Give a child the gift of reading and you give them a gift for life
Mark Send a noteboard - 12/02/2010 11:21:25 AM
As Gay Byrne used to say.
I'm afraid I have no idea. I imagine big books with plenty of pictures, fairy tales and stuff like the hungry caterpillar.
Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl were stuff I loved to read at that age (Dahl wrote different books for different age groups, including adults) I remember reading Ladybird books when I was very young, which I seem to remember being about fairy tales (Puss in Boots, The Gingerbread Man, etc.) Avoid Chicken Licken (Chicken Little in the US). Scared the hell out of me as a child. My parents had to get the book out of the house as I couldn't sleep with it still in the house
Dahl wrote plenty of excellent stuff for older children also. Generally I suppose you move onto the kind of stories were children go off and have adventures on their own, without any adult supervision. So stuff like the The Famous Five, The Hardy Boys, etc
As a younger child Roald Dahl.
Apart from the fact that you should never trust a Fox as it will inevitably eat you, the main thing you learn is a love of reading and that is important for your overall ability to learn.
As probably already came across I did love Dahl. I also really loved Folk Lore and legends and would read those with delight as a child.
What do you think are the best books for babies?
I'm afraid I have no idea. I imagine big books with plenty of pictures, fairy tales and stuff like the hungry caterpillar.
The best books for children learning to read?
Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl were stuff I loved to read at that age (Dahl wrote different books for different age groups, including adults) I remember reading Ladybird books when I was very young, which I seem to remember being about fairy tales (Puss in Boots, The Gingerbread Man, etc.) Avoid Chicken Licken (Chicken Little in the US). Scared the hell out of me as a child. My parents had to get the book out of the house as I couldn't sleep with it still in the house
The best books for older children?
Dahl wrote plenty of excellent stuff for older children also. Generally I suppose you move onto the kind of stories were children go off and have adventures on their own, without any adult supervision. So stuff like the The Famous Five, The Hardy Boys, etc
Books that you read over and over and never seemed to tire of?
As a younger child Roald Dahl.
Books that actually taught something?
Apart from the fact that you should never trust a Fox as it will inevitably eat you, the main thing you learn is a love of reading and that is important for your overall ability to learn.
Most importantly, what books instilled a love for reading in you?
As probably already came across I did love Dahl. I also really loved Folk Lore and legends and would read those with delight as a child.
Once known as Hochopepa
You cannot kill a vampire with an MDF stake; werewolves can't fly; zombies do not run. - Simon Pegg
You cannot kill a vampire with an MDF stake; werewolves can't fly; zombies do not run. - Simon Pegg
What books would you consider essential to a children's library?
10/02/2010 08:25:07 PM
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It's difficult because "children" are "children" from age 0 to roughly 12.
10/02/2010 09:10:16 PM
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I loved "Cars, Trucks and Things"
11/02/2010 06:26:01 PM
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A few random suggestions for younger kids...
10/02/2010 09:12:54 PM
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Thank you for the suggestions and for adding your children's ages.
11/02/2010 06:29:33 PM
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Now there's a good question.
10/02/2010 09:47:39 PM
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I can see now that this is going to be one of those posts that I actually copy out the answers on
11/02/2010 06:44:19 PM
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Since most of the names mentioned elsewhere are unfamiliar to me, that seems logical.
11/02/2010 09:33:12 PM
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Like I would let my kids or grandkids touch that book?!
11/02/2010 10:29:13 PM
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I pulled those books out a year or two ago to see if it was as beautiful as I remembered. It was.
12/02/2010 02:40:20 AM
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Steven King!!!
10/02/2010 10:20:27 PM
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When do you think I should introduce him to The Green Mile? I am not sure he will catch all
11/02/2010 06:50:28 PM
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Madeleine L'Engle
10/02/2010 10:27:38 PM
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I have not heard of it. I will be watching for it in the antique section. Hehe
11/02/2010 07:05:45 PM
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A Wrinkle in Time is worth reading just for yourself. It's one of those books. *NM*
11/02/2010 10:17:10 PM
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Thirded, fourthed, or whatever number follows how many people have nominated this.
12/02/2010 10:57:58 PM
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Peter Pan.
10/02/2010 10:34:42 PM
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Sounds like children's books don't have national boundries.
11/02/2010 07:25:04 PM
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Sounds like some of them do.
11/02/2010 08:11:36 PM
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Yeah, I really wouldn't classify Asterix as children's books particularly...
11/02/2010 09:24:15 PM
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Multi-level is the best way to describe them.
11/02/2010 09:38:38 PM
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Asterix? OH! I do have one of those!! Now I recognize it by your description!
11/02/2010 10:32:18 PM
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For "older" children definitely Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. *NM*
11/02/2010 01:11:09 AM
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Oz books! Oz books!
11/02/2010 05:04:42 AM
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Mmmm. That reminds me. We have one of the first of those books upstairs in my mom's library.
11/02/2010 07:32:34 PM
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Just buy lots and lots and you should be OK
11/02/2010 05:24:23 AM
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I hope I kept my condensed classics. But the problems with those were that they were too memorable
11/02/2010 07:48:45 PM
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Ohh, grandson.
11/02/2010 01:20:44 PM
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Shel Silverstein!
11/02/2010 01:30:46 PM
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Shel Silverstein is great (even if iirc I only ever read her in translation). *NM*
11/02/2010 01:33:14 PM
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He's a boy. You should listen to him read some of the poems.
11/02/2010 01:50:16 PM
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I am going to have to check Siverstein out. Children's books <b>and</b> A Boy Named Sue?
11/02/2010 07:46:02 PM
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~peruses shelves~
11/02/2010 02:19:11 PM
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nuh uh.
11/02/2010 02:22:35 PM
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Shoulda known, really
11/02/2010 02:24:25 PM
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I read some of my dad's L'Amour books when we went on a cross country bus trip when I was eleven
11/02/2010 07:40:30 PM
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Re: What books would you consider essential to a children's library?
11/02/2010 03:28:01 PM
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Those were good. I think I have all except for the Paddington so I will keep my eye out for it.
11/02/2010 07:43:27 PM
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Re: Those were good. I think I have all except for the Paddington so I will keep my eye out for it.
11/02/2010 08:09:59 PM
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So I am familiar with some of his work if not his name. BFG definitly qualifies as an essential.
11/02/2010 08:30:50 PM
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A few for different ages
11/02/2010 04:23:22 PM
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I don't remember the first three. I will watch for those. Or the last ones either. Feel free to add
11/02/2010 07:55:09 PM
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Oh god, I could go on and on. You see...my mom teaches 1st grade...
11/02/2010 08:04:04 PM
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Another vote for Babar!
11/02/2010 09:36:19 PM
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Babar is very universal. Hasn't everyone read Babar? I can still see the pictures. *NM*
11/02/2010 10:33:58 PM
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An answer of a different sort
11/02/2010 09:52:51 PM
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Give a child the gift of reading and you give them a gift for life
12/02/2010 11:21:25 AM
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Well, my favourite "Young Adult" books have always been the Redwall series *NM*
18/02/2010 06:07:18 AM
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Re: What books would you consider essential to a children's library?
26/08/2010 10:00:03 AM
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