20s and don’t yet have kids but I am already thinking fondly of all the books my future children will read. I was a voracious reader as a kid, so I figured I’d put some of my favorites here. I loved Narnia, Little House series, Anne of Green Gables, My Side of the Mountain, anything by Dahl, The Hobbit, Stuart Little, The Secret Garden, Misty of Chincoteague, Little Women, Pippi Longstocking, and Charlotte’s Web. Also James Harriot did some writing for children that is wonderful. I can’t wait to write down all of your suggestions to read to my kids one day!
I loved all the Richard Scarry books as a kid. Sadly my mom didn’t keep any of them but I have been able to find a lot at old book swaps or buying them brand new on Amazon. His artwork is just so whimsical and endearing.
My oldest is just turning 8 so I’m starting to share books with him that I loved to read on my own. So many mentioned above but I also gave him some Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books my mom passed down to me.
So many great books I had forgotten about! We love The Penderwicks series. I read it outloud to our girls for the first time a few years ago and we all laughed and cried together. It reminds me of a great mix of little women and the boxcar children.
For younger kids the picture books Edison, Lindbergh, Armstrong, and Einstein (all the main characters are mice) by Torben Kuhlman are a visual feast. They have detailed, beautiful drawings and inspired many projects in our home.
Treasures in the Snow by Patricia St.John, Call of the Wild by Jack London, The Hobbit, Swiss Family Robinson are some others that come to mind.
I started reading my 5 year old the little house series after that last chat. Makes me long for a simpler time. Did you know they are “updating” Roald Dahl books?
This morning I wrote down every book I hadn't written and set off to the library to find them. I have used and loved our library for years, but I came out so concerned because the library flat out didn't have any of these older titles and the series that I remember checking out when my kids were younger (truly not that terribly long ago) have all disappeared. No Rosemary Sutcliff, no Swallows and Amazons series, no Trixie Belden, no Thornton W. Burgess, etc. etc. Thank you for the very timely reminder that I need to collect more than I have been!!
I will only add one book, which is for moms, about the importance of reading to children, "Bequest of Wings" by Annis Duff - an absolutely lovely find (out of print) but if you love the sentiment of the Emily Dickinson poem (I'll try to remember it) she based it on, you'll love the book:
"He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust. He knew no more that he was poor, or that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy ways, and this Bequest of Wings, was but a book,
Would you believe, I was wishing to find a thread of suggestions of this sort just last week? In particular, books that foster a connection with nature as well as old values. I’ll be referring back to this thread many times I suspect! ❤️
One of my daughter & I’s absolute favorite book series we’ve read together I did not see mentioned: The Birchbark House series. It is historical fiction set in the 1850s, following a young Native American girl and her family, much like the Little House series. It is captivating, full of detail about how they lived their lives, much about day to day and survival, how they felt connected with nature, and such beautiful family connectedness. It also is a great parallel to read after the Little House series, to see it from the other side of the Native Americans at that time. I’m hoping Louise Eldridge continues the series (she has written 5 so far!).
Younger kids picture books: Warm as Wool, Dakota Dugout, Billy and Blaze series, The Oxcart Man, Going to sleep on the Farm, James the Shepherd Boy, Where Are Your Shoes Mr Brown?, The Rich Man and the Shoemaker, Looking for Loons, Maple Hill Farms, Abbie Against the Storm, Read Aloud Bible Stories (whole series), James Herriot- make sure it’s the kids stories lol....his other books are great but for at least older teens/young adults.
Will add more later, but my little one (18 months) loves The Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, anything John Galdone.
And don’t forget the poetry!
Anything Shirley Hughes
When We Were Very Young AA Milne
Classic Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes (Kate Greenaway’s is particularly lovely)
A Children’s Garden of Verses
A Child’s Calendar Year John Updike
Favorite’s from my childhood...
Andrew Henry’s Meadow
Jenny Linsky Series
We Were Tired of Living in a House
Nancy Drew Series
Mandy Series
My mom used to read from The Book of Virtues every night while we all piled in her big bed. She gave us each a copy of the book when we started our own families. Such beautiful memories. Highly highly recommend. Great for all ages.
My boys are grown but they loved Madeline L’Engle books. A Wrinkle in Time, The Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Everyone is suggesting such good books. This is great! If anyone can find a picture book called The Empty Pot by Demi you won’t be disappointed!
I recently found an old copy of James Harriot at a thrift store for $4 - a treasure. Trumpet of the Swan is my son's favourite. I adored Little Women as a youngster. There was an old time travel book I adored too - I can't for the life of me recall the name. But it made me long for a time when there were morals and character! I used to be the "nerd" that stayed in from recess to help the librarian and read all the Agatha Christie.
Our kids are 2 and 4, so we’re just getting started reading longer books and this list will be helpful for adding to our library! We have towers of books all across our house, our living room is more book than chair. We’re on more ‘picture’ books at the moment; Beatrix Potter, Boxcar Children, Dr. Seuss, Berenstein Bears, frog and toad, and I’m going to start reading all of the Serendipity series of children’s books to them soon. I grew up with those, and the copies that I have were my mother’s, and some of them are so well-loved to the point of fragility. Our oldest is just now starting to enjoy sitting down for longer picture-free reading sessions 🥰 Little House is where we’ll start I think. Thriftbooks has been one of our favorite places to find used copies of pretty much anything, as our local used stores are ho-hum most of the time sadly
Berenstein Bears, Trixie Belden mysteries, Chronicles of Narnia, Little House, Boxcar Children, Good Morning Sun (for toddlers), Dr. Seuss, Frog and Toad
Love this idea. I need to go back and find that other convo. Have been out of it for a bit. We purchased most of Dr. Seuss’ books for our grand daughters once we saw what was happening. I find it so interesting in reading The Cat In The Hat, how at the end it asks, what would you do? Basically the cat walks in, creates havoc, then invites his two friends in (Thing 1&2) to wreak more havoc. Our grand daughters are young, 3 & 1 but I’ve already begun the discussion w our 3 yr old. The idea of letting someone talk you into something you’re uncomfortable with, allowing things to happen wo saying a word. I just don’t remember such a children’s book as this being rich in opportunity for great questions about morality. Thanks for this thread!
Not sure if you’ll be able to source this one. But I just read ‘Golden fiddle’ by mary grant Bruce, an old Australian author. It was such a beautiful story of 4 poor kids growing up on a farm but the way they work and the way they talk to each other and are grateful for the tiniest things was gorgeous
Very rarely do I read a list like this and find so many to add that I've never heard of before. If you like L.M. Montgomery and Louisa Alcott check out Grace S. Richmond. I especially like her Red Pepper Burns series about a super Built, red headed Doctor (I am. not making this up) and his temper. I like how rational things like exercise and simple eating are included. And the dynamics of family and friends. The Listening Post is also excellent.
Gordon MacQuarrie writes humorous stories about fishing and nature - he can be hard to find but worth it.
Braiding Sweetgrass might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love her essays on nature.
We like Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale as more recent authors. Also Brandon Mull is exciting.
Josephine Tey is a pen name for a few mysteries that are lovely
Now to start collecting my long list of great books I've never heard of before. So exciting!
East of the sun west of the moon, The Education of Little Tree, the chronicles of Narnia, Juniper by Monica furlong (so magical, go find this rare book), Tom Brown's The Tracker. For little littles: All the places to love, Goodnight Moon, The legend of the white buffalo calf woman by Paul Goble. Also by Paul Goble Star Boy, The girl who loved wild horses, The Greay Race, The gift of the Sacred Dog, Buffalo Woman, All our Relatives. The legend of the indian paintbrush by Tomie dePaola. Everything by Dr. Seuss.
My children and I have read many of the books mentioned here but I recently read "The Yearling" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings to my children and I highly recommend. Rawlings depiction of love, how it is both sublime and gut-wrenching, stood out to me most.
The Railway Children, Escape from Warsaw, the Golden Goblet, Eagle of the Ninth, Maya Daughter of the Nile, and The Island of the Blue Dolphins are all favorites I haven't seen mentioned here yet. Wonderful historical fiction that depicts children/young adults doing hard, heroic things or making difficult choices in the situations life brings them.
We homeschooled and here are some of our favorites: Jo’s Boys and Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth George Speare books The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Sign of the Beaver, The Bronze Bow, Calico, Captive, Just David by Eleanor H. Porter, Wisdom and the Millers Proverbs for Children, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith, Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor, The Green Ember by S. D. Smith, Newberry Award winning books are also a good source.
Lord of the rings says my 11-year-old and the Trojan War says my 8-year-old, she is reading a children's adaptation by Olivia Coolidge. I also love Madeline L'Engle'ls A wrinkle in Time. For horse crazy kids anything by Margaret Henry is good. We really enjoyed the Great Horn Spoon recently, a hilarious story about Gold Rush times. And right now we are reading the Wheel on the school. This is a fun and engrossing story about a group of kids and a Dutch town who want to bring storks back to their town.
So many great suggestions I won’t repeat. My girls are loving Roald Dahls books. We just started a book called Rump and it’s a fun twist on the story of Rumplestiltskin as a young boy. We haven’t finished it so I can’t say for sure how great it is but so far we’re loving it. If we like it, they have other stories with a twist. I remember loving Nancy Drew as a child, and Hatchet. Also, the Girl who owned a city was a favorite of mine. Those might be too old still for my 8 and under. I haven’t seen anyone mention The Tuddle Twins yet. We have those books and the kids like them as well.
Betsey Tacy series, Brambley Hedge series (illustrations are the best), Vera the mouse (also great illustrations), strawberry girl (Lois Lenskj), number the stars (Lois Lowry) On call back mountain (Eva Bunting). These are some books that come to mind.
Our family loves Ralph Moody's Little Britches! We get our used books from ThriftBooks. We also have one by Raph's Uncle Frank Gould called Making of a Maine Man.
All of Louisa May Alcott's books, Anne of Green Gables, Just So Stories, The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, James Herriott's books, Wind in the Willows, Dominic by William Steig, Treasure Island! There are so many others but these are some of the books that made my childhood magical.
We just started the little house series, and my kids love it. The explanations of historical homesteading life are so interesting to the kids and I. It’s funny to think how many censorship opportunities there are in this book, and how much my kids can learn from hearing these things and talking about them with me. Spanking, attitudes toward “Indians”, and religion are topics that my kids don’t often get into with any real depth and understanding. I’ve adored historical fiction since I was a kid and I think there’s so much value in looking back in time.
I loved books by Jim Kjelgaard as a kid (Big Red is one) and I’ll be reading those to my littles as well. We’ve read my side of the mountain, another huge fav.
I was a book obsessed as a kid and can’t recall many other kid level books I loved, though I’m sure there were many. But I got into adult fiction by the age of 10 or 11. The Pillars of the Earth, Lord of the Rings, the Illiad and the Odyssey, Clan of the Cave Bear, all made a huge impact on me.
My 10 year old isn’t that into reading himself but he loves being read to, and we are on the Lord of the Rings right now. My kids will have to tackle some of my other childhood favourites on their own, the sex scenes could get awkward 😅
What a great thread! We've been homeschooling for 18 years now (4 graduates 6 to go). Great lists. Might be amazing to start a classics list for moms? I'd love to get some inspiration!
We love many books as we are over a decade into homeschooling with our oldest graduating within a year. We have loved and read many of the books from the booklists on amblesideonline.org website, a Charlotte Mason based site for reading lists for all ages. We also love the Good and Beautiful book lists and some of their curriculum. We have had so much fun with the Burgess Bird Book and the Burgess Animal Book. We love their biographies, my kids find them so fun! We also love the Story Book of Science, it has helped my children observe nature with so much more depth and wonder after reading these stories. We love all the Holling Clancy Holling book series such as Pagoo, Paddle to the Sea and Beautiful Feet books website has maps to follow along to make it come alive and teach geography if you choose, othwerwise they're just beautiful stories. Anne of Green Gables is a classic. We love Jane Austen books. I could go on forever but those are some of our quick favorites over the years.
What would you start with? I have a 3 year old and we just started velveteen rabbit, charlottes web and Winnie the Pooh but she still is very very much into picture books since she is just newly 3...
Oh! Speaking of books, I’m looking for recommendations on books for newborn care and/or maintaining your child’s health at home. If anyone has recommendations please share! 😊
We’ve been reading The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson - my 7 and 5 year olds love it and my husband tries to listen to as much as he can after work. It would be great for teens too. Also the Seven Sleeper Series is good! Another dealing with internal struggles of good and evil.
If you want to branch out into some German books that are available in translation, check out Max and Moritz by Wilhelm Busch (was my son's favourite book), Struwwelpeter (I read last year that they are banning this book, so get it while you can), Heidi by Johanna Spyri (about an orphan girl in the Swiss Alps), Die Kleine Hexe (The Little Witch). As a kid, I loved Winnetou by Karl May and The Leatherstocking Tales by J. F. Cooper.
Gosh - there are so very many. I’ve homeschooled 4 kids....mostly for the very reason of being able to read them incredible “old” books. Caddie Woodlawn, Sign of the Beaver, Year of Miss Agnes, Trumpet of the Swan, My Side of the Mountain, Little Britches, Emily of New Moon, Anything by Elizabeth Goudge, Little Women....just to name a few. Literature for children and adults is so important in developing language and moral character.
The Little Britches series by Ralph Moody is an absolute favorite/must in our house. Also, the Melendy and Goneaway Lake series by Elizabeth Enright. Also the Living Forest Series by Sam Campbell -- don't give up after the first book, they get better after that. I second many of the books already listed here.
I so appreciate this discussion -- rescuing used books, especially children's books is a particular passion of mine 😊💛
So many!! My oldest child is almost 9, so we haven’t branches into older-teen books yet for them, but here’s what we have enjoyed thus far:
Little Britches series (similar to LHOTP but more boy-oriented)
Swallows and Amazons
The Children of Noisy Village
Lord of the Rings
Narnia
Men of Iron by Howard Pyle
Any and all of the GA Henty books - great for boys, plus tons of historical information
Rascal, Trumpet of the Swan, My Side of the Mountain
The Secret Garden
Treasure Island... etc
Dangerous Journey - by Laszlo H
Any of the classics - there a reason they are timeless.
For younger children, some treasured picture books:
The Olden Days
The Man Who Cooked For Himself
All the Elsa Beskow books
Frog & Toad
James Herriott
The Rainbabies
Bread & Jam for Frances
So many!
Our home has grown to include 17 bookshelves lined with classics (I collect them from book depots and used bookstores and library sales), fiction, non-fiction, most in English, some in French, some German. I am starting to collect multiples of my favourites ( David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre, Jungle Book, Tom Sawyer, anything by L.M. Montgomery etc.) so that the children will be able to take them along to their homes once they move out. As libraries continue to shed great classic picture books I am scooping those up as well.
We also built a "Little Library" on our front lawn (which looks essentially like a giant bird house) where we place books that people can take or borrow; they in turn can drop off books they no longer want.
A wonderful nature book that my 10-year old loves to look at is Edith Holden's a Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady; it has wonderful watercolour illustrations of flora and fauna.
All of a Kind Family, Pippi Longstocking and real dinkum Roald Dahl in all his disturbing glory. Huge favourites at our house. Also Half Magic and anything by Edward Eager.
How are any of us supposed to learn the humility that comes from understanding that our own perspective is limited by the time and culture in which we live, if the best authors of the past are sanitized so we cannot view their limitations through the perspective of cultural change? They were intelligent and also limited in how they perceived the world - just as we are. The perspectives of our time and culture certainly have their limitations and flaws - we are often just too embedded to be aware of them. Dickens was brilliant and sexist. E. Nesbit was brilliant and racist. These things can coexist. The great authors of now (and formulaic AI already seems to be producing half of Scholastic's inane library so NOT that) will have their contradictions and limitations too. Let us see and learn from the flaws and limitations of previous generations as well as from their brilliance. Sigh.
I have all boys, and this is a book list (of mostly old, beautiful books) I reference often.
https://circeinstitute.org/blog/blog-books-cultivating-honorable-boys/
My mother grew up in the Prairies and loved the Little House on the Prairies. I have her set of books that are falling apart. As she was dying with AZ, I read her the books out loud. I am now re-reading James Herriot books.
This is an incredibly important thread - thank you Tara! Retired teacher here weighing in here. So many books teach about life, values, how to be a good human, in an indirect way, and the best books (thinking of Cat in the Hat, for example) spark conversation/discussion and exploration. A very recent example for me: I was an avid reader of Marguerite Henry's books growing up (horse crazy girl, horse crazy still). A friend just gave me an old edition of Black Gold, which I had never read. It's a fictional account of a real race horse, circa 1920. At one point she has the words to the Kentucky state(?) song (at the time?) and it includes the word "darky." That took me aback for a moment, but those are the teaching moments with children. If we whitewash (no pun intended) all sorts of history, how do we know about learning and growing a different way? The missed opportunities for discussion are mind blowing if you take it all out. Kudos to all here, and thank everyone for their recommendations and thoughts.
The USA-based publisher Good and the Beautiful is right with you on this thinking. They've been diligently finding and republishing older books. We love so much of what they've republished. I just read Marjorie (originally Marjorie of Monhegan) and it really got me thinking. I read it aloud to my husband and son also. Then there's The Other Side of the Wall (originally published in 1826!). You might really enjoy two of their nature books. One is Nature Reader Birds, the other is Nature Reader Insects and Arachnids. Both contain 3-4 republished stories from the 50's or 60's. It was a jolt when I first opened one - my sister and I read these books as kids, the memories came flooding back. The wonderful thing about the publishing companies playing these games with rewriting the kids books is that it's sending droves of us looking for older books and into used book stores. We've been having the most wonderful time finding the most wonderful stories! P.S. We love everything on your list. Just need to read the Farley Mowat title!
I’m super picky about high quality writing for my kids to read regularly! The older books are SO much better in this regard. Particularly interested in nonfiction as I prefer them to read real stories for at least 75% of their reading. We have read TONS of Holocaust/communism/world war II stories. We are Christians so we also read and/or listen to tons of missionary/martyr books. We listened to Rascal after Tara wrote about it and LOVED it!!! But I also love classics like Old yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Incredible Journey.....Highly recommend Old Squires Farm and the sequel Sailing on the Ice, and Ben Logan’s The Land Remembers. Anything Wendell Berry.
Thanks everyone for sharing their suggestions!
Oh I love this thread! I am in my early 20s and don’t yet have kids but I am already thinking fondly of all the books my future children will read. I was a voracious reader as a kid, so I figured I’d put some of my favorites here. I loved Narnia, Little House series, Anne of Green Gables, My Side of the Mountain, anything by Dahl, The Hobbit, Stuart Little, The Secret Garden, Misty of Chincoteague, Little Women, Pippi Longstocking, and Charlotte’s Web. Also James Harriot did some writing for children that is wonderful. I can’t wait to write down all of your suggestions to read to my kids one day!
My children have really enjoyed the books by E Nesbitt. Also The Just So Stories… Anne of Green Gables, Beatrix Potter, and the Jacob Two Two books.
What a great idea! And although I have no children, since I am 73, I can add some real oldies:
Heidi (!) Johanna Spyri the healing effects of living with goats in the mountains
Moomintroll books by ?? I forget -- Finnish author
Tistou of the Green Thumb Maurice Druon
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils S. Lavansdotter (naughty boy ends up flying on a magic goose all over Sweden)
Freddy the Pig series (forgot author) The farm animals solve various mysteries
Nature: One Day on Beetle Rock by Sally Corrigan
And thank you for supporting paper/print books -- I work for a used book store!
I loved all the Richard Scarry books as a kid. Sadly my mom didn’t keep any of them but I have been able to find a lot at old book swaps or buying them brand new on Amazon. His artwork is just so whimsical and endearing.
My oldest is just turning 8 so I’m starting to share books with him that I loved to read on my own. So many mentioned above but I also gave him some Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books my mom passed down to me.
And always Shel Silverstein 💚
So many great books I had forgotten about! We love The Penderwicks series. I read it outloud to our girls for the first time a few years ago and we all laughed and cried together. It reminds me of a great mix of little women and the boxcar children.
For younger kids the picture books Edison, Lindbergh, Armstrong, and Einstein (all the main characters are mice) by Torben Kuhlman are a visual feast. They have detailed, beautiful drawings and inspired many projects in our home.
Treasures in the Snow by Patricia St.John, Call of the Wild by Jack London, The Hobbit, Swiss Family Robinson are some others that come to mind.
I started reading my 5 year old the little house series after that last chat. Makes me long for a simpler time. Did you know they are “updating” Roald Dahl books?
This morning I wrote down every book I hadn't written and set off to the library to find them. I have used and loved our library for years, but I came out so concerned because the library flat out didn't have any of these older titles and the series that I remember checking out when my kids were younger (truly not that terribly long ago) have all disappeared. No Rosemary Sutcliff, no Swallows and Amazons series, no Trixie Belden, no Thornton W. Burgess, etc. etc. Thank you for the very timely reminder that I need to collect more than I have been!!
I will only add one book, which is for moms, about the importance of reading to children, "Bequest of Wings" by Annis Duff - an absolutely lovely find (out of print) but if you love the sentiment of the Emily Dickinson poem (I'll try to remember it) she based it on, you'll love the book:
"He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust. He knew no more that he was poor, or that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy ways, and this Bequest of Wings, was but a book,
what liberty a loosened spirit brings."
Would you believe, I was wishing to find a thread of suggestions of this sort just last week? In particular, books that foster a connection with nature as well as old values. I’ll be referring back to this thread many times I suspect! ❤️
One of my daughter & I’s absolute favorite book series we’ve read together I did not see mentioned: The Birchbark House series. It is historical fiction set in the 1850s, following a young Native American girl and her family, much like the Little House series. It is captivating, full of detail about how they lived their lives, much about day to day and survival, how they felt connected with nature, and such beautiful family connectedness. It also is a great parallel to read after the Little House series, to see it from the other side of the Native Americans at that time. I’m hoping Louise Eldridge continues the series (she has written 5 so far!).
Younger kids picture books: Warm as Wool, Dakota Dugout, Billy and Blaze series, The Oxcart Man, Going to sleep on the Farm, James the Shepherd Boy, Where Are Your Shoes Mr Brown?, The Rich Man and the Shoemaker, Looking for Loons, Maple Hill Farms, Abbie Against the Storm, Read Aloud Bible Stories (whole series), James Herriot- make sure it’s the kids stories lol....his other books are great but for at least older teens/young adults.
How could I forget Jan Brett? Annie and the wild animals for sure.
Will add more later, but my little one (18 months) loves The Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, anything John Galdone.
And don’t forget the poetry!
Anything Shirley Hughes
When We Were Very Young AA Milne
Classic Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes (Kate Greenaway’s is particularly lovely)
A Children’s Garden of Verses
A Child’s Calendar Year John Updike
Favorite’s from my childhood...
Andrew Henry’s Meadow
Jenny Linsky Series
We Were Tired of Living in a House
Nancy Drew Series
Mandy Series
My mom used to read from The Book of Virtues every night while we all piled in her big bed. She gave us each a copy of the book when we started our own families. Such beautiful memories. Highly highly recommend. Great for all ages.
My boys are grown but they loved Madeline L’Engle books. A Wrinkle in Time, The Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Everyone is suggesting such good books. This is great! If anyone can find a picture book called The Empty Pot by Demi you won’t be disappointed!
I recently found an old copy of James Harriot at a thrift store for $4 - a treasure. Trumpet of the Swan is my son's favourite. I adored Little Women as a youngster. There was an old time travel book I adored too - I can't for the life of me recall the name. But it made me long for a time when there were morals and character! I used to be the "nerd" that stayed in from recess to help the librarian and read all the Agatha Christie.
Our kids are 2 and 4, so we’re just getting started reading longer books and this list will be helpful for adding to our library! We have towers of books all across our house, our living room is more book than chair. We’re on more ‘picture’ books at the moment; Beatrix Potter, Boxcar Children, Dr. Seuss, Berenstein Bears, frog and toad, and I’m going to start reading all of the Serendipity series of children’s books to them soon. I grew up with those, and the copies that I have were my mother’s, and some of them are so well-loved to the point of fragility. Our oldest is just now starting to enjoy sitting down for longer picture-free reading sessions 🥰 Little House is where we’ll start I think. Thriftbooks has been one of our favorite places to find used copies of pretty much anything, as our local used stores are ho-hum most of the time sadly
Berenstein Bears, Trixie Belden mysteries, Chronicles of Narnia, Little House, Boxcar Children, Good Morning Sun (for toddlers), Dr. Seuss, Frog and Toad
Love this idea. I need to go back and find that other convo. Have been out of it for a bit. We purchased most of Dr. Seuss’ books for our grand daughters once we saw what was happening. I find it so interesting in reading The Cat In The Hat, how at the end it asks, what would you do? Basically the cat walks in, creates havoc, then invites his two friends in (Thing 1&2) to wreak more havoc. Our grand daughters are young, 3 & 1 but I’ve already begun the discussion w our 3 yr old. The idea of letting someone talk you into something you’re uncomfortable with, allowing things to happen wo saying a word. I just don’t remember such a children’s book as this being rich in opportunity for great questions about morality. Thanks for this thread!
Not sure if you’ll be able to source this one. But I just read ‘Golden fiddle’ by mary grant Bruce, an old Australian author. It was such a beautiful story of 4 poor kids growing up on a farm but the way they work and the way they talk to each other and are grateful for the tiniest things was gorgeous
Very rarely do I read a list like this and find so many to add that I've never heard of before. If you like L.M. Montgomery and Louisa Alcott check out Grace S. Richmond. I especially like her Red Pepper Burns series about a super Built, red headed Doctor (I am. not making this up) and his temper. I like how rational things like exercise and simple eating are included. And the dynamics of family and friends. The Listening Post is also excellent.
Gordon MacQuarrie writes humorous stories about fishing and nature - he can be hard to find but worth it.
Braiding Sweetgrass might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love her essays on nature.
We like Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale as more recent authors. Also Brandon Mull is exciting.
Josephine Tey is a pen name for a few mysteries that are lovely
Now to start collecting my long list of great books I've never heard of before. So exciting!
Hatchet, by Gary Paulson, was a favorite of my children.
East of the sun west of the moon, The Education of Little Tree, the chronicles of Narnia, Juniper by Monica furlong (so magical, go find this rare book), Tom Brown's The Tracker. For little littles: All the places to love, Goodnight Moon, The legend of the white buffalo calf woman by Paul Goble. Also by Paul Goble Star Boy, The girl who loved wild horses, The Greay Race, The gift of the Sacred Dog, Buffalo Woman, All our Relatives. The legend of the indian paintbrush by Tomie dePaola. Everything by Dr. Seuss.
My children and I have read many of the books mentioned here but I recently read "The Yearling" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings to my children and I highly recommend. Rawlings depiction of love, how it is both sublime and gut-wrenching, stood out to me most.
The Railway Children, Escape from Warsaw, the Golden Goblet, Eagle of the Ninth, Maya Daughter of the Nile, and The Island of the Blue Dolphins are all favorites I haven't seen mentioned here yet. Wonderful historical fiction that depicts children/young adults doing hard, heroic things or making difficult choices in the situations life brings them.
We homeschooled and here are some of our favorites: Jo’s Boys and Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth George Speare books The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Sign of the Beaver, The Bronze Bow, Calico, Captive, Just David by Eleanor H. Porter, Wisdom and the Millers Proverbs for Children, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith, Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor, The Green Ember by S. D. Smith, Newberry Award winning books are also a good source.
Lord of the rings says my 11-year-old and the Trojan War says my 8-year-old, she is reading a children's adaptation by Olivia Coolidge. I also love Madeline L'Engle'ls A wrinkle in Time. For horse crazy kids anything by Margaret Henry is good. We really enjoyed the Great Horn Spoon recently, a hilarious story about Gold Rush times. And right now we are reading the Wheel on the school. This is a fun and engrossing story about a group of kids and a Dutch town who want to bring storks back to their town.
I second Rascal, my favourite as a kid. Shiloh, Fly Away Home, Swiss Family Robinson, My Side of the Mountain, Island of the Blue Dolphins.
Farmhouse School Co. reprints old books and teaches the skills used in them. I've yet to get any, but it looks likea neat option
This is such a great thread! Thank you Tara.
And how could I forget - the Redwall series by Brian Jacques
So many great suggestions I won’t repeat. My girls are loving Roald Dahls books. We just started a book called Rump and it’s a fun twist on the story of Rumplestiltskin as a young boy. We haven’t finished it so I can’t say for sure how great it is but so far we’re loving it. If we like it, they have other stories with a twist. I remember loving Nancy Drew as a child, and Hatchet. Also, the Girl who owned a city was a favorite of mine. Those might be too old still for my 8 and under. I haven’t seen anyone mention The Tuddle Twins yet. We have those books and the kids like them as well.
Betsey Tacy series, Brambley Hedge series (illustrations are the best), Vera the mouse (also great illustrations), strawberry girl (Lois Lenskj), number the stars (Lois Lowry) On call back mountain (Eva Bunting). These are some books that come to mind.
Our family loves Ralph Moody's Little Britches! We get our used books from ThriftBooks. We also have one by Raph's Uncle Frank Gould called Making of a Maine Man.
All of Louisa May Alcott's books, Anne of Green Gables, Just So Stories, The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, James Herriott's books, Wind in the Willows, Dominic by William Steig, Treasure Island! There are so many others but these are some of the books that made my childhood magical.
We just started the little house series, and my kids love it. The explanations of historical homesteading life are so interesting to the kids and I. It’s funny to think how many censorship opportunities there are in this book, and how much my kids can learn from hearing these things and talking about them with me. Spanking, attitudes toward “Indians”, and religion are topics that my kids don’t often get into with any real depth and understanding. I’ve adored historical fiction since I was a kid and I think there’s so much value in looking back in time.
I loved books by Jim Kjelgaard as a kid (Big Red is one) and I’ll be reading those to my littles as well. We’ve read my side of the mountain, another huge fav.
I was a book obsessed as a kid and can’t recall many other kid level books I loved, though I’m sure there were many. But I got into adult fiction by the age of 10 or 11. The Pillars of the Earth, Lord of the Rings, the Illiad and the Odyssey, Clan of the Cave Bear, all made a huge impact on me.
My 10 year old isn’t that into reading himself but he loves being read to, and we are on the Lord of the Rings right now. My kids will have to tackle some of my other childhood favourites on their own, the sex scenes could get awkward 😅
What a great thread! We've been homeschooling for 18 years now (4 graduates 6 to go). Great lists. Might be amazing to start a classics list for moms? I'd love to get some inspiration!
We love many books as we are over a decade into homeschooling with our oldest graduating within a year. We have loved and read many of the books from the booklists on amblesideonline.org website, a Charlotte Mason based site for reading lists for all ages. We also love the Good and Beautiful book lists and some of their curriculum. We have had so much fun with the Burgess Bird Book and the Burgess Animal Book. We love their biographies, my kids find them so fun! We also love the Story Book of Science, it has helped my children observe nature with so much more depth and wonder after reading these stories. We love all the Holling Clancy Holling book series such as Pagoo, Paddle to the Sea and Beautiful Feet books website has maps to follow along to make it come alive and teach geography if you choose, othwerwise they're just beautiful stories. Anne of Green Gables is a classic. We love Jane Austen books. I could go on forever but those are some of our quick favorites over the years.
What would you start with? I have a 3 year old and we just started velveteen rabbit, charlottes web and Winnie the Pooh but she still is very very much into picture books since she is just newly 3...
Oh! Speaking of books, I’m looking for recommendations on books for newborn care and/or maintaining your child’s health at home. If anyone has recommendations please share! 😊
We’ve been reading The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson - my 7 and 5 year olds love it and my husband tries to listen to as much as he can after work. It would be great for teens too. Also the Seven Sleeper Series is good! Another dealing with internal struggles of good and evil.
So many good books here. A few favorites that we love:
Where the Red Fern Grows
Black Beauty
The Hatchet
Children of the New Forest
The Little Duke
If you want to branch out into some German books that are available in translation, check out Max and Moritz by Wilhelm Busch (was my son's favourite book), Struwwelpeter (I read last year that they are banning this book, so get it while you can), Heidi by Johanna Spyri (about an orphan girl in the Swiss Alps), Die Kleine Hexe (The Little Witch). As a kid, I loved Winnetou by Karl May and The Leatherstocking Tales by J. F. Cooper.