Books to read to Seth (and eventually Ben):
Off the top of my head...
Anytime:
The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh
Catwings series
Wind in the Willows
Beatrix Potter books
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series
Mr. Popper's Penguins
The Mouse and the Motorcycle series
The Nonsense Poems of Edward Lear
Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass
A Swinger of Birches (Robert Frost poetry collection)
Something Big Has Been Here (Jack Prelutsky poetry collection)
Falling Up (Shel Silverstein poetry collection)
The original Thomas the Train books
The original Paddington books (1st one read)
Oz (1st one read)
Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little
James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Little House on the Prairie books
Le Petit Prince
The Borrowers
Cricket in Time Square
Chocolate Fever
Two Times the Fun, Ribsy, etc. (Beezus and Ramona, Henry Huggins)
Half Magic
Rabbit Hill series (Lawson)
Adventures of TinTin - Herge
Misty of Chincoteague, etc
Mary Poppins (First one read.)
Bunnicula series (Bunnicula, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks at Midnight)
Dr. Doolittle series
The Tale of Despereaux
The Whipping Boy - Fleischman
The Littles - John Peterson
E. Nesbit (The Treasure-Seekers)
When he's older:
The Chronicles of Narnia
Harry Potter (First two read.)
Hobbit, Lord of the Rings
Prydain Chronicles, other Lloyd Alexander books
Rats of NIMH series
How to Eat Fried Worms
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Indian in the Cupboard series, The Farthest-Away Mountain
The Phantom Tollbooth
A Wrinkle in Time
Redwall
Peter Pan
Swiss Family Robinson
Heidi
My Side of the Mountain
Percy Jackson
Black Stallion
Tom Sawyer etc
The Jungle Book
How to Eat Fried Worms
Hardy Boys
Boxcar Children
Anne of Green Gables
Encyclopedia Brown (first one read)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Dark is Rising
Wolves of Willoughby Chase
The Twits, The Witches, Danny the Champion of the World
Lafcadio - Silverstein
The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi, illus. Roberto Innocenti
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Ryrie Brink
The Call of the Wild
Holes, Wayside School Stories (first one read)
The Midwife's Apprentice
Sarah, Plain and Tall
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, other Avi
Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Ark
The Borrowers
Let him read himself:
City of Ember
Kensuke's Kingdom - Michael Morpurgo
Watership DOwn
Read myself:
Warriors series
Silverwing series
Gregor the Overlander series
Oliver Twist
The Sign of the Beaver
Stickeen
White Fang
Westing Game
Boy of the Painted Cave
Summerland
Tales of Ancient Egypt
The Golden Goblet
The Egypt Game
The Giver
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Miranda the Great
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
The Bat Poet
Tales from Africa
Homesick
Silverwing
the Slave Dancer
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be by Farley Mowat
Sing Down the Moon
the Wizard Children of Finn
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
Anastasia series
Blackbriar
Lois Duncan series
Johnny Tremain
The Tom Swift books
Paul Zindel
The Chocolate War
Call It Courage
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Sniper,
Shadow Children (series)
Young Heroes series by Jane Yolen
Kate DiCamillo
The Dragonling - Jackie French Koller
The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups David Wisniewski
The Wretched Stone, Jumanji - Chris van Allsburg
Cam Jansen - Adler
My Father's Dragon - Gannett
Dinosaurs Before Dark - Osborne
Half-a-Moon Inn - Fleischman
Hoofbeats - Duey
The Iron Giant - Ted Hughes
Owls in the Family - Farley Mowat
The Water Horse, Babe - King-Smith
The Cay - Theodore Taylor
Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
I Was a Rat - Phillip Pullman, etc
Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain
Incident at Hawk's Hill - Allan W. Eckert
Lassie Come Home - Eric Knight
Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli
Otto of the Silver Hand - Howard Pyle
Peppermints in the Parlor - Barbara Brooks Wallace
Poppy, other Avi
Space Race - Silvia Waugh
Star of Kazan, Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson
Tripods - John Christopher
Garth Nix - Abhorsen, Keys to the Kingdom series
The John Bellairs books, particularly:
The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn
The Dark Secret of Weatherend
The House with a Clock in its Walls
Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys
Nick of Time, by Ted Bell
Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's "Peter and the Starcatchers"
So, chime in, loyal readers, or people who wander by anyway - what other must-reads should be on this list? I've left off a lot of great stuff that I want him to read himself (Harry Potter, Watership Down, etc), this is just for read-alouds. (Except now, two years later, I'm changing things up.)
Anytime:
The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh
Catwings series
Wind in the Willows
Beatrix Potter books
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series
Mr. Popper's Penguins
The Mouse and the Motorcycle series
The Nonsense Poems of Edward Lear
Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass
A Swinger of Birches (Robert Frost poetry collection)
Something Big Has Been Here (Jack Prelutsky poetry collection)
Falling Up (Shel Silverstein poetry collection)
The original Thomas the Train books
The original Paddington books (1st one read)
Oz (1st one read)
Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little
James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Little House on the Prairie books
Le Petit Prince
The Borrowers
Cricket in Time Square
Chocolate Fever
Two Times the Fun, Ribsy, etc. (Beezus and Ramona, Henry Huggins)
Half Magic
Rabbit Hill series (Lawson)
Adventures of TinTin - Herge
Misty of Chincoteague, etc
Mary Poppins (First one read.)
Bunnicula series (Bunnicula, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks at Midnight)
Dr. Doolittle series
The Tale of Despereaux
The Whipping Boy - Fleischman
The Littles - John Peterson
E. Nesbit (The Treasure-Seekers)
When he's older:
The Chronicles of Narnia
Harry Potter (First two read.)
Hobbit, Lord of the Rings
Prydain Chronicles, other Lloyd Alexander books
Rats of NIMH series
How to Eat Fried Worms
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Indian in the Cupboard series, The Farthest-Away Mountain
The Phantom Tollbooth
A Wrinkle in Time
Redwall
Peter Pan
Swiss Family Robinson
Heidi
My Side of the Mountain
Percy Jackson
Black Stallion
Tom Sawyer etc
The Jungle Book
How to Eat Fried Worms
Hardy Boys
Boxcar Children
Anne of Green Gables
Encyclopedia Brown (first one read)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Dark is Rising
Wolves of Willoughby Chase
The Twits, The Witches, Danny the Champion of the World
Lafcadio - Silverstein
The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi, illus. Roberto Innocenti
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Ryrie Brink
The Call of the Wild
Holes, Wayside School Stories (first one read)
The Midwife's Apprentice
Sarah, Plain and Tall
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, other Avi
Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Ark
The Borrowers
Let him read himself:
City of Ember
Kensuke's Kingdom - Michael Morpurgo
Watership DOwn
Read myself:
Warriors series
Silverwing series
Gregor the Overlander series
Oliver Twist
The Sign of the Beaver
Stickeen
White Fang
Westing Game
Boy of the Painted Cave
Summerland
Tales of Ancient Egypt
The Golden Goblet
The Egypt Game
The Giver
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Miranda the Great
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
The Bat Poet
Tales from Africa
Homesick
Silverwing
the Slave Dancer
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be by Farley Mowat
Sing Down the Moon
the Wizard Children of Finn
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
Anastasia series
Blackbriar
Lois Duncan series
Johnny Tremain
The Tom Swift books
Paul Zindel
The Chocolate War
Call It Courage
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Sniper,
Shadow Children (series)
Young Heroes series by Jane Yolen
Kate DiCamillo
The Dragonling - Jackie French Koller
The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups David Wisniewski
The Wretched Stone, Jumanji - Chris van Allsburg
Cam Jansen - Adler
My Father's Dragon - Gannett
Dinosaurs Before Dark - Osborne
Half-a-Moon Inn - Fleischman
Hoofbeats - Duey
The Iron Giant - Ted Hughes
Owls in the Family - Farley Mowat
The Water Horse, Babe - King-Smith
The Cay - Theodore Taylor
Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
I Was a Rat - Phillip Pullman, etc
Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain
Incident at Hawk's Hill - Allan W. Eckert
Lassie Come Home - Eric Knight
Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli
Otto of the Silver Hand - Howard Pyle
Peppermints in the Parlor - Barbara Brooks Wallace
Poppy, other Avi
Space Race - Silvia Waugh
Star of Kazan, Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson
Tripods - John Christopher
Garth Nix - Abhorsen, Keys to the Kingdom series
The John Bellairs books, particularly:
The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn
The Dark Secret of Weatherend
The House with a Clock in its Walls
Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys
Nick of Time, by Ted Bell
Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's "Peter and the Starcatchers"
So, chime in, loyal readers, or people who wander by anyway - what other must-reads should be on this list? I've left off a lot of great stuff that I want him to read himself (Harry Potter, Watership Down, etc), this is just for read-alouds. (Except now, two years later, I'm changing things up.)