Great Books For Greater Kids

by Katy on June 17, 2008 · 4 comments

Hooray, school is finally out! No homework, no alarm clocks, just the delicious expanse of summer’s warm embrace.

So what’s a kid to do with all this lovely unstructured time? How about a book? They may not hold the same mystique as that highly advertised video game your kids are nagging for, but they sure do hold their own. 

Here is a suggested summer reading list, for the youthful Non-Consumer at your house. These books all feature appealing child characters who use their imagination and ingenuity to overcome obstacles and find adventure. Not one book features a kid picking out the perfect mall-purchased outfit or defeating a video game. This I promise to you.

  • My Side of The Mountain, by Jean Craighead George.
  • All-Of-A-Kind-Family, by Sydney Taylor.
  • Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit.
  • Half Magic, by Edward Eager.
  • Island Of The Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell.
  • Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
  • Henry Huggins, by Beverly Cleary.
  • Flush, by Carl Hiaasen.

Whether you’re 8 or 80, there’s nothing like the glory of a great library book and an entire day in which to immerse oneself. On the right afternoon, you might even get through two books.

Did I leave out your favorite summertime read? Share your picks in the comments section below.

-Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

brian July 24, 2008 at 11:28 am

i just got my daughter All-Of-A-Kind-Family.. she loved it.

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Katie July 17, 2011 at 7:34 pm

Okay, I’m super late here, but for other perusers of the archives, I must recommend “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler”, by E. L. Konigsberg.

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Jill January 21, 2015 at 8:49 pm

I am also super late, but I love that book, and not many people have heard of it. Also, the books of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Zilpha Keatley Snyder are sone if my favorites. And for young children, The Lonely Doll books by Dare Wright, and of course the Francis books by Lillian and Russell Hoban. But my very favorite children’s book is The Little House by Virginia Burton!

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Katy January 22, 2015 at 10:56 am

I do love the Fancis books, although it might be due to them being illustrated by Garth Williams, who is my all time favorite illustrator!

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