Synopses & Reviews
By selecting only 100 and#147;best booksand#8221; Anita Silvey distinguishes her guide from all the others and makes it possible to give young readers their literary heritage in the childhood years.
The books we hear or read when we are children stay with us all our lives. If we miss them when we are young, weand#8217;ll miss them forever: no Hungry Caterpillar, no Winn-Dixie, no Roll of Thunder. As adults we remember a few familiar favorites, but no one but an expert like Anita Silvey, with her thirty-five years at the heart of childrenand#8217;s book publishing, could put together an authoritative list like this one. Parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, and bookstore clerks will feel completely comfortable recommending these books for any child, from infancy to almost-teens. Silvey includes, in addition to the 100 best, extensive lists of books to meet special needs and interests as well as classics, selected by age, to round out this extraordinarily useful work.
In addition to giving an age range and the plot of each book, Silvey relates the fascinating, often hilarious story behind the story, something only an insider in the field of childrenand#8217;s publishing could tell. 100 Best Books for Children is as much fun to read as it is helpful.
Synopsis
From classics to new favorites, 100 Best Books for Children and#147;points parents in the right direction [to] 100 titles no child should missand#8221; (Booklist). With thirty-five years of experience at the heart of childrenand#8217;s publishing, Anita Silvey is better equipped than anyone to help parents make the right reading choices, given the enormous range of childrenand#8217;s books available today. From board books to titles for older readers, Silvey narrows the field to 100 and#147;best books,and#8221; organizing them by age and providing essays on plot summary, along with fascinating insights into the story behind the story that only an insider would know.
Essential and inspiring, 100 Best Books for Children is a perfect handbook for parents who want to help their child develop a passion for reading that will last a lifetime.
About the Author
Anita Silvey has spent more than thirty years in the children's book field, including several years as the Vice President and Publisher of Childrens Books for Houghton Mifflin Company, and eleven years as editor-in-chief at the Horn Book Magazine, during which time she launched the bi-annual publication of the Horn Book Guide. She is the editor of Children's Books and Their Creators.
Table of Contents
Contents acknowledgments ix introduction xi Board Books - Birth to Age 2 Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown 3 Mr. Gumpyand#8217;s Outing by John Burningham 5 The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle 6 Freight Train by Donald Crews 8 The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss 9 Picture Books - Ages 2 to 8 Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard 13 Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans 14 The Snowman by Raymond Briggs 16 Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton 17 Millions of Cats by Wanda Gand#225;g 18 Lillyand#8217;s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes 19 Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs 20 The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats 22 Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus 23 The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf 24 John Henry by Julius Lester 25 Swimmy by Leo Lionni 26 Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault 28 Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin 29 Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey 30 The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter 32 Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann 33 Curious George by H. A. Rey 34 The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka 36 Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak 37 Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina 39 Doctor De Soto by William Steig 40 The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg 42 Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst 43 Tuesday by David Wiesner 44 A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams 46 Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young 47 Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion 48 Books for Beginning Readers - Ages 5 to 7 Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel 53 Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik 54 Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant 55 The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss 56 Books for Young Readers - Ages 7 to 9 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary 61 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr 62 Morning Girl by Michael Dorris 63 The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes 64 My Fatherand#8217;s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett 66 Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner 67 Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm 68 Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry 69 Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith 71 Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace 72 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan 74 The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky 75 Grandfatherand#8217;s Journey by Allen Say 76 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder 77 Books for Middle Readers - Ages 8 to 11 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 83 The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford 84 The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper 85 The BFG by Roald Dahl 86 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo 88 Half Magic by Edward Eager 89 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh 90 Humbug Mountain by Sid Fleischman 92 Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman 93 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George 94 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame 95 The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton 97 Redwall by Brian Jacques 98 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster 100 From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg 101 Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson 102 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine Land#8217;Engle 103 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis 104 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren 106 In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord 107 The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay 108 Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne 1 10 Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery 111 The Great Fire by Jim Murphy 113 Rascal by Sterling North 114 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. Oand#8217;Brien 115 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott Oand#8217;Dell 116 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson 118 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen 119 Tomand#8217;s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce 120 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin 121 Harry Potter and the Sorcererand#8217;s Stone by J. K. Rowling 122 Holes by Louis Sachar 125 The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden 126 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare 127 Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers 128 Charlotteand#8217;s Web by E. B. White 130 Books for Older Readers - Ages 11 to 12 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi 135 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt 136 Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy 137 Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman 138 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes 139 Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 141 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse 143 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 144 The Giver by Lois Lowry 146 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor 148 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 149 Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt 151 beyond the 100 best 155 bibliography 166 reading journal 172 index 187