![]() I was very surprised at the response of my grandchildren to the Harry Potter series. So, I would recommend the later versions of the Bobbsey Twins mysteries which are fun for children 8 and up. At the age that readers of this series tend to be (younger), discussion is a little harder to carry on, however. The old versions of the Bobbsey Twins could be problematic, too, but they also offer jumping off points for discussion. We needn’t avoid teaching about the past, just as long as we couple it with discussion of values that should be strived for. ![]() Not all are admirable, but, they are historical and should be contrasted with today’s attitudes as part of citizenship education. We have had (and still do have) many episodes through which the people of this nation lived. It is a good opportunity for discussing this segment of the American experience. It can be discussed as the experiences of her family AT THAT TIME, not something that is the same today. As a matter of fact, though fearful of the tribes on the Plains, she merely wrote what her experience was. ![]() The racism aspect is somewhat overblown, I think. The Little House series by Laura Ingals Wilder was a big favorite of mine. I completely adored all the Louisa May Alcott series. The Magic Treehouse series is like this and is a series my granddaughter is enjoying now.įor adventure, I enjoyed the Jules Verne books.Īll cub scouts should read The Jungle Book. However, they are still exciting, with each chapter leaving the reader eager to read the next, then the next, and so on. So many of us loved the Nancy Drew books! They’d be a little old fashioned now, with all the advantages a modern “sleuth” in her “coupe” would have, like cell phones, the internet, Google. On top of that, sometimes real change comes about specifically because of a greater understanding of where we came from and reading these books can help develop that understanding. If that were so, many of these older books which are being applauded here would not be read at all and that would be a great shame. We have to let go of the thought that everything we read should reflect today’s mores and ideas. Does this make them any less valid or less worth reading? No! but the reader needs to take into account when they were written, and be prepared, if necessary, to think through and discuss the issues with their children, or with others. ![]() This will be true for today’s books, too, some of which may be considered completely reprehensible for one reason or another, in fifty years or so. I think it is really, really important for readers of today to keep in mind that the time in which a book was written will be reflected in the story. These kinds of things (the racial issues in Little House) don’t disturb me in the least because those books were written in a different time. These are great books for girls, with strong, adventurous, brave female characters. And Sally Watson’s historical novels about the English, Scottish and colonial branches of the extended Lennox-Cameron-MacLeod clan: Linnet, Mistress Malapert, The Outrageous Oriel, Loyal and the Dragon, Witch of the Glens, Castle Adamant, Lark, Jade, Highland Rebel, The Hornet’s Nest, and Poor Felicity, which the author has updated as The Delicate Pioneer. I also highly recommend Madeleine L’Engle’s Time books, and her series about the Austin family: Meet the Austins, The Moon By Night, The Young Unicorns, A Ring of Endless Light, and Troubling a Star. Lewis’s Narnia books and Diana Wynne Jones’ Chronicles of Crestomanci, are good series, too. Except for “Peter Duck” and “Missee Lee,” of course. If you can find it, I highly recommend Christina Hardyments “Arthur Ransome and Captain Flint’s Trunk,” which is part biography of Ransome and part travelogue as the author and her children visit the places where the books are set. Yes, my kids loved the Swallows and Amazons books by Arthur Ransome.
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