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December 03, 2007
Children's Books for Jennifer
As Jennifer's 10th birthday rolls around, I'm looking to get some more books for her. I don't really like walking into a book store to get ideas, as they've selectively culled a lot of the good books because they're not politically correct for this reason or another. Ditto for all of the books that get awards. They have to be so squeaky clean and politically correct that I just can't stand to pick them up.
I'm not saying that I want her reading "Little Black Sambo" every night, just that I don't want to miss any really good books because they don't make the PC checklist these days.
The last book we were reading was about a trumpeter swan that couldn't honk and I just thought I was going to kill myself it was so boring.
So, instead. I usually try to remember what books I liked when I was her age, and then order an old used hard-cover version of those books (to make sure they haven't been censored by the PC police).
One book that I recall reading in the 4th grade (the same grade she's in now) was Runaway Ralph. So, we're halfway through that one, and it's a good book. We both like it and at night, we take turns reading pages, passing the book back and forth.
Another book that a bunch of us guys at school read in the 4th grade was Freddy Goes to Florida, a story about a pig that goes to Florida, that was pretty interesting as I recall.
The other series of books I bought her recently was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia), but since that just came out as a movie, it's lost some of it's appeal to me.
If anyone has any suggestions about books you think a 4th grade girl might enjoy, please post in the comments. Many thanks. :)
Update: I found some lists that seem to be legitimate, as in not overtly censored. I like this Favorite 4th grade books reading list.
Robert R. points out that the mother of Glenn Reynolds (of Instapundit fame) has a Books for Kids blog.
Update 2: Wow. I'm starting to get some good feedback on this. Here are the recommendations I have so far:
The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy's Great Idea by Ann Martin
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan
Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting
The Golden Compass by Kay Woodward
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Laika by Nick Abadzis
Lassie Come Home by Rosemary Wells
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
The Pinballs by Betsy Byars
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
Nancy Drew
Stormy - Misty's Foal by Marguerite Henry
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Winnie the Witch by Valerie Thomas
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
American Girl (series) - I'm a little fuzzy on this one.
Update 3: I just remembered another short story we read in school:
Leiningen versus the Ants
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Posted by Rob Kiser on December 03, 2007 at 06:17 PM
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Comments
Well I used to be a 4th grade girl and I think these classics have held up well:
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
Don't let the fact that a couple of them got made into movies deter you - these are books I still remember.
Posted by: Rosemary on December 03, 2007 at 07:30 PM
Posted by: Robert R. on December 03, 2007 at 09:50 PM
I think the librarian who publishes Books For Kids Blog is Instapundit's mom.
(Update: Edited to correct link)
Posted by: Robert R. on December 03, 2007 at 09:59 PM
I agree with some of the recommends that are listed. I especially liked Nancy Drew and Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was around that age. I also loved "Christy" by Catherine Marshall which I read over and over. And every young girl should read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". I read all of these in the 10-12 years old range. But then I was a bookworm.
Posted by: The Chick Voice on December 04, 2007 at 03:54 PM
Well, I don't remember being a girl and I only remember a few things about 4th grade (none of them about books):
The "special" class for smart kids.
Having most classes on the 2nd floor.
Learning my full name did not include KeKe.
Polly Martin.
Being able to rule the schoolyard since we were the oldest kids around.
Nut checks - yeah, the guy's will know what this is from the painful memories.
The main book I remember from around that age is "Where the Wild Things Are". I don't know if that's a book for girls or not, but it was pretty cool.
Posted by: KeKe Schultz on December 04, 2007 at 07:40 PM
OK. Thanks. I'll add Christy and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to the list. I already ordered 2 Laura Ingalls Wilder books and some Nancy Drew as well.
Posted by: Rob Kiser on December 04, 2007 at 08:32 PM
Keke,
Here's what I remember about 4th grade:
Jeffrey getting his butt kicked by a black kid and his mom driving away with him crying in the back of their powder blue 4 door and transferring him to public school.
Polly Martin.
Finding a country called Niger on the globe.
Getting spanked for forgetting my homework.
Getting in a fight with Mattie Butler.
That brick that always looked like it was about to fall when you went into the school building.
We all had to plant some beans in science class and mine didn't grow.
Posted by: Rob Kiser on December 04, 2007 at 08:41 PM
I don't think she's too young for Ender's Game, or Podkayne of Mars or maybe even Tunnel in the Sky. I was going to suggest A Wrinkle in Time but I see it's already made the list.
Posted by: Alice H on December 04, 2007 at 09:32 PM
Although now that I think about it, you might want to give Tunnel in the Sky a read first. I read it when I was about her age, but my parents didn't censor much of anything.
Posted by: Alice H on December 04, 2007 at 09:36 PM
OK. Thanks. I'll add these to the list. :)
Posted by: Rob Kiser on December 05, 2007 at 09:37 AM