Book Talk: Classic Elementary Fiction

As I mentioned last week, "elementary fiction" is a giant category, so this is another sub-category of it. 

I don't know the actual definition of "classic," but since I now hear songs from my childhood on classic rock stations, I'm gonna go with anything published before I was born in 1979. 

These were some of the most fun books to share with my sons, since many were books I had read myself and loved. One of the lesser known pleasures of parenthood is sharing things with your children that were special to you when you were a child. And for a reader, those things are often books. Like so . . 

The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder--Without question, the most beloved of my childhood favorites. I let Cubby have my old set of them when he was about nine years old, and he's read them all many times already. Jack is getting into them now, too, although I have to read them to him still. One woman's opinion: The best of these is Farmer Boy (so much delicious-sounding food!), and the worst is The First Four Years.

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink--Often compared to the Little House books, which I suppose is inevitable given that the main character is a young girl living in a frontier community.

The Children Who Stayed Alone by Bonnie Bess Worline--Yet another pioneer story about children, this one set on the plains. I clearly had a fascination for this genre as a child. This one has a brother and sister as the main characters.

Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare--And yes, another pioneer story, this one about a boy who is left alone and befriends a boy from the local native tribe. This author wrote several great books, but they'll appear on later lists for older kids.

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White--I have some mixed feelings about this book, just because anthropomorphizing animals is not a great idea for kids like mine who will be eating animals they know. But the appeal of the book is undeniable. It's funny and sweet, well-written, and an excellent read-aloud.

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley--I actually never read this book as a child, but my boys loved it. As has every other child I know who has read it. I know an unusually large number of children who have horses, which may have something to do with it, but the story in the book is just a good one, regardless of whether you're a horse person or not.

Bill says black stallions are overrated, and why hasn't anyone written a book about a buckskin pony yet?

Pooh's Library by A. A. Milne--This four-book set includes Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, and Now We Are Six. The first two are the stories on which the classic movie are based. The last two are collections of poetry. I actually like the poetry better than the stories. The poems are just so spot-on in their depiction of the experience of childhood. They're funny, and well-written, and very fun to read aloud. 

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling--Speaking of classic books made into Disney movies . . . My kids love this book. The book includes more than just the familiar story of Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves. There's one about a white seal, another about an elephant, and, my favorite, "Rikki Tikki Tavi," about a mongoose who saves a family from a pair of cobras.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin--Oh man, this is SUCH a great book. It's a mystery. The characters have to solve a puzzle, and the one who figures it out gets a big fortune. The main character is a precocious 13-year-old girl. The characters are just so well done, and the book is fantastically well-plotted. It's just fun to read, and almost impossible to guess the ending.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George--An enduringly popular book for good reason: What kid doesn't dream about running away and living alone? There are a couple of sequels, which are entertaining, but not as good as this one.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell--A sort of female equivalent of My Side of the Mountain. It's about a 12-year-old girl who is stranded on an island and has to survive alone.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett--This author wrote a few books I really liked as a kid, but I find most of them to be somewhat off-puttingly sentimental now. The Secret Garden is less so, and much her best book, in large part because Mary Lennox is so refreshingly stubborn. And, of course, there's Dickon, who is one of the greatest children's fiction characters of all time.

My own secret garden, cleverly hidden inside milk jugs.

Great Illustrated Classics, various titles--I suppose a real purist would insist on a kid waiting until he's old enough to read Dickens in the original versions, but honestly, most people never will. I certainly never did. However, this series of books offers a way for kids to enjoy the stories and characters of great classic literature without wading through 18-century language and verbosity. This is a really good option for books like The Swiss Family Robinson that have awesome stories for kids, but are really difficult for a modern young reader to wade through.

I think this list is long enough, so I'm going to leave it here and probably continue it next week.

What would you add to this list of classic elementary fiction?