Reading Rainbow

[firstmutant]

The hospital is opening a small library for the children's ward in two months, and I'm in charge of finding books for the kids (ages range from infants to 16 years old). Some of my own early childhood favorites are already in the bag: Charlotte's Web, the Ramona Quimby books, Bridge to Terabithia, The Chronicles of Narnia, Where the Wild Things Are

Comments

[theagonyofblank]

The Magic Schoolbus! Also, the Magic Tree House series! Especially the Magic Tree House, actually. Those are definitely younger kids' books... but there's always Harry Potter, hehe. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and more recently Maximum Ride, I always thought was good for the 10-12 bracket. Maybe The Sight or Fire Bringer (both by David Clement-Davies), or the Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen series or Shade's Children (Garth Nix)?

[firstmutant]

Great list, thank you! I certainly remember The Fire Bringer, about the deer. I'll have to look for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; I vaguely remember hearing of the film when it came out, but never have read the book.

[heliophobe]

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Goodnight Moon (forget the author but this is an awesome book for really little kids, I was obsessed with it as a toddler)

I'll think of more tomorrow.

[firstmutant]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for reminding me of NIMH! I was in love with that wonderful story for such a long time, and I read it so often that we had to have two copies--one for me and one for my sister. I'm not giving mine away, that's for sure. I'll have to look for another copy to get for the kids...and find my own to read again.

Oh, I have Goodnight Moon! Or we used to, anyway. I'll have to dig around in the attic.

I haven't heard of Maniac Magee before.

[rebeccael]

Okay. You must have ALL of these authors in your library:

Scott Westerfeld- everything. All his young adult books are spectacular. The Uglies trilogy, Midnighter's trilogy, Peeps, The Last Days, and So Yesterday.

Justine Larbalestier- Magic or Madness trilogy

Stephenie Meyer- Twilight, New Moon

Orson Scott Card- Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow

Vivian Vande Velde- Companions of the Night

The Stinky Cheese Man- can't remember the author, but you can probably look it up on Amazon, and it's totally worth it. It makes fun of popular fairy tales, and it is absolutely awesome.

Garth Nix- Abhorsen trilogy, Shade's Children

Jennifer Lynn Barnes- Golden

These are all absolutely wonderful books. I love them and have worn copies of many of them. :)

[firstmutant]

Thank you! Many of these are new to me, so I'll get to check out some of the unfamiliar names. Amen to Ender. I never read Orson Scott Card as a teen (don't know how I could have missed Ender's game in the mid-80's, sci-fi geek that I was becoming), but discovered him through a friend's reccomendation recently and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

There's a book called The Stinky Cheese Man? LOL. Now that makes me curious.

[rebeccael]

The Stinky Cheese Man is geared towards younger audiences, while the others on my list are all teen/YA. However, I still find it highly amusing. :D

[firstmutant]

The title alone made me laugh...I'm going to the library to look for it today. :D

[eboniorchid]

The Phantom Tollbooth (readers have fun with words without even realizing it)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (teen siblings take over the world ... kinda)
The Little Prince (really a classic of imagination and thought)
Dragonlance Chronicles!!!!! (mostly for dorky kids like me into dragons and wandering elves 'n' stuff)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day (endearing picture book - awww)
Curious George books (more endearing picture books)
Aesop's Fables
Flossy and the Fox
The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings

Umm umm umm ... I'm sure I'll think of more later, LOL! *snuggles books*

[amyheartssiroc]

Seconding The Phantom Tollbooth. That's still one of my favorite books.

[firstmutant]

Oooo, thank you for reminding me of The Phantom Tollbooth and Curious George! We had one of the Curious George books when I was very small; I can still picture the man with the yellow hat on the cover. And I still quote The Little Prince to this day. *wipes away tear of nostalgia*

I only recently discovered Ender's Game as well, and loved it. I haven't heard of The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings, but it sounds very sweet. The Dragonlace Chronicles sound like something I would definitely have enjoyed as a child, since I too was into fantasies with dragons and sorcerers. :)

[lonelywalker]

Ooh, The Rats of NIMH.

[firstmutant]

Absolutely! Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH was one of my absolute favorites; I would take that book with me everywhere. My own copy is hot-chocolate-stained and dog-eared past redemption well-loved, but these kids definitely have to know how wonderful it is.