Sunday, August 23, 2009

A Recommendation

If you write or even just read YA or middle grade, please read this book. I just rediscovered it in my parent's library.


The Return of the Twelves by Pauline Clarke.

http://www.amazon.com/Return-Twelves-Pauline-Clarke/dp/1585790214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251086171&sr=8-1

Looks like it's out of print but you can buy it cheaply used.

Tell me your favorite children's books. Kids' classics are my favorite vacation reading.

24 comments:

  1. Sheesh, that's tough; there are so many to choose from:) Thanks for the recommendation. The Return of the Twelves is on my to-read list right after Howl's Moving Castle, which a good friend says is wonderful.

    Topping my list of kid's classics(in no particular order) are:

    From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L Konigsburg
    Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell
    The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
    A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L' Engle
    The Black Stallion, by Walter Farley
    Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
    Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S.Lewis
    Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry
    Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
    Anne of Green Gables, by L.M.Montgomery
    Ramona the Brave, by Beverly Cleary

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  2. Two favorites I must've read a thousand times as a child:

    The Mystical Beast by Alison Farthing
    D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths

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  3. I loved the Great Brain series when I was a kid. My 2-year-old pulled them all off the shelf by accident, and now I'm reading them all over again...

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  4. I had so many, I'll try to remember some:
    Anne of Green Gables
    The Girl with Silver Eyes
    Any Beverly Cleary book
    The Little Princess

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  5. Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorites too. I've reread it twice in the last few years and it holds up completely.

    Did anyone ever read the Borrowers?

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  6. Nothing's Fair in the Fifth Grade. I still remember the description of the heavy girl "Her ankles looked like pillows stuffed into shoes."

    Oh, and Beverly Cleary's, Fifteen. Young love..ahhh

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  7. THE WOLVES OF WILLOUGHBY CHASE, Joan Aiken
    plus many of the ones already mentioned

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  8. My father used to work in air freight, and frequently brought home strange little treasures found in boxes for me and my brother. When I was 8, he gave me a book he'd found with the cover ripped off. It was James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. I quickly read all of Dahl's books, then moved onto the Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, and Alice in Wonderland. But I always think of James and the Giant Peach as the book that ignited my lifelong love of books.

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  9. Yes, I read The Borrowers and my daughter just finished that one. :)

    So many good books here already, but I'll add
    The Tattoed Potato and Other Clues by Ellen Raskin (who also wrote The Westing Game).

    Amazon only lists used copies and doesn't give a synopsis, so here's a link that explains it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tattooed_Potato_and_Other_Clues

    I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved this intricate, haunting mystery as a kid!

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  10. I loved LM Montgomery's Emily series even more than Anne. Emily was a writer and it put me on the track I've never left.
    And I loved and read hundreds of times the Enid Blyton books, the Terhune collie books, all Walter Farley's books, the Oz books (ALL of them, including the Ruth Plumley Thompson ones, I collect them now), Jack London, and pretty much anything with dogs or horses. I remember one book about an otter, I think it was called simply The Otter's Story, that I loved because of the way it smelled, that new book perfume, paper and glue I guess. But I can still remember that smell, like Proust's madeleine.
    I didn't read a lot of the classics until I was a teenager, like Wind in the Willows and Narnia.

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  11. A modern favorite my wife and I recently found--and listened to during a road trip to the Adirondacks this summer--is WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN. The truth: I cried at the end.

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  12. The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin. Best. Book. Ever.

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  13. My favorite book as a child was and is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Incredibly clever use of language.

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  14. Have you read, The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig? If not, you've got to read that one! It was one of the earliest books that made me want to be a writer. I could absolutely see a lonely girl in a frigid potato field ... she was so real to me at 10-years-old, a lonely girl burning up beneath the Louisiana sun.

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  15. I guess my last comment was a little corny ... but it's true. It's a great book. I also loved the Borrowers! Two of my other favorites were The Secret Garden and The Little Princess.

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  16. Perhaps one should not have a favorite when it comes to books, but I have to admit I do: A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle. For a book with death as its central theme, it is one of the most uplifting and joyous stories I've ever read... and read again...

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  17. FWIW, I worshipped at the altar of Judy Blume when I was a girl. That, and the Encyclopedia Brown series. Always loved to turn the book upside-down and read the mystery's solution.

    One of the best things about being a mom is that I have yet another excuse to either rediscover or reacquaint myself with children's/YA books. Some fantastic books I've experienced with my kids: the Clarice Bean series (both picture books and novels) by Lauren Child -- she completely "gets" the sensibility of a young girl; all the Roald Dahl books, especially the deliciously subversive "Matilda;" "Despereaux" which is soooooo much better than the movie; and "Measle and the Wrathmonk" (Ian Ogilvy), our new favorite now that my son is taking a stand about the books we read.

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  18. My little girl is reading Number The Stars By Lowry, and she loves it.

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  19. I had forgotten all about The Borrowers -- I LOVED them!! That book was even better than Stuart Little (and the tv movie was not bad either...)
    As for most memorable characters: Pippi, Ramona the Pest, Harriet the Spy and, yes, Anne of Green Gables.
    I've been trying to get my nephew to read Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. As an animal lover, I remember adoring that book.
    And, my big question for you all: Did anyone read "Magic Elizabeth" by Norm Kassirer. I remember it being an incredibly magical escape. I searched for the title for 20 years and only recently found it online. I can't wait to order it and see how well it withstood the age of time...
    As for you moms who get to revisit these books with your children, I'm having the same fun with my Mom. She has Alzheimer's, and we've discovered reading children's book is more her speed these days.
    I can't wait to dig into the awesome titles you've all provided! Thanks for that.
    (Don't know if it's appropriate, but you can read about our journey at momtomymom.blogspot.com)

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  20. So glad I didn't miss this conversation.
    I had forgotten all about The Borrowers -- I LOVED them!! That book was even better than Stuart Little (and the tv movie was not bad either...)
    As for most memorable characters: Pippi, Ramona the Pest, Harriet the Spy and, yes, Anne of Green Gables.
    I've been trying to get my nephew to read Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. As an animal lover, I remember adoring that book.
    And, my big question for all of you: Did anyone read "Magic Elizabeth" by Norm Kassirer? I remember it being an incredibly magical escape. I searched for the title for 20 years and only recently found it online. I can't wait to order it and see how well it withstood the age of time...
    As for you moms who get to revisit these books with your children, I'm having the same fun with my Mom. She has Alzheimer's, and we've discovered reading children's book is more her speed these days.
    I can't wait to dig into the awesome titles you've all provided! Thanks for that.
    (Don't know if it's appropriate to say, but you can read about our journey at momtomymom.blogspot.com)

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  21. I'm so thrilled to have come across this conversation. First, I had forgotten about them, but I LOVED The Borrowers! They were even better than Stuart Little.
    As for all time favorite characters: Pippi Longstocking, Ramona the Pest, Harriet the Spy, and yes, Anne of Green Gables.
    I'm trying to get my nephew to read Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. I adored that in second grade.
    And, I'd love to know if anyone remembers "Magic Elizabeth" by Norm Kassirer. I had searched for this title for the last 20 years and only recently found it online. Can't wait to find out if it's the incredible magical escape that I remember.
    For you moms that get to revisit books with your children, I want to share that I'll take the same opportunity with my Mom. She suffers from Alzheimer's and we've discovered children's books are just her speed.
    (Not sure if it's appropriate to share, but if anyone wants to read about our homecare journey, check out momtomymom.blogspot.com.)
    Thanks for the awesome selections!!!
    Happy Reading!!!

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  22. So many awesome books posted here - I'm glad I found Jenny's Blog! I'll have to make note of several of these, as they are new to me. But here are several of my faves from childhood - and perhaps even moreso now that I'm an adult and seem to get so much more out of them - in no particular order:

    From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (E.L. Konigsburg) - just finished reading this one for about the 25th time - LOVE IT!
    LM Montgomery's EMILY series (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily's Quest)
    The Never-Ending Story (Michael Ende)
    Bridge to Tarabithia (Katherine Paterson)
    The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis) - I think my two faves in this series are "The Horse and His Boy" and "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", but you can't go wrong with ANY of them!
    The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
    Little Lord Fauntleroy (Burnett)
    A Girl of the Limberlost (Gene Stratton Porter)
    The Princess Bride (William Goldman)
    ANY of Beverly Cleary's RAMONA books (I so often found myself in situations like hers as a kid myself!)
    A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle)
    Many Waters (also L'Engle) - a surprisingly good book that I read "by accident" when it came with a boxed set I purchased - part of the "Time Quartet" (Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and A Wind in the Door) - other sites list a "Quintet" that includes "An Acceptable Time," but I've never read that one
    Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)

    Thanks for starting this thread, Jenny - some great finds here!

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  23. BTW, you can find "The Return of the Twelves" for as little as 75 cents at half.com - great bargain hunting there!

    http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Return-of-the-Twelves_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ1495762

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  24. I LOVE that someone brought up "The Princess Bride". My paperback copy fell apart, I read it so often!

    Also, I was a Roald Dahl fanatic, specifically Matilda. From there my book shopping unfortunately happened at a conservative christian bookstore so I was way into the Christy Miller series and The Boxcar Children.

    Then I discovered library cards and hiding spots for R.L. Stine before sequeing into Kate Chopin, Jane Austen and W. Somerset Maugham... and once again into Roald Dahl. His adult fiction is amazing!

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