In his New York Times Op/Ed column on July 4, 2009, Nicholas Kristof notes that many children fall two months behind in reading level during each summer break. He encourages parents to pry their children away from their keyboards and get them to read instead. He offers his list of the “Best Children’s Books Ever.” I have to admit that I have not read everything on the list and don’t like some of his choices. I was happy to see Charlotte’s Web, Anne of Green Gables, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Prince and the Pauper, and Lad, A Dog. (I confess I never read this last one, but a lot of my customers like anything by Terhune, and I know he’s a good writer.)
On to Oregon cover.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find two of my favorite children’s books on the list, however, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be and On to Oregon. I used On to Oregon as a read-aloud when we were studying the Westward Movement, and when we finally got to see many of the sights along the Oregon Trail in 1989, the children were excited to actually see the places they had read about. I recommend the book, but it’s not as easy to find as it was when it was still in print. I bought a lot of them back then and I’m offering the paperback version in nearly new condition for only $7.43 on tomfolio.com. I still like it as a read-aloud, since there is so much to talk about, but it’s still a good adventure story for those who want to do some independent reading.
Teh Dog Who Wouldn't Be cover
I also have The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, which focuses on Mowat’s boyhood on the Canadian prairies and his special canine friend — Mutt. Mutt didn’t fit your usual dog stereotypes. He climbed trees and ladders (all the better to chase cats) , and when he rode in an open car, he wore goggles. Although he had no pedigree, he was a genius at hunting.
Mowat is a great writer. I also like his Owls in the Family, which is at chapter book level and relates a boy’s adventures with his two pet owls, Wol and Weeps. If you don’t think owls have distinct personalities, this book will prove you wrong and keep you laughing at the antics of these strange pets who shake up a Saskatchewan neighborhood and turn a household upside down. Wol outsmarts Mutt (the hero of The Dog That Wouldn’t Be), brings dead skunks to the dinner table, and rescues their young master and his friend from the neighborhood bullies. Weeps, on the other hand, was afraid of everything and everybody but Mutt. This is also a wonderful book to read aloud.
Maybe you have your own favorite children’s books you’d like to share. Please use the comments section to add your recommendations for good summer reading. Keep your children’s reading levels up by encouraging the reading of interesting books this summer. Maybe your children’s reading level will even be higher when school begins again.
1 response so far ↓
Joyce Y. Mogill // July 15, 2009 at 6:34 pm |
Albert Payson Terhune was one of the great, premier writers of dog stories from ca. 1910-1930. The Lad series is his most famous. It’s too bad that with the exception of ‘Lad, a Dog,’ all of his titles are long out of print. They are wonderful stories, mostly life based, some purely fictional. Terhune’s NJ country estate, the setting for most of his books, is now a public facility, where you can see the graves of many of the dogs featured in his books.
Another great dog story writer was Jim Kjelgaard, the author of ‘Big Red,’ and the sequels, as well as other dog and animal books. After re-reading Big Red countless times as a kid, I eventually shared my life with a magnificent Irish Setter, long gone and still beloved.
Before all of the horse series stories, generally directed at girls, that are out now, there were only the Black Stallion series, plus other Walter Farley books, C. W. Anderson, who wrote and illustrated his own books, as well as illustrating many others. And the late, great Marguerite Henry, with most of her books illustrated by Wesley Dennis; a perfect partnership. She wrote fiction and non-fiction. Her most famous book is ‘Misty of Chincoteague.’ There are several Misty sequels. She also wrote about one of the foundation stallions for thoroughbred racing, an 18th century Arabian imported to England, The White Stallions of Lipizza [made into a movie], mustangs and the woman who led the crusade to save them from destruction, Wild Horse Annie, and countless other books.
The common theme in many of the books, whether about dogs or horses, is how humans interacted w/ them, positively, or not, and how that affected the animals. Even how the animals effected great changes in some humans. In most, if not all, of these books one comes away with a sense of the profound love so many humans have for dogs and horses, as well as other animals.
These stories may be 30-100 years old, yet they still stand up today as great reads, and standards of great writing by people who deeply loved animals. Eternal lessons and stories.