Help childrens book club

karenvictoria

karenvictoria

Cathlete
Ladies I need your help. I'm starting a book club for my oldest daugher who is 10. The age ranges in my group are 9-11yo. I need help deciding on what books your children have read and which ones they liked the most. Here is my rough list. Please let me know any suggestions or any that I should take off the list.

American Girl The Curse of Ravencourt
Because of Winn Dixie
Holes
A Wrinkle in Time
Ella Enchanted
The Pepins and their Problems
How to Eat Fried Green Worms
Harriet the Spy
The Great Brain
Hoot
The Best School Year Ever

Thanks so much for any input. Karen
karen

www.picturetrail.com/karenvictoria
 
Karen:

My 9-year old daughter, Claudia, is an avid reader. I've asked for her input, and here are her recommendations:

The Two Princesses of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine
Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine
Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
Double Identity, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Everything by Roald Dahl
Lily's Crossing and Willow Run, by Patricia Reilly Giff

Another great resource is Amazon.com. If you go to the page of any of the books you've liked and scroll down to "Listmania" on the bottom, you can get recommendations of similar books. The reader reviews are great, too. Will post more when my 11-year old son, Daniel, gives me his suggestions.

Happy Reading!
Lynda
 
I assume Harry Potter has been up... but also:

Indian in the Cupboard
Little House Books (all of them)
Amy's Eyes
Apricots at Midnight
Redwall (all of them)

HTH! These were and are some of my faves...
 
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert de Jong
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
Cheaper By the Dozen by Gilbreth
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by Konigsburg
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
Island of Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Lad: A Dog by Albert Terhune
Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfeld
The Problem with Pulcifer by Lippincott
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Books by Edith Nesbit

Hope this helps.
 
Chasing Vermeer
Any of the Molly Moon books (Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism for example)
Anything by Eva Ibbotson


Loads of stuff by Tamora Pierce (my 10 year old's and her BFF's fave author)

The 3 part series of Flyte, Magyk and Physik (my girl just devoured them)
The Westing Game

There's tons more if you need more suggestions. But my girls have both loved all of the above at that age.

Clare
 
Karen,
Your daughter's a little bit younger than the students I teach, so my ability to make suggestions is somewhat limited, but you may want to add to your list: The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo, a relatively recent Newberry winner.

Check out this link to the American Library Association. It lists notable 2007 selections for children: http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/childrensnotable/notablecbooklist/currentnotable.htm
There are also links to past award winners.

~Cathy :)
 
Oh, that reminds me, Claudia absolutely loved The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane!

Lynda
 
And there are always the classics!

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
by Kenneth Grahame

HEIDI
by Johanna Spyri

PETER PAN
by James M. Barrie

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
by C. S. Lewis

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS
by Shel Silverstein

CHARLOTTE'S WEB
by E.B. White

LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING
by Astrid Lindgren

THE SECRET GARDEN
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
 
I don't know your daughter's interests but if she likes the outdoors she might like some of the books by Gary Paulsen.
 
If you're not looking for longer books, Dorothy Lathrop is another good author. My girls liked Bouncing Betsy (about a lamb), Follow the Brook (two racoons), and Hide and Go Seek (gray squirrel). I don't know if her books are published anymore. I usually find them used and our library carries a couple of hers including Dog in the Tapestry.

The books I listed above are longer. My dd is nine years old and has read them. Since I homeschool, I'm not sure what reading level they would be considered in the public schools. Some of the books in my previous post are listed in the Veritas Press catalog. Veritas Press is associated with a classical private school with high academic standards and expectations. I would take their literature suggestions with a grain of salt since they list Collodi's Pinocchio 261 page unabridged translation as a 2nd grade book. Dd read it at 7, but we had to go over vocabulary words (vagabond, braizer, street urchin) together prior to each chapter.
 
I can't believe I forgot The Hundred Dresses!!! It's such a SWEET book. I cry every time I read it!!! I haven't had my dd read it YET. She's been so sheltered from snobby girls that I doubt she would fully love Wanda Petronski as much as she should be loved. It's a great story that deals with social status, self worth, peer pressure, forgiveness, understanding and acceptance. It would make for a thought provoking book discussion.
 
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