Staff Picks
Classic Children's Books
- Laura Rogers
- Saturday, November 30, 2019
Collection
Classic books are a part of our society's literary heritage. For good or for ill, they have shaped the world we live in and inform our present while opening windows into our past. Classic books add a rich layer to a child's reading experience and can give teachable moments in the context of a story. Classic titles are also a great choice for advanced readers who are ready for longer books and more complex language. Choose one of these titles to read together or independently.
Little Women or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy
Published in 1994
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.
Peter Pan
Published in 2010
Peter Pan and Tinkerbell lead the three Darling children over the rooftops of London and away to Neverland - the island where the lost boys play. Magic and mischief is in the air but if villainous Captain Hook has his way, before long someone will be swimming with the crocodiles ...
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Published in 2000
After a cyclone transports her to the land of Oz, Dorothy must seek out the great wizard in order to return to Kansas.
A Little Princess
Published in 2004
Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London school, is left in poverty when her father dies but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor.
The Secret Garden
Published in 2013
Ten-year old Mary come to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and mysteries of a locked garden.
Alice in Wonderland
Published in 2016
CLASSIC FICTION (CHILDREN'S / TEENAGE). Lewis Carroll's Alice has been enchanting children for 150 years. Curious Alice, the bossy White Rabbit, the formidable Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter are among the best-loved, most iconic literary creations of all time. Mabel Lucie Attwell's gentle illustrations and distinctive style have been the nursery staple of generations of children. Her illustrated edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1911. As the original Alice publishers, Macmillan are proud to return Mabel Lucie Attwell's interpretation to print in a beautiful hardback gift edition, featuring original full colour plates and line artwork. Ages 9+
A Christmas Carol, and Other Christmas Writings
Published in 2003
In addition to "A Christmas Carol", "The Haunted Man" and a short story from the Pickwick Papers that was the basis for "A Christmas Carol", several of the author's shorter stories celebrating the season, are included. Additionally the editor discusses Dickens' influence on how we celebrate the season, and an appendix on Dickens' use of The Arabian Nights, plus a further reading list and notes.
The Hundred Dresses
Published in 2004
In winning a medal she is no longer there to receive, a tight-lipped little Polish girl teaches her classmates a lesson. Includes a note from the author's daughter, Helena Estes.
My Father's Dragon
Published in 2006
A young boy runs away from home to rescue an abused baby dragon held captive to serve as a free twenty-four hour, seven-days-a-week ferry for the lazy wild animals living on Wild Island.
The Wind in the Willows
Published in 1983
This reissue of the classic animal story featuring friends Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger celebrates the book's seventy-fifth anniversary.
The Jungle Book
Published in 1992
Selected stories from Kipling's two "Jungle Books" chronicle the adventures of Mowgli, the boy reared by a pack of wolves in an Indian jungle. Also includes "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi."
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Published in 1994
Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
Pippi Longstocking
Published in 2007
Escapades of a lucky little girl who lives with a horse and a monkey--but without any parents--at the edge of a Swedish village.
Anne of Green Gables
Published in 2014
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
The Borrowers
Published in 1998
Miniature people who live in an old country house by borrowing things from the humans are forced to emigrate from their home under the clock.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Published in 1985
Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long lived.
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Published in 1960
The gripping story of young Karana, an Indian girl who survives by herself for eighteen years on a deserted island off the California coast. A quiet acceptance of fate characterizes her ordeal.
The Cricket in Times Square
Published in 1960
The adventures of a country cricket who unintentionally arrives in New York and is befriended by Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat.
Black Beauty
Published in 2008
A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experience with both good and bad masters.
Heidi
Published in 1996
A Swiss orphan is heartbroken when she must leave her beloved grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to school and to care for an invalid girl in the city.
Treasure Island
Published in 2004
While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads them to a pirate's fortune.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Published in 2001
A black family living in Mississippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand.
The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again
Published in 2012
Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
Mary Poppins
Published in 2018
An extraordinary English nanny blows in on the East Wind with her parrot-headed umbrella and magic carpetbag and introduces her charges, Jane and Michael, to some delightful people and experiences.
Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn
Published in 2011
Tom Sawyer, an adventurous boy, is as much at home in the respectable world of his Aunt Polly as in the self-reliant and parentless world of his friend Huck Finn. The two enjoy a series of adventures, accidentally witnessing a murder, establishing the innocence of the man wrongly accused, as well as being hunted by Injun Joe, the true murderer.
The Boxcar Children
Published in 1971
Because they do not want to be separated, four orphaned children run away and live in an old abandoned boxcar.
Little House in the Big Woods
Published in 1953
A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their father's stories and singing, and share special occasions when they get together with relatives or neighbors.
The Swiss Family Robinson
Published in 1992
Relates the fortunes of a shipwrecked family as they adapt to life on an island with abundant animal and plant life.