A Peek at the Bookshelf

In honour of Family Literacy Day, I'm going to share one of my Lists of Essential Books. It's by no means a comprehensive list; it's more of a starting point, really. These are the books that form the basis of the The Ladies personal libraries--For each birthday, I buy them each a copy that is theirs and theirs alone (all the other books on the shelves are community property. Unless they're mine. Then keep your grubby paws off!). I'm hoping that by gifting them with these libraries, I'm fostering in them a love of books and a sense of their value. I'm all for using the public library, but there's something special about owning books that I think
is key to promoting literacy. When you own something, you understand its value. A book that sits on your shelf, that you can leaf through any time you choose, has a power that can't be matched by the temporary nature of a story that is living on borrowed time in your backpack. So, because I want to raise readers who share my love of a quiet afternoon spent devouring a good story, I gift my children with books.

1. My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Opie
2. The Complete Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
3. The Tales of Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter
4. The Complete Adventures of Curious George by Margret and H. A. Rey
5. Mad about Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
6. Bonjour Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
7. The Ultimate Eloise by Kay Thompson; Absolutely, Positively Alexander by Judith Viorst
8. The Compete Ramona books by Beverly Cleary; The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
9. The Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Great Brain books by John Fitzgerald
10. The Fudge books by Judy Blume; The Soup books by Richard Peck
11. The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
12. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
12. The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
13. The Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend
14. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series by Ann Brashares
15. The Time Quartet by Madeline L'Engle; His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
16. The Chronicles of Pern by Anne McCaffery
17. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein
18. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
19. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson
20. The Foundation Series by Issac Asimov
21. The Collected Works of William Shakespeare

It's by no means a comprehensive list. There are a lot of books missing: Goodnight Moon, Little Women, Charlotte's Web, Harriet the Spy, The Mixed up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankenweller.....It's not that I don't value those books as well. In fact, I'm looking at all of them on the book shelf, along with a raft of Roald Dahl and E. Nesbitt, right now. But these are the Birthday books. Chosen partly for their age appropriate value, and partly because, if you clicked on the links, some of them are bloody expensive, and it's hard to justify that kind of money on books any other way.

The other important thing to know is that it's not enough to give the books. You have to read them too. But, for me, anyway, that's the best part: Taking these wonderful stories that I loved and sharing them with my daughters. I may give them the gift of the books, but they return the favour by allowing me to read with them.

Edit: After you chime in on your essentials, head on over to Bumblebee Sweetpotato for a discussion on books that suck (Lemony Snicket, we're looking at you!)

Comments

That's a great list. I have a couple that I'd add, though my kids aren't quite old enough for them yet:

Inkheart/Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Montgomery

I have a half-finished post about A Wrinkle in Time in my drafts folder. What a magical book! And we read the Bee Little House on the Prairie for the first time this year, too.

I have to stop, or I'll hijack your whole comments section.

Anne is on the Canadian list (told you there was more than one ;) I'll probably give that one to you on Canada Day.

Love His Dark Materials. But I'm having trouble with Inkheart. I loved Dragon Rider, and went and got the rest of the Funke Library, but I just cannot get into this one. When Santa Claus Fell to Earth was a good read for us over Christmas, though.

I'd suggest "The Little Prince"...

You seem to know "sisiphus", although you spelled it "Sisyphus" on Thoradora's site... if they're both the same do you know anything about why she deleted her sisiphus.wordpress.com blog?

Now I must go and find my old copy of Harriet the Spy! I loved that book!

What a fun list. There's only one or two that I haven't read -- the travelling pants series, and I'm not sure whether I ever actually read pippi longstocking. The only books on the list that I read and didn't like were the Thomas Covenant.

My only question is about the ages -- I certainly read all the SF and fantasy on the list at far younger ages than you're planning on giving these books. In particular, I must have been 14 or 15 when I read Second Foundation, because I identified so intensely with Arkady.

I haven't heard of Adrian Mole, so I'll have to look into that one. All the others are faves of mine too!

Have you read the new (and final) Traveling Pants book?

You'll love Adrian Mole, Lady M. I'm a bit behind on his adventures--I hear he's in his 30s now--but I'm looking forward to catching up with him.

I haven't read the newest Travelling Pants yet. I'll wait for the paperback so that it matches my set. I did just read the latest Artemis Fowl, though, and enjoyed it. Also read Messenger, the latest in The Giver stories. Excellent book, and the ending leaves me hopeful for more. Next up will be Eldest (sequel to Eragon) and some grown up books--The Penelopiad and that Wicked Witch book that's getting all the buzz.

I hear what you're saying Elizabeth. The Ladies are welcome to discover many of these books sooner than I plan on giving them, although I do have a couple of age restrictions that I'll talk about sometime. Honestly, I'd love to just have them all on offer on The Shelf, but since they're birthday presents, they have to be broken up somehow. I just hope when they're older they'll still let me read the books. :)

I think that is such a great idea! It's so cute and a great tradition.

My daughter loves the Dear America series and the Royal Diaries series. They are great because they give an insight into history without being boring. They also also have people or events that are mentioned in her history class so she knows a bit about them before they learn about them.

The Paper Bag Princess.

I loved this so much from when I was a kid, I asked for it again a few years ago for my 25th birthday..

Sorry, I'm a bit of a lurker, but had to comment on this one:
The Giver & Number The Stars by Lois Lowry
The Phantom Tollbooth by Normon Juster (really really good)
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
the So You Want to be a Wizard series
Are You There God? It's me, Margerate (sp?) - Judy Blume (for 11-12 year old girls)
And Tamora Pierce writes good teen level fantasy books. I love your list, and of course the banned book list is the ONLY place to go for summer reading ;)