"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
The Noble Internet--Not--Or: I Didn't Go Into All That Debt For My Masters Degree To Run An Internet Cafe
I went to a library in another local jurisdiction on Monday and was amused to see a sign up about Internet usage at the library. Apparently, the traffic at the library is incredible, and patrons were being urged to limit their Internet usage and to use the Internet mainly for "research purposes".
If I hadn't been a library, I would've burst out laughing on the spot!
We have 8 Internet stations at our branch. And what on the average day, what are people doing on these stations?
Contacting their Congressmen? Researching colleges? Reading the candidates position papers?
Nope. They're watching videos on YouTube. Surfing MySpace pages. Playing on-line games. Using chat rooms.
Don't get me wrong, there ARE people coming in to use our computers to write resumes, or to apply for jobs, or get government or consumer or medical information. And I'm glad we have it for that. I'm glad to assist these patrons as much as I can. I've taught people how to use a mouse, how to set up an e-mail account, and I'll always do so.
But I'll be damned if I'll get starry eyed about handing out free access to people who spend a chunk of every day of the week--in the middle of the workday for the rest of us--using our service for entertainment purposes and nothing more. And don't get me started on the teens using that--and nothing else in the library!
To add injury to insult,as I've mentioned before, we are required to provide the service to anyone with a library card, even if the library card has major fines or overdue materials. Thus a teen with six "lost" DVDs and a pile of the popular novels by Sharon Flake can continue to use the Internet service with impunity. And there's NOTHING that I can do about it.
Want to give the public that "necessary" access to the Internet? Want to close the "information divide"?
Fine. Open up computer centers in every neighborhood. Or give every household with below a certain income level a computer and a free/low cost internet connection.
And then perhaps we can get away from the computers and back to the books and to serving the people who understand what value they have, even in this high tech world.....
