Caroline Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Ok, I guess that is a bad question. It would be a long list. Let me try again... If you had to pick the 5 most important books you want your child to read by the end of eighth grade, what would they be and why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 How about 5 from each time period (and I'm not even sure I can do that, LOL): The Mysterious Visitor: Stories of the Prophet Elijah Nina Jaffe Gilgamesh The Golden Goblet Eloise Jarvis McGraw To Ride the God's Own Stallion Diane Lee Wilson Ishtar and Tammuz: A Babylonian Book of the Seasons Christopher Moore The Seven Wise Princesses Wafa' Tarnowska (VERY good Persian tale!) The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff Tales of a Chinese Grandmother Francis Carpenter The Bronze Bow Elizabeth George Spear The Silver Branch Rosemary Sutcliff Black Ships Before Troy Rosemary Sutcliff The Enchanted Caribou Elizabeth Cleaver (I believe ds really liked this one, too) The Story of Comock the Eskimo Robert Flaherty (VERY good) Tristan and Iseult Rosemary Sutcliff Archimedes and the Door of Science Jeanne Bendick D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths Troubadour's Storybag: Musical Folktales of the World Norma J. Livo Plutarch's "Lives" Augustus Caesar's World The Story of Masada: Retold for Young Readers Gerald Gottlieb (VERY GOOD! about the excavation of Masada during the 1960's) As you see, that's the best I've been able to do in culling down just my ancients list, so I'll stop now, LOL..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 If you had to pick the 5 most important books you want your child to read by the end of eighth grade, what would they be and why? Lord Of The Rings trilogy by Tolkien Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis Little Britches, Man Of The Family series, Ralph Moody Little Women, Alcott (my dd only) Illiad/Odyssey, Homer Know What You Believe, Paul Little I know this is more than 5. I could list more but I'll stop here. Why these books? Classics, thought-provoking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 To Kill a Mockingbird Huckleberry Finn Old Man and the Sea The Giver I wish I could make them read Kim or Captains Courageous by Kipling - I LOVED Kipling at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 Thank you all for your responses. I love hearing what other people's children are reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Moby Dick The Scarlet Letter 1984 To Kill a Mockingbird Lord of Flies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 And here are my picks for medieval, I guess: Boy’s King Arthur or King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, both by Sidney Lanier r Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tolkien Anna of Byzantium, Tracy Barrett The Lantern Bearers, Sutcliff Foxes’ Book of Martyrs Ivanhoe (re: persecution of the Jews) – simpler version in great illustrated classics series adapted by Malvina G. Vogel, also series on tape [PBS?](but adult nature to theme in video set, although this zoomed right over my son’s head) The Knights of the Golden Table (re: Vladimir, Grand Duke of Kiev), E.M. Almedingen (who also has out several children’s books on ancient Russia) The Beduin’s Gazelle, Frances Temple The Samurai’s Tale, Erik Christian Hanguard The White Stag, Kate Seredy Beowulf (I really don’t like the Rabseman version we found; couldn’t find Nye; easier versions: By His Own Might: The Battles of Beowulf, Dorothy Hosford; Beowulf, Sutcliff; Beowulf the Warrior, Ian Serraillier) The Shining Company, Sutcliff Song of Roland, Merriam Sherwood (gory!) The Adventures of Robin Hood, Roger L. Green Sword Song, R. Sutcliff Myths of the Norsemen, Roger Lancelyn Green The Striped Ships, McGraw Dante’s Inferno, Pinsky (just the recommended Canto) A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Minever (re: Eleanor) Around the World in a Hundred Years Macbeth, Oxford student ed. Mary, Bloody Mary Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Coghill Canterbury Tales, MacCaughrean (simpler, but some bawdiness) I see I didn't do much better at wheedling those down, LOL..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 A Midsummer Night's Dream Anne Frank: A Diary of a Young Girl Call of the Wild The Hobbit The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 I'm going out on a limb here. My oldest only just started reading. However, I don't think that I could list 5 specific books that I want her to read by 8th grade, except the Bible. Sure, I *want* her to read lots and lots of books, including many of those already listed. However, I can't think of any specific book (with the exception of the Bible) so essential to her education that it would gain such elite status. I think that reading a wide variety of good books is more important than reading any specific book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGator Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Bible a Shakespeare Play probably MacBeth The Hobbit Dickens A Christmas Carole Chronicles of Narnia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 My oldest hser is in 1st, so this is a long range plan... Little House series (I couldn't pick just one book) Chronicles of Narnia (ditto) Thornton Burgess animal books Harry Potter Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys I didn't pick classics (heck, I admit that Nancy and the boys are twaddle) but these are the books that I enjoyed a lot as a kid. I do want the kids to read the classics in highschool and, if they're ready, maybe in middle school. But I want them to have time to enjoy kids' books too, and there's no better time to do that than when you are a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 My dd is almost 14, and I am glad we have already covered: Lord of the Rings (with Literary lessons form Lord of the Rings) Narnia Series Treasure island Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart The Hobbit Ann of Green Gables She is on the last book of the Clan of the Cave Bear series- these have really spoken to her Harry Potter Lots and lots of others. I am glad we have covered lots of children's classics. She is now ready for more adult books, but at the same time, she is not ready for many of the "classic" adult books, or even highschool books, like 1984. She needs a bit more maturity. She will be reading Mists of Avalon, Tess of the D'Urbavilles, Walden, Austen and Dickens, Galileo's daughter, maybe some Dostoyevsky, some classic science fiction like Farenheit 451, maybe a DHLawrence, before I have finished with her, but we have a few years to go, I hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda in NM Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 My son (almost 14, too) enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, some Henty books (which we read aloud), some Alcott! (yay!)...of course, Harry Potter and Narnia...I've got some car books for our trip to Utah (Rocky Mountain district select hockey camp coming up next week)--Great Gatsby and the Nick Adams stories (a good intro to Hemingway). He's also enjoyed MacBeth (more so than the comedies...) We'll jump into more of the classics as we continue highschool--Dickens for sure...I'm not too sure about DH Lawrence, though...which one would you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 We'll jump into more of the classics as we continue highschool--Dickens for sure...I'm not too sure about DH Lawrence, though...which one would you use? Good question, I am not sure, I just went through a DH Lawrence phase about 10 years ago. It may not be appropriate, but then, I did Tess of the D'Urbavilles in grade 10 and that's all about a rape- I am not too worried about that. I loved Lawrence. I will have to reread. (and there is a rape scene in the first Clan of the Cave Bear book, too, and goodness knows what in the rest- its so long since I read them) before I choose one for dd. There isone set in Australia, but its not his most popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 The Bible Pilgrim's Progress Swiss Family Robinson Mere Christianity To Kill a Mockingbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildiris Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 *By the five most important books ~Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry ~Tom Sawyer ~Children's Homer ~Orestia ~The Giver* ~The Watsons Go to Birmingham ~A View From Saturday ~Flowers for Algernon ~A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ~Beowulf ~To Kill a Mockingbird* ~Of Mice and Men ~A Midsummer Night's Dream* ~The Tempest ~The Pearl ~The Prince and the Pauper ~All Quiet on the Western Front ~Black Boy ~Romeo and Juliet ~I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ~Lord of the Flies* ~One Flew overs the Cuckoo's Nest ~A House on Mango Street ~The Chosen ~Great Expectations ~Night ~Animal Farm ~The Odyssey* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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