Favorite Books

I made this list of my favorite books back in 2006.  I kind of forgot about it until a friend asked me for a copy a few weeks ago.  I thought I'd share it here.

Melanie’s Favorites

Picture Books

See the Before Five in a Row Book List (for ages 2-4)

See the Five In A Row Book List (for ages 4-8)

Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (Fabulous author!  All of her books are great!)

Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar D’Aulaire  (Read all of their beautiful biographies!)

Miss Twiggley’s Tree by Dorthea Warren Fox

Any book by Margaret Wise Brown

Series you won’t want to miss:

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Short & Easy to Read:

The Box-Car Children Gertrude C. Warner

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

The Chalk Box Kid and The Paint Brush Kid by Clyde Robert Bulla (great author!)

Great Read Alouds:

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (also a math classic)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (my son’s favorite author)

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (don’t miss his other great books)

Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks (this is a series of 5 books)

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (writes great historical fiction)

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Little Britches by Ralph Moody

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (sweet story set in WWII)

Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling (Wonderful illustrations. See his other books)

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (also a math classic)

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt

The Secret Garden and A Little Princess  by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Strawberry Girl  by Lois Lenski (teaches neighborliness, homesteader vs. squatter)

Treasures in the Snow by Patricia St. John (beautiful tale of  forgiveness)

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (great author, look at her other books)

For teens & adults:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (read her other books too!)

The Chosen and The Promise by Chaim Potok

The Hiding Place and Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Poetry:

Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, Illustrated by Christopher Bing

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

Favorite Poems by Emily Dickinson

Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill (Lovely poems about color)

Mammalabilia & Insectlopedia  by Douglas Florian (Great paintings & funny poems)

A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky

Poetry for Young People by Edward Lear (kids love his funny limericks)

The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi (based on the tale by Mary Howitt)

Tales from Shakespeare by Mary and Charles Lamb

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Art:

Degas and the Little Dancer by Laurence Anholt

Linnea in Monet’s Garden by Christina Bjork

Science:

The Cloud Book & The Quicksand Book by Tomie de Paola

Pagoo, Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling

History:

See Let the Authors Speak by Carolyn Hatcher

Childhood of Famous Americans Series

The Declaration of Independence Illustrated & Inscribed by Sam Fink

Thank You Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving  by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling

We the Kids Illustrated by David Catrow

Homeschooling related:

Dr. Seuss’ Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! By Jack Prelutsky & Lane Smith

Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille

Math:

www.livingmath.net is a great resource for math literature!

http://www.stuartjmurphy.com/index.html The Mathstart Series by Stuart J. Murphy is fabulous!  These books aren’t just math problems disguised as stories; they are real children’s literature.  Kids will read these beautiful books over and over and the math concepts become part of them.

Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

One Grain of Rice by Demi

The Man Who Counted by Malba Tahan

Mathematicians Are People, Too (Vol 1 & 2) by Luetta Reimer & Wilbert Reimer

The Number Devil by Hans Mangnus Enzensberger

Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster