Nicholas Kristof's Best Children's Books
In educating myself this spring about education, I was aghast to learn that American children drop in I.Q. each summer vacation — because they aren’t in school or exercising their brains.
This is less true of middle-class students whose parents drag them off to summer classes or make them read books. But poor kids fall two months behind in reading level each summer break, and that accounts for much of the difference in learning trajectory between rich and poor students.
A mountain of research points to a central lesson: Pry your kids away from the keyboard and the television this summer, and get them reading. Let me help by offering my list of the Best Children’s Books — Ever!
Unfortunately, Kristof's list (save for the Alex Rider and Harry Potter series) weighs heavily on the classics. Anne of GG, Charlotte's Web, Tom Sawyer. I read it and wished Kristof did a little more homework, maybe presented parents some option that were not the obvious reading list choices....perhaps a book or two specifically targeting the underprivileged youth he mentioned above.
I don't know. Just sayin.
-=siobhan=-
*UPDATE - Super sleuth Kathryne mentions in the comments that a bunch of these books are out of print! Everyone get thee to the library stat. How very useful, Kristof! *grumbles*
posted by siobhan vivian at 8:32 AM
12 Comments:
I read the article this weekend also and had the same thought. He even mentioned the Hardy Boys series. Who hasn't heard of them? Who needs to be alerted to Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, and Anne of GG?
Recommend some new books that parents don't know!
There's more to the canon of kidlit than just the classics...
Siobhan, JINX! You owe me a coke :-)
Totally agree with the point that parents don't need to be alerted to the existence of the Hardy Boys. Good point.
Also: I looked up some of those books. A good 1/3 - 1/2 of the list is out of print! How is that helpful?
I read that, too, and was also annoyed he didn't include the names of any of the authors. Hello?
oh blimey, that list of books would have looked out of date in 1950
I thought it was interesting that he said that some kids would get left behind during the summers because they are not reading, but his list wouldn't pique the interest of these kids.
Probably his list is more of a case of personal taste.
My list would definitely have more diverse and contemporary novels on it.
The books on the list on are out print? Hmm...
With book lists like this, no wonder why parents have trouble getting their kids to read something from the list instead of their favorite graphic novel.
Amen to this blog entry and to all your comments. Looks like even Kristof realizes his folly. Check out his blog ("apologies to Roald Dahl"), today I think:
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/
As a reader, I have to admit, my first reaction was to side with him, of course kids should be reading the classics. But you make a good point, parents should already know about these books and the New York Times should be giving us news, not memories of our own childhoods.
Oddly, I have been perusing these lists this week, which seem to have a lot of new books on them. Trouble is, I don't know if they are any good or not. I notice there isn't a whole lot of duplication from list to list.
http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/forparents/tp/summer_reading.htm
What do you think?
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OK, ladies, let's see YOUR lists! :-)
I'll recommend a few:
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (we listened to it on tape when my son was about 12, and he said it was great for a girl book!)
Just Ella and its sequel Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix. And for boys, her Shadow Children series is awesome. Her new book Found (sequel coming late August) is perfect for MG boys.
Anything by Bruce Coville. His I Was A Sixth Grade Alien series is hilarious and fun for boys and girls. I think they're out of print, but still in libraries. And he has lots of other books still in print.
hey i was going through your website..what you have in mind are quite advanced..i was searching for a couple of childrens story books for my little daughter..she is just starting to read.
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