Suggested Reading for
Children:
First Stage: 1-2 Years Old
1. Grandfather
Twilight by Barbara Berger. Soft, beautiful illustrations in a good
night book.
2. Good
Night Moon and The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. Very feeling
and intimate.
3. Blue
Sea and Jump, Frog, Jump by Robert Kalan. Little, big, bigger, biggest
with a fun twist; and repetition rhyme with a kind ending.
4. Listen
to the Rain by John and Martin Archambault. In touch with nature.
5. Have
You Seen My Duckling? and Spots, Feathers, and Curly Tails by Nancy
Tafuri. Simple scenes of animals in nature.
6. I
Can Take a Walk by Shigeo Watanabe. Mastering those first simple skills.
7. Peterkin
Meets a Star by Emile Boss. Sense of wonder.
First Stage: 2-3 Years Old
1. Anno’s
Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno. Adding one thing at a time, builds
a lovely town through the seasons.
2. Eating
the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Louis Ehlert.
3. Tom
and Pippo by Helen Oxenbury. Developing emotional skills.
4. Annie
and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett. She gathers all the animals into
her house.
5. Always,
Always by Crescent Dragonwagon. Constant love, soft.
6. Little
Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein. Loved, no matter what size.
7. The
Hunter and the Wild Animals by Tomie de Paola. Animals teach hunter
to be in relationship to them instead of harming them.
8. Sheep
in a Jeep by Nancy Shawl Rollicking, rhyming, delightful.
First Stage: 3-5 Years Old
1. Badger’s
Parting Gifts by Susan Varley. Animal story about death and grief.
Excellent.
2. The
Fall of Freddie the Leaf by Leo Buscaglia. About going to sleep in
the Mystery.
3. The
Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie de Paola. Little girl makes a sacrificial
offering of her doll.
4. Nimby
by Jasper Tomkins. Mischievous little cloud learns value of friendship.
5. Do
Not Open by Brinton Turkle. Overcoming fear, good humored.
6. The
Little Brute Family by Russell and Lilliean Hoban. Conversion experience.
7. The
Heart That Followed Me Home by Gary and Heidi Dini. All about the heart
of a small boy.
8. Francis,
the Poor Man of Assisi by Tomie de Paola.
9. Island
Baby by Holly Keller. Helping animals and leaving them in nature.
10. Where
the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Dealing with anger in a humorous
and free way.
First Stage: 5-7 Years Old
1. Lifetimes
by Bryan Mellonie, Robert R. Ingpen. About death and change in nature and
human relations.
2. Clown
of God by Tomie de Paola. Lifetime of a juggler, with heartfelt service
at end.
3. The
Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Selfless giving.
4. Stories of the Buddha by Dharma
Publishing.
5. The
Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel. Humorous story of self-transcendence.
6. Gorky
Rises by William Steig. Astral travel put in form of a story about
a frog.
7. Everyone
Knows What a Dragon Looks Like by Jay Williams and illustrated
by Mercer Mayer. Ignorance. Excellent. Used: powells
* alibris
8. The
Vingananee and the Tree Toad by Verna Aardema. Prayer and miracle.
9. Each,
Peach, Pear, Plum by Janet and Allen Ahlberg. Discovering the hidden
characters. Great rhyme.
Second Stage: 7-9 Years Old
1. Chronicles
of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.
2. Sarah,
Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.
3. The
Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
4. The
Little Prince by Jonathan Landow and Janet Brooke.
5. Charlotte’s
Web by E. B. White.
6. The
Secret Garden by Francis Burnett.
7. The
Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. edition
2, edition
3, edition
4, edition
5, edition
6 , edition
7 (dabase does not know which edition to recommend)
8. The
Blue Faience Hippopotamus by Joan Grant. Used: alibris
9. Tales
of the Dalai Lama by Pierre Delattre.
10. The
Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.
Second Stage: 10-12 Years Old
1. Knight
on Horseback by Ann Rabinowitz.
2. Izzy,
Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voight.
3. Kim
by Rudyard Kipling.
4. The
Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. Series.
5. Voyage
of the Frog by Gary Paulsen, and other books by Paulsen.
6. The
Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.
7. Tibetan
Folk Tales, edited by Kyde Chambers.
8. Island
of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.
9. Julie
of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George.
Second/Third Stage: 12-14 Years Old
1. Dogsbody
by Diane Wynne Jones.
2. Huckleberry
Finn by Mark Twain.
3. White
Fang by Jack London.
4. Short
Stories by Jack London.
5. The
Ice is Coming by Patricia Wrightson.
6. The
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
7. A
Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Series.
8. Treasure
Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
9. Crystal
Cave by Mary Stewart. Series.
10.Theresa
of Avila by Mary Terese Danze.
Third Stage: 15-18 Years Old
1. To
Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
2. The
Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
3. The
Human Comedy by William Saroyan.
4. Short
Stories by Chekhov.
5. Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
6. Short
Stories by William Faulkner.
7. Mutant
Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan. Australian Aborigines’ culture.
Excellent.
8. The
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (abridged version).
( from Discipline Is An Act of Love )
(back to Index for Children)