I've started compiling a new books for the library wish list based on recommendations the kids have made on things they like to read, as well as cross-checking our current collection against the Caldecott, Newbury, and other award-winning and best seller book lists.
In some cases, we have wonderful books that are classics that have been so well-enjoyed that they are, quite literally, falling apart at the seams and in desperate need of replacement. In others? We are missing some fairly popular titles that we really ought to have.
For example, I noticed while we were moving the books last spring that the entire Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan was not in the library at all. Not one volume. So I managed to find books 1 through 5 in sale bins at local bookstores over the summer -- I made it my book priority this past summer -- and every single one of the books got checked out the very first day I allowed the kids to take out books this year. (Huzzah! They are reading -- and happily so!)
We are beginning a "Birthday Book Club" for the school library starting this month. Mostly because the library budget is very small, and our need for books is much bigger than the size of just my own wallet.
We've asked for donations from parents and alumni, and will be placing a lovely bookplate in the new books purchased for the library with received funds from these donations. I've picked out some truly beautiful bookplates for individual donations and also for ones that are in memory of a family member or friend. I think parents and family members will be really pleased, and I'm looking forward to this a lot because the school library is in desperate need of some book replacements as well as newer books for the collection.
We're going to work it so that the books to be added to the library will be selected by me -- and then the kids and/or family members can pick from the selected works for their bookplate to be affixed on a particular volume (or series, depending on the donation amount).
Which is where I need your help.
As I'm going through my own, personal draft of a wish list, it has become apparent to me that I have my own, inherent literary biases -- I love fantasy and science fiction, I also love historical fiction like "Witch of Blackbird Pond" or "Island of the Blue Dolphins." I'm a sucker for anything that is a mystery, or has any talking animals whatsoever. And if it has a kick butt girl as a lead character? I am in, and then some.
But that leaves big gaps, especially where boys and sports reading are concerned, which is a huge draw for a chunk of my student readership.
So I'm reaching out to one and all: if you had to stock a library for kids ages 5 to 12, boys and girls alike, what would be the top ten books that you absolutely had to have in it? The books you could not, would not, SHOULD NOT live without in your library? And, please for my sake, tell me why do you think those 10 books are most worth snagging?
Thanks heaps all for your input on this. It is very, very much appreciated.
(Photo by Christy Hardin Smith. This is the view from my reference desk as the kids enter the library. I thought a dinosaur greeting would be well-received, and it has been a huge hit.)
12 comments:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
A beautiful book that all ages enjoy and is pricey enough that library lending may be necessary for some families.
Miss Rumphius
The whimsy and care of others and our planet somehow get in the minds of the young and stay there. That is why reading this one is important.
The Black Stallion series (Walter Farley)
Wind in the Willows
The Jungle Book/Riki Tiki Tavi/Just So Stories (Kipling)
Probably dated and unavailable today but John R. Tunis juvenile sports stories ("The Kid From Tompkinsville" was the first I think)
Anne McCaffrey's Pern books
Robert Heinlein "Starman Jones" and other juvenile fiction
Ooooh, I love Miss Rumphius. Barbara Cooney, the author of it, is a fellow Smithie. The book is marvelous, and a perfect read for kids for Earth Day or pretty much any time -- absolutely love that one.
Richard -- the Pern books are on my wish list. We don't have a lot of science fiction, and those and some of the Heinlein and several others are on my "eventually we need these" list. Loved them as a kid.
Rabbit Hill and the Tough Winter (R. Lawson). Lovely books both boys and girls will like. Gentle, touching on themes of cooperation, coping with fear, sharing. And his picture book of Ferdinand the Bull should be on every library's shelf.
EVERYTHING by Beverly Cleary (she knows for both boys and girls very, very well).
Robert McCloskey is best known for his illustrations (Make Way for Ducklings; Blueberries for Sal) but his books Homer Price and Centerburg Tales, More Adventures of Homer Price are also wonderful. V. human.
Eleanor Estes wrote a ton of doozies. The Moffats, Ginger Pye, The One Hundred Dresses....and E. Nesbit (the Railway Children, The Phoenix and the Carpet and on and on) is fantastic.
Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising is a gem of a story (of a well-to-do girl from Mexico becoming a farm laborer in CA). And Joan Lexau's Striped Ice Cream is another book that helps children develop compassion for others and gives them a view of life in a family that struggles but loves each other. Also too, The Trolley Car Family by Eleanor Clymer. A family with a can-do attitude.
I can't imagine a library without C.S. Lewis's books and Tolkein's, of course. And also, Lang's series of Fairy Tales. Everything by Arnold Lobel and, for great fun for nines and tens to read, Bruce Hale's pun-laden 'mystery' series (Chet Gecko) and James Howe's equally punny Bunnicula series.
Too much fun, thinking about books!! Good luck, Christie!
Hailstones and Halibut Bones (book @ color and feelings)
Train Song (Old fashioned book @ trains, the words of which feel like a train rocking. It was our 23 year old's favorite book)
The Relatives Came (about the joy and wonder of visiting distant relatives and how they fill a house with a feeling of closeness)
Polar Express
A Proud Taste for Scarlet & Miniver by E.L.Konigsburg
This book (about Eleanor of Aquitaine)was my daughter's absolute favorite. It was suggested to her by her school librarian. There's no overstating the impact it had on Kath.
Taffy of Torpedo Junction by Nell Wise Wechter
This is the fave from my childhood -- about a young girl who lives on the Outer Banks during WWII. It's centered on the U Boat activity.
Christy,
Forgot to add, you might have fun browsing the web site booksofwonder.com. It's the bookstore that was the template for the one in "You Got Mail". My daughter, an incurable bibliophile, worked there in high school and a bit on college breaks.
anything by Judy Blume
"Love You Forever"
"The Giving Tree"
"Just In Case You Ever Wonder"
the Little House on the Prairie series
the Olivia books by Ian Falconer
anything by Mo Willems
my girls loved The Percy Jackson series, the Harry Potter series and the Mother-Daughter BookClub.
Thanks so much everyone for the suggestions. They are very much appreciated!
Theresa, would you believe we don't yet have a copy of "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret?" We'll be fixing that shortly. We do, however, have several of Laura's suggested McClosky and Estes classics, as well as an excellent selection of Beverly Cleary books and a load of Roald Dahl's as well.
Really, really appreciate everyone taking the time to give me so many great titles and ideas. :)
Definitely Anne of Green Gables, Louisa May Alcott, Madame L'engle. I also loved Witch of Blackbird. And I have an unaccountable fondness for Mercedes Lackey books (its the covers), but that's YA. Mui
Best Grammar school for me:Corduroy by Don Freeman (Hands down). Add Paddington too. And all other bears.
My nieces love Cicely Mary Barker's Flower fairies. I was hoping they would learn the names of flowers, but they like the lore best. Again, luv mui
Post a Comment