Literature

Classical Literature

Please browse my Classical Literature suggestions, which are organized by grade level. See below for more information about my suggestions.

Classical Literature Suggestions: Kindergarten & Preschool | Grades 1-2 | Grades 3-4 | Grades 5-6 | Grades 7-9 | Grades 10-12 & higher

About Literature

I suppose there are many volumes that can be written "about literature". What I mean is that this page is about my literature pages that I provide here. It is also about my literature "philosophy", if you will, for children.

The Age of Imitation

Some of the books on this list are simply meant to increase the children's reading skills while entertaining them to keep their interest, such as Amelia Bedelia and Curious George. The many mystery books, such as Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, are mentally stimulating in analytical skills, while broadening their knowledge of various subjects at the same time. I believe these are all worthwhile reading materials. But even better are the books which give the children models of virtue. The time from about six years to twelve years of age has been called by some educators the "Age of Imitation". Books such as the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner, The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggins, The Five Little Peppers by Margaret Sidney, and others, give them everyday examples of obedience, cheerfulness, self-sacrifice, helpfulness, resourcefulness, etc. to imitate.

The Age of Inspiration

The teenage years, from thirteen years and up, have been called the "Age of Inspiration". The young people want heroes to look up to. Anne of Green Gables is a hero, especially for the girls, making mistakes, very human, but always trying to be kind and good. Hans Brinker and his sister, Gretel, are heroes for both boys and girls. Many books for teenagers include heroes, although some are more focused on adventure, culture, or history. All of these types of books have merit, not only in helping the young people grow in thinking skills and reading skills, but also in learning history, geography, culture and other subjects in an interesting way.

Age Recommendations

The age recommendations given here are not hard and fast rules. As a matter of fact, they were rather arbitrarily chosen. Arbitrarily, but after reading each one myself and having seen my students and/or my own children read them. In many cases, I chose these ages not so much according to what I felt the reading ability of the child or youth would be but more according to what I felt about their emotional maturity, exposure, and the ability to sort things out. I chose as minimum age for recommended books the age at which I felt most children would have the emotional maturity for a particular book and the ability to sort out those few things that may not have been in keeping with what I was teaching them. However, a child who is regularly exposed to television or movies, may be "ready" -- or in need of -- the more advanced books, as well as a child who exhibits more maturity. It is always up to you, the parent or teacher, to look these things over and decide. I chose these ages in order to make lists that you can print out and give to your child to find books at the library. Most children wouldn't mind if you decide to give them a more advanced list, as they would be complimented.

One more thing about ages. As most of these books are classics, the ages are never maximums. The nature of a classic is both that it is timeless and that it is often universal, appealing to people of many ages.

Authors

One last point I want to share with you about these recommendations. Because I recommend a book, or even many books, by an author doesn't always mean I recommend all books by that author. If possible, I recommend that you read the books your young children read, or at least skim through them to get an idea of the content and values.

Newer Books

Newer books are generally not included here, because the nature of a classic is that it has been proven by time, and this is a listing principally of some classical selections. There are many good books published today for children, and I hope you will find and enjoy them with your children also. Some day maybe I will list some of them here on this website, separately from the classics. But for now, I will stick to mostly older books.

The layout is managed by webmaster Paul Myers, using a design from Steve's free web templates.

All original content is © Copyright 2001 - present Mothers Almanac, All Rights Reserved.