So after explaining all that, why in the world am I back with a second attempt at this thing? Well, my 5 years officially ended five and a half months ago and I've had some time to think things through. I realized that despite falling short of my goal, I really had started reading classics on a more regular basis. A full 25 of the classics I read happened in the final two years of my challenge. And in the intervening months I've read 5 more just in the regular course of my reading life. But there's a bit of a kicker -- they've all been children's classics! Now, The Classics Club advocates for creating a "living list" that can change and evolve as time goes on. My original list did evolve into a children's classics list, but it took me a bit too long to figure that out and then I just ran out of time.
So this time around, my list is going to be all Children's Classics from Day 1. Almost five and a half years later, I know what kind of classics I really want to read. As for the blogging part, I may have fallen off the wagon last time, BUT some of the posts I did write were some of my very favorites (Reading Winnie-the-Pooh as an Adult + Reading Paddington as an Adult). The idea of writing more posts like those two has me genuinely excited and feeling more confident about the blogging part of the challenge. I also have a pen and paper reading journal set up (a printable freebie from one of Modern Mrs. Darcy's newsletters) I am hoping will help me gather and organize my thoughts to make posting easier.
There is no hard and fast rule about what constitutes a classic, so I combed over my shelves to come up with my list and did the best I could. Books over 50 years old were a given. Newer-ish books that were published as part of a "modern classics" series were also a given. Anything else in the 35-49 years old range I used my judgement (I'm about to turn 33, so anything younger than me I had a hard time thinking of as a classic, even though a book with staying power 30 years later does still feel pretty significant). I used 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up to help me make a few decisions. And if a book won a Newbery Honor or Medal, I was more likely to deem it list-worthy.
It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I have enough unread children's classics in my house to read FAR more than 50 in the next 5 years, so instead of trying to prioritize or pare down (and since I DO want to read all these books strewn about my house!) I'm jumping in with a longer list. A lot of these are short/easy after all and I anticipate that plenty of books will get combined for blogging purposes.
Alright, enough of all these long-winded explanations -- onto the list! I'm making my official Classics Club goal to read at least 100 children's classics from the (bursting) list below and write 50 blog posts by July 24, 2023.
*Asterisk indicates Newbery Honor or Medal title
- A Child's Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot
- Selected classic poetry with an intended young audience (titles TBD)
- Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales (selected collections; titles TBD)
- Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales (selected collections; titles TBD)
- The Beauty and the Beast, by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
- Nursery stories/tales (titles TBD)
- Mother Goose Rhymes (titles TBD)
- Aesop's Fables, by Aesop
- The Milly-Molly-Mandy Story Book, by Joyce Lankester Brisley
- Uncle Wiggily's Story Book, by Howard R. Garis
- Old Mother West Wind + other stories, by Thornton Burgess
- The Complete Polly and the Wolf, by Catherine Storr
- The Selfish Giant and Other Stories, by Oscar Wilde
- Uncle Remus The Complete Tales, adapted by Julius Lester
- Rootabaga Stories + More Rootabaga Stories, by Carl Sandburg
- Leon Garfield's Shakespeare Stories --OR-- Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children, by E. Nesbit
- *The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles, by Padriac Colum
- Sherlock Holmes stories + novels, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Gray Wolf and Other Stories, by George MacDonald
- Stories for Children, by Issac Bashevis Singer
- Homer Price + Centerberg Tales, by Robert McCloskey
- Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling
- Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi
- Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie (re-read)
- The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Racketty-Packetty House, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
- The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
- The Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
- The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain
- Five Children and It + The Phoenix and the Carpet, by E. Nesbit
- The Enchanted Castle, by E. Nesbit
- The Railway Children, by E. Nesbit
- The Book of Dragons, by E. Nesbit
- Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster
- The Wonder Clock, by Howard Pyle with Verses by Katharine Pyle
- Twilight Land, by Howard Pyle
- The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle
- The Story of King Arthur and his Knights, by Howard Pyle
- Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
- Ronia, The Robber's Daughter, by Astrid Lindgren
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland + Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll
- *Ginger Pye + Pinky Pye, by Eleanor Estes
- The Moffats, by Eleanor Estes
- *The One Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes
- The Witch Family, by Eleanor Estes
- Stuart Little, by E.B. White
- The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White
- Matilda, by Roald Dahl
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
- Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl
- Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit
- The Search for Delicious, by Natalie Babbit
- *Three Tales of My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett
- The Once and Future King series, by T.H. White
- *The Dark is Rising series, by Susan Cooper
- Anne of Green Gables series, by L.M. Montgomery (Aug 2018)
- Emily of New Moon trilogy, by L.M. Montgomery
- The Story Girl + The Golden Road, by L.M. Montgomery
- The Blue Castle, by L.M. Montgomery
- Jane of Lantern Hill, by L. M. Montgomery
- *The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
- *The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander
- The Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander
- Betsy Tacy series, by Maud Hart Lovelace
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series, by L. Frank Baum
- Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
- Green Knowe series, by L.M. Boston
- Half Magic series, by Edward Eager
- All-of-a-Kind Family series, by Sydney Taylor
- Swallows and Amazons series, by Arthur Ransome
- The Faraway Tree trilogy, by Enid Blyton
- *The Ramona series, by Beverly Cleary
- The Moomins series, by Tove Jansson
- The Paddington series, by Michael Bond (remaining books) (Aug 2018 -
- The Borrowers series, by Mary Norton (remaining books)
- Bedknob and Broomsticks, by Mary Norton
- *The Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Saturdays, by Julie Andrews
- The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, by Julie Andrews
- The Mouse and His Child, by Russell Hoban
- The Princess and the Goblin, by George Macdonald
- The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge
- The Phantom Tolbooth, by Norton Juster
- Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr
- *Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink
- Olga da Polga, by Michael Bond
- Heidi, by Johanna Spyri
- By the Great Horn Spoon, by Sid Flieschman
- A Child's Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas
- Nancy and Plum, by Betty MacDonald
- *The Light at Tern Rock, by Julia L. Sauer
- *Fog Magic, by Julia L. Sauer
- *The Apple and the Arrow, by Mary & Conrad Buff
- *My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George
- *Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
- *Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard & Florence Atwater
- *The Hero and the Crown + *The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
- *The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
- *The Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
- *The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
- *The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
- *Miracles on Maple Hill, by Virginia Sorensen
- Plain Girl, by Virginia Sorensen
- *Rabbit Hill + The Tough Winter, by Ben Lawson
- Ben and Me, by Ben Lawson
- *Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'Brien
- *Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes
- *The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite DeAngeli
- *Call It Courage, by Armstrong Sperry
- *Sounder, by William H. Armstrong
- *Summer of the Swans, by Betsy Byars (Sept 2018)
- *Adam of the Road, by Elizabeth Janet Gray
- *The Dark Frigate, by Charles Boardman Hawes
- *Blue Willow, by Doris Gates
- *The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden
- *Abel's Island, by William Steig
- *The Wheel on the School, by Meindart DeJong
- *The 21 Balloons, by Pene DeBois
- *Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham
- *The Slave Dancer, by Paula Fox
- *Across Five Aprils, by Irene Hunt
- *Onion John, by Joseph Krumgold
- *Thimble Summer, by Elizbeth Enright (Sept 2018)
- *The Egypt Game, by Zilpha Keatley Synder
- *A Gathering of Days, by Joan W. Blos
- *MC Higgins the Great, by Virginia Hamilton
- *Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
- *Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry
- *The Fledgling, by Jane Langton
- *A Long Way From Chicago, by Richard Peck (Sept 2018)
- *Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
- Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
- Black Beauty, by Anna Swewll
- Hans Brinker, by Mary Mapes Dodge
- Five Little Peppers, by Margaret Sidney
- The Little Lame Prince, by Dinah Maria Mulock
As one final note, the "first generation" of Classics Club moderators has just recently retired and a brand new "second generation" has just begun. I have nothing at all against the original team, but I do think the excitement over the new team gave me that last little push to commit to joining again. The Club is on Instagram now and I'm really looking forward to seeing what new ideas and events may happen in the coming years!
What a fabulous list and I'm so glad you've found your classics mojo again.
ReplyDeleteThe Blue Castle is one of my fav comfort reads :-)
Thank you Brona! I already have a copy, but there’s a gorgeous new edition of The Blue Castle with a cover by Elly Mackay coming out that I have my eye on — she’s been doing so many of L.M. Montgomery’s books and they make me want to read them even more :)
DeleteI’m a huge fan of children’s classics. I’m trying to read all of the 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read, and I’ve put many of the ones I still have to read on my Classics Club list.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to join in for the spin? There’s still time to make a list before August 1.
It's such a great resource! I don't think I'll jump in on a spin just yet -- I'm doing a read-along of Anne of Green Gables in August and I have my eye on a few other specific titles to start off with -- I think the Spins will be great for when I'm stumped for what to choose next :)
DeleteLoving this list! Many good memories and new ideas! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading your thoughts on these.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Once again, it seems I have fallen off the wagon on the blogging part of the Classics club, but I am really enjoying the books themselves :)
DeleteI'm just seeing this! Welcome, welcome to list #2!! I love all the L.M. Montgomery on your list. <3 And Little House and Ramona!! SOME OF MY FAVORITES.
ReplyDeleteSpell to fix your broken marriage or relationship problem or after a divorce or Breakup,I was recently scam by two of them, until one faithful day i meet a man called Dr Oselumen who help me to get back to the father of my kid after we have been separated for two years,I only pay for the items required for the spell and he cast the spell for me within 24hours my ex husband called me and beg me to forgive him for everything until the end of the world he will never leave me again we are back together.if you need a real and quick love spell or you are passing through pregnancy problem Dr Oselumen is the answer, Please if any body needs. LOVE SPELL,LOTTERY,PREGNANCY SPELL, DIVORCE SPELL,STOP COURT CASE AND WIN ANY COURT PROBLEM,DEATH SPELL,BUSINESS SPELL AND MANY MORE YOU MAY NEED. Email him now for your own help. via email droselumen@gmail.com add him on whatsapp line or call +2348054265852.
ReplyDeleteFirst Time I understand very well about these facts from your post I hope I will soon greater replace thoroughly in future
ReplyDeleteSuch an informative and splendid blog I've ever read please keep sharing your mind. thanks for sharing this informative blog.
ScratchUndo Pro
SaniBand Review