Favorite children’s novels, part one
Posted By CarrieK on June 26, 2009
I apologize if you had trouble accessing my blog last night or this morning – the server was down for a short while for some sort of upgrade. It’s back up now, though, in time for me to post my weekly favorites post. (Of course, I’m going to eventually run out of genres, and then I’ll have to figure out something else to post on Fridays!)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
This was my favorite book growing up; I must have read it a dozen times. Claudia is a terrific character – and I’ve wanted to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art ever since the first time I read this. Here’s one of my favorite quotes:
Claudia said, “But, Mrs. Frankweiler, you should want to learn one new thing every day. We did even at the museum.”
“No,” I answered, “I don’t agree with that. I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It’s hollow.”
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
This is the book that got me hooked on historical fiction. From my review: “The Witch of Blackbird Pond is an example of a perfect historical novel. It has adventure, romance, danger, history – what more could you want? And Speare is brilliant at writing historical details in such a way that they are just part of the story – you don’t feel like you’re reading a history lesson.”
Tigerheart
From my review: “This book is everything you could possibly want in a novel: adventure, magic, love, danger, truth, tragedy, and triumph. The best thing is that this is a children’s novel in the same way that the Harry Potter books are “children’s books.” By which I mean that anyone who loves a good story will appreciate this book.”
The Mysterious Benedict Society
This adventure story about four children chosen for their unique abilities to infiltrate a school run by the infamous Mr. Curtain is terrific fun and has wonderful characters that will stick with you. The sequel is great, too.
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
The Penderwick sisters are four characters that the kids and I all absolutely adored. This book has lots of laugh-out-loud moments, and the relationships between the sisters show how a family should work.
Baby Island
If From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was the favorite book of my upper grade school years, then Baby Island was the favorite of my primary years. I must have read it ten times – and I read it aloud to every one of my sisters, and then to my own daughter a few years ago. Mary and Jean are stranded on an island after a shipwreck – with four babies. The way the girls become parents to the babies – and the strange characters, animal and human, that they meet – make for a delightful story.
Come back next week for the second half of my list of the best children’s novels.
Favorite history books
Favorite books about reading and writing
Favorite historical fiction
Favorite memoirs, part one
Favorite memoirs, part two
Favorite contemporary fiction, part one
Favorite contemporary fiction, part two
Favorite contemporary fiction, part three
Great list! There are some there that are new to me. So I’ll fun reading some new ones and passing them on to young relatives.
[...] Favorite children’s novels, part one ~ Me and My Books Meme ~ Found in the pages of Bookmarks Magazine July/August Issue ~ Book review: [...]
[...] See the rest here [...]
[...] Book review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel ~ Favorite children’s novels, part one ~ Book review: The Wet Nurse’s Tale by Erica Eisdorfer Bookmark [...]
I love the Mixed Up Files, read it several times as a kid, whenever I think of the Met, I think of that book. In fact, I even think of it when I see a fountain full of change. When we went to NYC when the kids were younger, I read them the book, then wrote a list of the types of art and designed our own “Mixed Up Files” tour.
Kim – that sounds wonderful! I’d love to be able to do that with my kiddoes one of these days.
[...] This is a continuation of my list of our favorite children’s novels: [...]
[...] children’s novels (look at this post and this [...]