Recently, I’ve taken to browsing through the book sections of my favorite thrift and consignment stores. Quite often, I find copies of bestsellers in both paperback and hardcover that I wouldn’t mind purchasing for my home library, but those aren’t exactly what I’m looking for. In the past year, I’ve revisited a love of writing and reading children’s literature, and part of that rediscovery includes searching for copies of the books I read and loved as a teenager.
My journey started when my daughter started reading more advanced middle-grade books, and it hit me that I could probably write one of my own with a little research. I began scanning the juvenile fiction shelves at the library, where I picked up the vaguely familiar
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. After spending a tear-filled afternoon reading it, I was hooked. I whooped with joy when I found a used copy of
Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret? by Judy Blume at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. (I hid that one away for now, as my 9-year-old daughter is not quite ready for the subject matter yet!) It even had the same cover I remember from reading it as a child. I posted a photo of my find on Facebook and it sparked many comments from girlfriends, who all had a personal connection with the book. The first e-book I bought on my new Kindle a few weeks ago was
Daughters of Eve, written by one of my all-time favorite authors, Lois Duncan.
Daughters of Eve was one of the only books of Duncan’s I had never read, and I was surprised to find out that it had been updated to have a more modern feel, as have many books in her catalogue of titles.
When I was a teenager, I had stacks of paperback books by both Duncan and Christopher Pike, my two favorite suspense YA authors, along with a weathered complete collection of the Trixie Belden mystery series that my grandmother discovered in storage and gave to me. I carried them all with me for years, but somewhere along my many moves they were lost. It makes me sad to think that I probably donated them, not knowing how much I would want them back one day as I pursued my dream to become a published novelist.
I’m not sure why I’ve been feeling such a sense of nostalgia regarding these lost books lately. It might be because I first dreamed of becoming a writer while reading those treasured books, and after their loss, I spent many years thinking that becoming published wasn’t in the cards for me. Now that I’m finding success as a writer, the memory of all those stories continues to provide me with hope and inspiration, so I’ll keep looking for my old favorites in secondhand bookstores every chance I get.
Who were some of your favorite young adult authors?
Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who blogs at Renee's Pages.
I'm in a bit of procrastination mode (yes, I have syllabi to finish, books to review, reports to write) and so am cleaning my office. Yes, this is LONG overdue. I do not like to get rid of books, but am running out of shelf space. Those nonfiction picture books published in the 80s and 90s must go. It's a bit hard parting with titles I used in my own classroom, but I must make room for the new books that I am using and sharing with kids. In flipping through them I'm so pleased to see how far these books have come in the last 20 years. The photos are so much better and the texts tighter.
As I say goodbye to some well-worn friends, I want to send a hearty thank you to all the folks out there writing nonfiction for kids today. You do amazing work and I'm proud to have your pieces on my shelves.
(These pictures are of my office in full disaster mode. I keep telling myself it WILL get better!)
In the Norfolk Examiner, Diane Petryk Bloom shares
The 25 Best Picture Books for Children. Here is an excerpt from the introduction.
Here, presented countdown style, are the twenty-five best picture books ever written for children. These are, of course, limited to those written or presented in the English language.
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Books are ranked here by weighing their impact, artistic merit, and just how beloved and enduring they are. We agonized over selections and placement, even while recognizing the subjective nature of the task. Most of the authors included have other titles which, it could be argued, belong here as well. There is no guarantee your favorite picture book will be here.
But there is one guarantee. It comes from long-time children's bookseller Peter Glassman who consulted on this list: If your children explore the works of the authors included here, they will have rich and wonderful reading experiences as well as insight into their literary heritage.
Okay folks, I'm going to highlight one sentence again.
There is no guarantee your favorite picture book will be here. I read with caution, but still found myself shaking my head and saying, "Really?" Here is the list. You can find annotations and more information
in the article.
25. Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone, 1936
24. Hey, Al by Arthur Yorinks, 1989
23. The Two Sisters by Elizabeth MacDonald, 1975
22. Wump World by Bill Peet, 1970
21. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, 1955
20. Lentil by Robert McCloskey, 1978
19. A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno, 1960
18. Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman, 1995
17. Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky, 1939
16. And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss, 1937
15. The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift, 1942
14. Swimmy by Leo Leoni, 1963
13. Babar by Jean De Brunhoff, 1931
12. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, 1941
11. The Sailor Dog by Margaret Wise Brown, 1953
10. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton, 1939
9. Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, 1909
8. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, 1963
7. Curious George by Margaret and H. A. Rey, 1942
6. Corduroy by Don Freeman, 1968
5. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, 1939
4. Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss, 1961
3. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, 1936
2. Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, 1957
1. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, 1930
There is much I could say here. Some of the titles bring back memories of first sharing them with William. When he was 2 he received
Babar as a Christmas gift. I hadn't read it in years, so I was shocked and a bit disturbed to find/remember that his mother dies (is killed, actually, when she is shot by a hunter). Later in the book the king of the elephant dies after eating a poisonous mushroom. We do still read it once in a while, and I continue to get the "But why did his mom have to die?" question. We read
Madeline over and over for years. In fact, William had most of the book memorized, so often I would read it incorrectly just to see if he would catch me at. He did.
Books I've never read include 11, 15, 19, 20, 23, 24 and 25. That's a whopping 28% of the titles! For someone immersed in print throughout her life who also does the same for her child, I'm surprised that I've missed so many "best" books.
The oldest book on this list was published in 1909. The most recent in 1995. Have no new "classics" or best books been published in the last 13 years? I wonder ...
I'm writing this while sitting in a coffee shop and am hungry for conversation, so let's have one! What do you think of this list? Do you think it startlingly lacking in diversity? Should that be a criterion for putting together a list of best books? Should a list like this simply be based on number of copies printed and length of time in publication? What book do you think is missing from this list? What books would you
not have included that are listed here?
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Reading was often my lifeline in my awkward adolescent years. I gobbled up any books I could get my hands on. I remember reading through "The Wrinkle in Time" series, and yes, anything by Judy Blume, I also remember reading Paul Zindel's "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" and the voice in that book resonating with my teenager self.
E. L. Koningsberg. (The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler) Carolyn Keene. (Nancy Drew mysteries). Judy Blume was waaay after my time...
Great reads that you've all mentioned! It's been interesting seeing my own daughters read and enjoy them too. My 8th grader reads edgier stuff ( e.g. Go Ask Alice and a few others are on her bedside table now), so that gets a little weird. Anyway, thanks for your post Renee and welcome to blogging for the Muffin!
I LOVE those old covers! Browsing through the book sections of thrift stores is one of my favorite things to do as well. :)
I was a young adult in the 80s and I'm not sure if they actually called it YA back then. I read all the classics, loved Judy Blume, Madeline L'Engle (Wrinkle in Time, like Julie mentioned), V.C. Andrews (Flowers in the Attic), S.E. Hinton (The Outsiders), Francine Pascal (Sweet Valley High), but I mostly read adult novels like Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar), Henry Miller (Tropic of Cancer), William Burroughs (Naked Lunch), Jack Kerouac (On the Road), and anything else about drug culture that would warp my young brain! LOL
Thanks everyone! Now it appears I have some new titles to check out, Julie and Sioux! I remember sharing those racy V.C. Andrews books with my mom, Angela! And I think at one point I had the entire Sweet Valley High collection, too. Marcia, I've definitely seen Go Ask Alice at some of the thrift stores. Like Julie said, books were definitely a lifeline during that time of my life. I hope one day my daughter will get some enjoyment out of these books:)
I loved Sweet Valley High! :) HA! And then when I was a young adult, I also read the whole Flowers in the Attic series--not sure if that was appropriate. I am so glad that YA has such a larger selection nowadays. :)
I LOVED Christopher Pike books. I went to the library a year or so ago and checked out one of his books. I hoped it wouldn't seem babyish and badly written now that I have decades of reading to compare them too. His book wasn't as scary as I remember, but it was still entertaining!
In third and fourth grade, I read every Nancy Drew book. By junior high, I must have been way ahead of my time. I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird and The Cosmo Girl's Guide and Gatsby. I never read YA until I my college Teaching English methods class in the early 80s.