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Classics Educational Books
Classics: What are the classics? The classics, for us, are the books we cannot do without. These are the books we would want to bring along if we should ever happen to be stranded on a desert island with a preschooler. These are the books we need when we are cooped up in the house on a rainy day, or at home with a sick child. These are the books we love to read night after night, year after year, to child after child. These are the books that teach our kids that reading can be an unending source of joy. Some were written a long time ago, but these are the books that never get old.
CLASSICS BOOKS
The Little Engine That Could
For ages 2+ years
"I think I can. I think I can. I think I can." Who among us hasn't conjured up that refrain when faced with a seemingly impossible task? Like running the last leg of a marathon. Or getting an uncooperative child dressed in the morning. "I think I can." This beloved story of a small engine pulling a train laden with toys over a mountain was published in the midst of the Great Depression (1930), and has ever since been taken to symbolize the American can-do spirit in the face of hardship. But for children of any era, it offers a reassuring mantra for climbing all the mountains on the path to growing up and beyond.
Madeline
For ages 2+ years
We find ourselves double-checking the 1939 copyright on this wonderful tale almost every time we read it. Could it really be from such a different world? It's snappily modern -- the other girls at Miss Clavel's desperately wishing for their own appendectomies after seeing all of the loot in Madeline's hospital room -- at the same time as it's hauntingly historical (the "very sad" girls with the wounded soldier) and charmingly old-fashioned (the doctor dialing DANton-ten-six to reach the nurse). The illustrations of Paris are true masterpieces, and the current editions have a listing at the end telling you which lovely parks and squares and landmarks they depict. The story is funny and charming and quick and lasting. You may have your hands full with however many little ones you already have underfoot, but these are 12 little girls whom you will easily welcome into your home. Don't worry -- they always stay in their two straight lines, remember?
Where the Wild Things Are
For ages
You of course remember this fabulous tale, but if you haven't read it in a few decades, you may be thinking it was dark or scary. It's not -- or at least we haven't met a child who thinks so. Mr. Sendak brilliantly recognizes that children are often far more comfortable with the wild things that stomp around their imaginations, roaring their terrible roars and gnashing their terrible teeth. It's grown-ups who seem to have most often forgotten the trick of taming these monsters (with their ever-so-slightly upturned mouths, you'll notice on this read) by telling them simply to "BE STILL!" and "staring into all of their yellow eyes without blinking once." And you simply must remind yourself of the beginning and end of this dreamlike tale -- you'll have a completely different perspective as a parent. Who knew that it was Max's mother losing her cool after all of his "mischief" and sending him to bed without supper that started this flight of fancy? And who knew that after the very long boat ride home to his room, his supper was waiting for him after all. "And it was still warm." Well, now you do. Read it again and share the delight.
Guess How Much I Love You
For ages 1+ years
Preschoolers fairly bubble over with emotions, and mixed in with all of that frustration and occasional anger and jealousy and ugly stuff, the depth of their love, especially for the big people who take care of them, is almost indescribable. Except of course to the Little Nutbrown Hare in this exceptionally sweet story. He knows exactly how far his love goes, besting himself with every new description until he gets all the way to the moon. But we Big Nutbrown Hare types get the last word as we double that love all the way back, even if the parting shot is whispered into sleeping ears. You'll simply never wish to nestle your little bunny into his bed of leaves without this book.
Blueberries for Sal
For ages 2+ years
Sal is a bit scruffy. Her hair hasn't seen a brush for a few days. Her overall straps keep slipping down. But has a more endearing girl ever toddled across a blueberry field in the pages of a children's book? We think not. Under her father's clearly adoring yet unsparing gaze (McCloskey based this and his other Maine books on his own family), Sal tags along with her mother on a picking expedition, but is too busy gobbling berries to keep up. When she and a blueberry-munching bear cub get their mothers mixed up, a gentle comedy of errors ensues. With its gorgeous blue-black illustrations of the Maine hills and wildlife, this book remains an enchanting tale of summer and its pleasures
Best Word Book Ever
For ages 1+ years
Richard Scarry once said that, for him, the ultimate compliment was when people wrote to say that they had worn out his books from readings and rereadings until they were “held together by Scotch tape." We are quite certain it's a compliment he received many, many times. Indeed, chances are that most of us parents had this book as kids, but that old copy is so dog-eared and tattered that it is worth getting a new one now that we have our own children. And what a joy it is to revisit Kenny and Kathy Bear as they get up in the morning and work on the farm, or Mr. and Mrs. Mouse and their innumerable children on a family outing to the zoo. The littlest readers adore Scarry's animal characters, and there is enough sophisticated vocabulary here to keep them learning new words and concepts all the way through preschool. Dear Mr. Scarry, rest assured that 21st century copies of your beloved book have already received a few Scotch tape band-aids, with many more years of reading, ripping (oops!), and loving repairs ahead.
Corduroy
For ages 2+ years
Consider this a story of love at first sight - love between a slightly forlorn, been sitting-on-the-store-shelf- too long teddy bear and a little girl named Lisa. Like any good love story, this one has its obstacles. When Lisa spots the corduroy-wearing bear in the department store, her mother declines to buy him because he is missing a button to one of his shoulder straps. Rejection sends Corduroy on a none-too-successful quest for his missing button, but, not to worry, love prevails. Any child who has ever been attached to a special stuffed animal or doll will be utterly absorbed by this sweet tale as well as its sequel, A Pocket for Corduroy. And parents and children alike will appreciate Ash Can painter Don Freeman's vivid illustrations.
The Runaway Bunny
For ages birth+
This bedtime favorite is as beautiful a love poem as has ever been written. The story's imaginary game of hide-and-seek between a little bunny and his mother appeals to children's dreams of running away and even stronger desire always to be found. Its gentle tempo and dream-like images have sent countless little ones off to sleep with the lulling assurance that their very own mother bunny will be there no matter where they go, and whenever they awake.
One Fish, Two Fish
For ages 1+ years
It's a silly book. It's a strange book. It's the perfect introduction to Dr. Seuss. In this most nonsensical of nonsense poems, Dr. Seuss teaches rhythm, rhyme and the delights of manipulating language. He also teaches the fundamental precept of Seussian philosophy: “Everyday, from here to there, funny things are everywhere." Our children know that already, but we parents do need the reminder once in a while. Thank goodness for Dr. Seuss!
Peter Rabbit
For ages 2+ years
The world of Beatrix Potter can come as a bit of a shock in our kinder, gentler era of child-rearing and children's books. The rabbits here don't spend much time on games like Guess How Much I Love You. Rather, Peter is dubbed “very naughty" from the book's beginning, and, in Potter-land, naughty bunnies get their due (in this case, a dose of camomile tea – but at least Peter escapes the switch, unlike his naughty contemporaries, Tom Kitten and Benjamin Bunny). Yet naughty bunnies also get to have all of the adventures, and what a thrilling adventure this is! Full of the radish feasts and hairbreadth escapes that have kept children riveted since the book's publication in 1902. With its utterly beautiful illustrations and delightful cadences, Peter Rabbit is, more than a century later, still a must in any child's library.
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Escapes, Real and Imagined
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