Hunter Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Who are you favorite 10 Authors? If you wanted your children/students to bond with 10 authors, who would they be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 And who is your one favorite for children/students? For example Ella Francis Lynch wrote that if a student could have only one book it should be Longfellow. Some Christians say the Bible is THE book. Many Muslims the Koran. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I don't know authors that well, couldn't tell you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Hmmm. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Terry Brooks, Madeline L'Engle, Lucy Maud Montgomery (if I'd had girls), Tolstoy, Kipling, Nesbit, Poe. They don't have to bond with them, but those authors mean something special to me for different reasons. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I culled all my romance novelists (except Heyer) out of my many lists & was left with this, in alphabetical order. Isaac Asimov Margaret Atwood Lee Child Agatha Christie Georgette Heyer Rohinton Mistry Lucy Maud Montgomery Larry Niven Elizabeth Peters PG Wodehouse ftr, I dithered over Rohinton Mistry v. Michael Ondaatje v. Vikram Seth but Mistry won. Lee Child had to duel with Elizabeth George. Different day, George might have won. Frank Herbert really wants to be on the list. I think he could push Asimov off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 This is hard. To pick 10. I don't have my list yet. Lately my relationship with books and authors means more to me. Now that it has been over a year since I had any contact with anyone from my old life, it is weird. I never talk to anyone that knew me as a child. I never hear a voice from my past. And there is a good chance I never will again. But sometimes when I read a certain line of text, I get a similar feeling to hearing a voice. EFL writing about Longfellow made an impression on me. And highlighted a pattern that I was only starting to become aware of. I was in the elevator with a Longfellow book from the library and a neighbor had such a powerful reaction to seeing the author's name. People at this forum talk about having the same physical book over time, but I am noticing that some people react powerfully to just a title or author's name. Do we have the power to launch children/students with a relationship to an author that will last their entire lives? That can never be stolen from them unless something the likes of a dystopian novel takes place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) I tried really hard in the past to like Shakespeare, and now I suddenly do. I seem to be craving familiar and repetition of verse. The same with Longfellow. Just reading EFL meant I heard some verses, and then when I read them elsewhere, I had a powerful reaction of recognition, and a desire for more of that. Edited February 19, 2016 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Laura Ingalls Wilder, hands down, all time favorite Louisa May Alcott 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 In no particular order: HomerShakespeare Franz Kafka Haruki Murakami Dylan Thomas Kurt Vonnegut Malcolm Lowry Mikhail Bulgakov Neil Gaiman Mark Dunn If not limited to 10, I would add Nabokov, Durrell, Cather, and Dostoevsky. I expect that my kids will have read all of those authors, except probably Lowry, by the time they finish high school. I think DS would "bond" with many of them; DD not so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) I think, maybe... KJV Bible Aesop (Joseph Jacobs) Grimm's Fairy Tales Longfellow Shakespeare Kipling Melville Jack London Laura Ingall's Wilder Hemingway The Bible and Aesop are not really a single author, but...I'm going to still list them first. EDIT: I switched Jules Verne for Hemingway, and then switched back. Edited February 19, 2016 by Hunter 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Wendell Berry is my favorite author. For my kids, E.B. White or Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'd have to think about my others. I tend to think more in terms of books I have liked than authors because I may really like a few books by an author but really dislike a couple as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 For Laura Ingalls fans, there is this 2 volume set. http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-House-Books-Volume/dp/159853162X If these are like the Longfellow and Frost books from the same publisher, they are small and printed on thin quality paper like a hardcover Bible. I would really like to see these. I think I might buy these for myself for my birthday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Wendell Berry is my favorite author. For my kids, E.B. White or Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'd have to think about my others. I tend to think more in terms of books I have liked than authors because I may really like a few books by an author but really dislike a couple as well. Yes, it is different when talking author vs individual books. I don't really like most books by Hemingway, but like his writing style. And several foreign language students have professed their love of Hemingway to me. They smile when they talk about him. He stands above everything else presented to them by former teachers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) I have seen this EB White anthology. It is a bit bulky, but beautiful. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/charlottes-web-and-other-illustrated-classics-eb-white/1113892409?ean=9781435145979 Barnes and Noble also did a similar job with the Hemingway anthology. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/barnes-noble-leatherbound-classics-ernest-hemingway-ernest-hemingway/1106658801?ean=9781435129849 Their Aesop stands above most other options, too, in some ways, depending on what you are looking for. Edited February 19, 2016 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I have seen this EB White anthology. It is a bit bulky, but beautiful. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/charlottes-web-and-other-illustrated-classics-eb-white/1113892409?ean=9781435145979 Barnes and Noble also did a similar job with the Hemingway anthology. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/barnes-noble-leatherbound-classics-ernest-hemingway-ernest-hemingway/1106658801?ean=9781435129849 Their Aesop stands above most other options, too, in some ways, depending on what you are looking for. That E.B. White book is beautiful, my daughter is just learning to read, I may get it for her when she gets a bit more confident. "Stuart Little" was the first "real" book I ever read and she loves "The Trumpet of the Swan". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 I switched Jules Verne for Hemingway. Liking a writing style just isn't enough to prioritize an author on such a short list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 That E.B. White book is beautiful, my daughter is just learning to read, I may get it for her when she gets a bit more confident. "Stuart Little" was the first "real" book I ever read and she loves "The Trumpet of the Swan". There really isn't anything else like this book, that I know of. B&N sometimes let's these anthologies go OOP temporarily and permanently. I haven't seen the Narnia anthology in awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) If anyone is looking for beautiful individual hardcovers for Shakespeare these are very nice. http://www.collectors-library.com/books/authors/william-shakespeare/macbeth Edited February 19, 2016 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 It is a new thing for me to be so affected by the sound of the text being read aloud. I used to be far more focused on plot and character. Also, when I do buy a physical book, the tactile response is very important to me, now. I think I found a nice copy of the Hemingway short stories from Everyman's Library. In the past I only had the bulky cheap paperback. http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Stories-Everymans-Library-Classics/dp/1857151879/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455852814&sr=1-4&keywords=Hemingway+short&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2656020011 It is looking more and more like I am moving soon. When I do, and am settled, I would like one small bookcase of books, very carefully chosen. And once it is full, knowing that if a bring a new book home, one on the shelf must go. It is funny. I'm rereading Dirda's list of Patterning Works and there is very little overlap with my choice of bonding authors. Just the KJV, Grimm's, and Shakespeare. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 I actually only own one shelf of books that are just 'mine'. Not counting the hundreds on Kindle of course. But 'real' books ? It's actually nice to whittle them down, because then you notice what's there, and return to what's there. :iagree: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizahelen Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Cs lewis Jean craighead George Scott O'Dell Yukio Mishima Geraldine mccaughrean Gk Chesterton Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Walter Scott Christopher Marlowe Aristophanes And Susan wise Bauer. Sotw rules! Sent from my XT1094 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm919 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Favorite authors is different from what I want my children to know. As far as what I want them to know, maybe ??? these: the Bible Dostoevsky Cervantes Shakespeare Homer Kant Austen Guanzhong Vonnegut Faulkner This is the impossible task.... I'll quit editing this list and just post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Tharp Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Do we have the power to launch children/students with a relationship to an author that will last their entire lives? That can never be stolen from them unless something the likes of a dystopian novel takes place? Yes, I firmly believe that we do. My list is: Bill Watterson Tolkien Lloyd Alexander Homer, Greek myths Fairy tales Richard Adams L.M. Montgomery (have to see with her, since I have boys.) They've already been "launched" into the first five on the list. I'll add more as I think of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 I'm rereading These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder tonight. It looks like I'm moving right before my birthday, so I'll wait, but I want to buy that little 2 volume set of her books, once I am settled. I'm really enjoying this book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Yup, WHAT we want them to know is different than WHO we want them to know. As always, people can talk about anything they want in the threads I start and tweak the question to anything they want to explore. But *I* have been trying to really separate knowing an author from my checklists of must read books to be culturally literate. I'm thinking RELATIONSHIP here. Books that can become a student's peeps. Even if they don't entirely like them. Kind of like great-aunt Mary with the bad breath. Family. Grounding, because they are your peeps. Even if you didn't choose them and never would on your own. Some people have a strong physical response to seeing an author or title. It has happened to me. I saw it in the lady in the elevator. I would like to explore how to maximize that. And talk about if it is possible or a worthy pursuit. And I don't know. But I'm curious about human response to some authors. Is it the author himself? Was it the person who read the book? Is it just the student being a certain kind of person? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Bible A A Milne Beatrix Potter Aesop CS Lewis George McDonald RL Stevenson Rudyard Kipling Mark Twain LM Montgomery *This is for children. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 (edited) I'm ignoring the children part though I will say I've shared most of these with at least my adult child ;) JRR Tolkein CS Lewis Robert Heinlein (wow those two names do not go together!) John Varley (who I shared with my oldest and my oldest wrote to him and he sent him a signed book!) LM Montgomery Beverly Cleary (RAMONA FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER) Alison Weir Mark Twain L. Frank Baum Edgar Rice Burroughs Oh and John Scalzi. I'm addicted to his books, one of the only authors I ever preorder. Let's see how that pans out with the kids -- All of my kids have read Tolkein and Lewis, some Heinlein juvies, Like I said oldest loves Varley - middle will be introduced pretty soon... They have knowledge of Montgomery from the various tv shows but I don't think any have read her work. * They're all intimately familiar with Beverly Cleary Oldest read one of Weirs books for an AP History class -- it wasn't on the list but it was on the shelf outside his room LOL They've all read some Twain and Baum and at least two out of three have read some Barsoom and some Tarzan. Muppet Boy actually made a random Anne of Green Gables reference the other day -- I threw a small white board down on the floor in frustration and he said "I thought you were going to smash it on my head like Anne and Gilbert" LOL Edited February 20, 2016 by theelfqueen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Some books or authors appeal at different times in one's life. I didn't like Tolkien (despite much trying) until about 2 weeks ago. It just clicked, all of a sudden. I have tried and tried to convince my DD10 to like Le Guin but so far no luck. I think she is too quiet a writer for DD, who is much more into adventure and drama. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto4inSoCal Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Bible LM Montgomery Tolstoy CS Lewis Gk Chesterson Maya Angelo Laura Ingles Sandra Cisneros Homer Edgar Allen Poe My list is authors who have deeply affected me at some point in my life and their work changed my point of view and altered my look on either myself or the world. Some of them as a child, some as a preteen, some as an angry teen, some as someone looking to find herself and others as am adult wishing for a deeper understanding of life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm919 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 (edited) It's so interesting reading people's criteria for their lists, looking back I think I had three separate lists. There are some specific works and authors, like the Bible and Shakespeare, that I consider a core part of the cultural backdrop of their lives.... even if they don't LIKE them they should connect with them. Then there are some works and authors on my list that I would just personally feel sad if they never really loved, like Dostoyevsky, Austen, and Cervantes. These affected me greatly so I included them, but does that mean they should belong on a list for my children? Then there are some works and authors that I included more because of a concept -- like i included Kant because I feel like most people should connect with moral philosophy at some point before they are considered "adults" (either high school or college or wherever that points now comes), but really, it doesn't need to be Kant -- it just was for me. I think for a lot more people, it's Plato in the form of Five Dialogues and that fits the bill too. From Hunter's "family" example, I hope there will be a moral philosopher in my children's "family" from early on. Even today, over 20 years after I first read Kant, I still think "This is a job for the categorical imperative!" quite often, almost like I'm setting myself up to really think about a problem. But, I don't really care who it is. As long as it's not Bentham (joking, but only kind of). Edited February 20, 2016 by tm919 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 (edited) MY favorites, the books that inspired me growing up, the ones that bring back warm fuzzy memories for me: Laura Ingalls Wilder, hands down. I've read every one at least half a dozen times, and different things get me every time. Also, Maud Hart Lovelace, Carolyn Haywood, Sidney Taylor, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Louisa May Alcott, and I can also add Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth, and Margaret Mitchell to my list. However, I did not grow up to become the mother of a group of sisters, and I never did get my own little Betsy. My children prefer fantasy and epic adventure. THEY would say A. A. Milne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Tolkien, and Lewis. My daughter would say Madeline L'Engle, and I would agree. She also somehow gets and likes Twain in a way that I never really did. And Jules Verne -- I never was interested in his stuff as a kid, but DD and I both loved Around the World in 80 Days. Shakespeare The Bible You need to know at least some references to those. Edited February 20, 2016 by happypamama 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 I've only really started reading hard core philosophy recently. Choosing Jack London is partly because of that. He wrote things I only recently became aware of. Yesterday, I dipped a bit into the political views of the Grimm brothers. Interesting. I think how much we cater to or shove books at students/children depends on parenting style, the subculture we belong to, and our religion or worldview. How do we introduce them to people and extended family members? Do you make them let smelly Uncle George hug them? Do you make them listen attentively to things they are not interested in? Do you introduce them to extended family at all? I'm realizing I don't bond as easily with translations as I do with an author that writes in English. I am noticing a trend in childhood experiences. I am drawn to writing that includes a lot of references to food and the simple and grounding things in life. There is still so much of this I'm trying to figure out. Relationships are messy, and my relationships have been particularly messy. I'm not sure I know how to have them anymore; seriously. This past year slammed shut my last connections to anyone that could be called family or even a meaningful relationship, and I changed a lot as a reaction and to survive. I'm not the same person. I have totally lost my confidence in choosing who I want to have a relationship with. Maybe trying to choose 10 authors is my way of taking a babystep back into thinking about ever having a meaningful relationship with anyone ever again. I've carried a lot of books into the elevator. The lady who saw the Longfellow book has got me thinking. Which books have jolted people just from seeing the title? What is the trend here? What is the potential for us and for those we are responsible for? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I can't believe I left Austen off my list lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 My Longfellow book came in; now I can bring back the library copy. Also my The Library of America paper catalog came in. It is easier to navigate than the website. I love these anthologies of the works of American authors. Usually anthologies are bulky, with tiny fonts. The difference in these volumes is the Bible quality paper. They even have ribbon markets. There is nothing like these anthologies for British authors is there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Dickens Shakespeare CS Lewis Those are my standouts. Too hard to pick 7 more when I could just as easily pick 20, but these three for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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