Family Friendly Classics

Today, I'm sharing classic stories that can be read by the whole family.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Headed for Canada to visit his father for the first time since his parents' divorce, thirteen-year-old Brian is the sole survivor of a plane crash, with only the clothes he has on and a hatchet to help him live in the wilderness.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

No case is too tricky for the world's most famous sleuth and his incredible powers of deduction, in a collection of mystery stories for young readers.

More Books --

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling

Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Stuart Little by E.B. White

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

White Fang by Jack London

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Then, Now, Forever: Classic Books for Kids

 We often get asked where to find the classic books.  Unfortunately, they are spread throughout the library.  So here is a handy list of just some classic books for kids . . . .

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
After moving to the small village of Sleepy Hollow, superstitious schoolmaster Ichabod Crane hears the tall tale of The Headless Horseman, a ghost haunting the nearby woods.

Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge

A Dutch brother and sister work toward two goals--finding the doctor who can restore their father's memory and winning the competition for the silver skates.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

A scientist invents a machine that transports him far into the future where he discovers a changed world inhabited by two unusual races, the Eloi and the Morlocks.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Black Beauty spends his youth in a loving home, surrounded by friends and cared for by his owners. But when circumstances change, he learns that not all humans are so kind.

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

The three Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael, travel to Neverland where they share great adventures with Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up.

More Classics --

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

The Mysterious Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Classics for Children

The Jefferson County Library is excited to be sponsoring author visits by Pulitzer Prize winning-author Caroline Fraser later this month.  She won the Pulitzer Prize for her book Prairie Fires about the life of children's author Laura Ingalls Wilder.  So this week, I am sharing some classic books for children.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls
Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her famlily are kept busy and happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson travel to the bleak wastes of Dartmoor to solve the mystery surrounding the late Sir Charles Baskerville and a ghostly hound.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
As life on Mars becomes impossible, Martians and their terrifying machines invade the earth.


More Classics --
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
White Fang by Jack London
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum


Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through October 11, 2019.

Classics Retold

This week, I'm sharing teen books that are retellings of classics.  Here's a few of my favorites . . .

Abandon by Meg Cabot
A near-death experience, a horrible incident at school, and a move from Connecticut to Florida have turned seventeen-year-old Pierce's life upside-down, but when she needs him most John Hayden is always there, helping but reminding her of her visit to the Underworld.

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey
As seventeen-year-old Jill Jekel and classmate Tristen Hyde work together on a chemistry project, hoping to win a scholarship for her and a cure for his curse, they also uncover family secrets and a chemistry of their own.

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
In the midst of maneuverings to create political alliances through marriage, sixteen-year-old Poppy, one of the infamous twelve dancing princesses, becomes the target of a vengeful witch while Prince Christian tries to save her.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily receives special protections from the spiritual forces of Neverland, but then she meets her tribe's most dangerous enemy--Peter Pan--and falls in love with him.


More Classics --
Avalon High by Meg Cabot
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli
Black Spring by Alison Croggon
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett
Enter Three Witches by Caroline Cooney
The Fall by Bethany Griffin
Hunted by Megan Spooner
A Little in Love by Susan E. Fletcher
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard
Marly's Ghost by David Levithan
Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block
Railsea by China Mieville
Ronit & Jamil by Pamela L. Laskin
Rook by Sharon Cameron
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters
Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis
Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee
When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through May 11, 2018.

Sometimes the Classics Are the Best

Sometimes as a library, we get so focused on the newest books that we forget about the old favorites that have been popular for so long.  Sometimes classic books are the best books to read.  So here are some of my favorite classic picture books for kids . . .

Corduroy by Don Freeman

A toy bear in a department store wants a number of things, but when a little girl finally buys him he finds what he has always wanted most of all.

Elmer by David McKee

All the elephants of the jungle were gray except Elmer, who was a patchwork of brilliant colors until the day he got tired of being different and making the other elephants laugh.

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

Tacky the penguin does not fit in with his sleek and graceful companions, but his odd behavior comes in handy when hunters come with maps and traps.

Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore by David McPhail

Pigs galore invade a house and have a wonderful party.

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

George the puppy's mother is in for a big surprise when she takes him to the veterinarian to find out why he does not bark.

More Classic Picture Books --

Absolutely, Positively Alexander: The Complete Stories by Judith Viorst

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott

Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban

Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys by H.A Rey

Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble

Edward and the Pirates by David McPhail

Frederick by Leo Lionni

Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans

Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse

May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Moondance by Frank Asch

Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola

The Napping House by Audrey Wood

Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

The Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall

The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowery

Possum Magic by Mem Fox

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

Scuffy the Tugboat by Gertrude Crampton

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

Swimmy by Leo Lionni

Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Check out these and other classic picture books at the Arnold Branch.

Classics for Children

This month, I have set myself the goal of reading classic children's books.  Here are some of the ones I hope to read this month . . .

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The adventures of Alice, a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole and enters a nonsensical world filled with amusing one-of-a-kind characters, like talking rabbits and playing cards, and must struggle with riddles, games and challenges in order to find her way home.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
Tolly comes to live with his great-grandmother at the ancient house of Green Knowe and becomes friends with three children who lived there in the seventeenth century.

Hans Brinker, or, The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge
A Dutch boy and girl work toward two goals--finding the doctor who can restore their father's memory and winning the competition for the silver skates.


Come and talk with me after you read the books and we can compare to see if we both liked the books.

Classic Stories Retold

Today I'm going to share some teen books that retell classic stories . . .

Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth by J.R. Hart
Describes the youthful adventures of J. M. Barrie's classic character, Captain Hook, from his days at Eton to his voyages on the high sea.

If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor
When the father of high school sophomore, Lucy Norton, remarries, Lucy finds herself tormented by two bratty stepsisters and a wicked stepmother.

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel
When his twin brother falls ill in the family's chateau in the independent republic of Geneva in the eighteenth century, sixteen-year-old  Victor Frankenstein embarks on a dangerous and uncertain quest to create the forbidden Elixir of Life described in an ancient text in the family's secret Biblioteka Obscura.

Troy by Adele Geras
The last weeks of the Trojan War find the women sick of tending the wounded, men tired of fighting, and bored gods and goddesses trying to find ways to stir things up in this retelling of the Iliad.

Classics, Retold

I love retellings of classic stories.  It is always interesting to see how the author interprets the story and what new elements are added to the story.  Here are some teen retellings of classic books . . .

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli
Elaborates on the tale of "The Pied Piper," told from the point of view of a boy who is too ill to keep up when a piper spirits away the healthy children of a plague-ridden town after being cheated out of full payment for ridding Hameln of rats .

Enter Three Witches: A Story of Macbeth by Caroline Cooney
When her father betrays the Scottish king and is hung as a traitor, Lady Mary's future is bleak after she loses her only true protector and ends up locked away in the tower by the powerful and deadly Lord and Lady Macbeth.

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
A collection of variations on the familiar story of a boastful miller and the daughter he claims can spin straw into gold.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily receives special protections from the spiritual forces of Neverland, but then she meets her tribe's most dangerous enemy--Peter Pan--and falls in love with him.

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Will Scarlet shadows Robin Hood, with an unerring eye for finding treasures to steal and throwing daggers with deadly accuracy, but when Gisbourne, a ruthless bounty hunter, is hired by the sheriff to capture Robin and his band of thieves, Robin must become Will's protector risking his own life in the process.

Have You Read . . .

How many of these classic picture books have you read?

Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Doctor DeSoto by William Steig
Five Little Moneys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
George and Martha by James Marshall
Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
The Hat by Jan Brett
Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
No, David! by David Shannon
Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

The Story of Babar the Little Elephant by Jean de Brunhoff

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margarey Williams Bianco