This year I also had the opportunity to accompany my grown daughters and ten year-old granddaughter on an outing to our local bookstore to buy a baby gift. They giggled as each pulled childhood favorites off the shelf. Down came Robert Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess featuring the caring, capable Princess Elizabeth and the reprehensible Prince Ronald. Two of Judi Barrett's books made the gift box, the humorous Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (also a book for foodies) and the equally loved Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing. I pleaded for the inclusion of several of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad I Can Read Books. Lobel's funny life-lesson chapters include "The List" and "Buttons." My husband, a scientist, considers "Cookies" one of the best psychological dramas ever written.
Munro Leaf's The Story of Ferdinand, Kay Thompson's irrepressible Eloise, and Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings were also sent on to baby Maggie for when she is three or four. And for when she is five or so, Maggie received Tomie de Paola's Strega Nona. This folklore-like story of "Grandma Witch" brings together fantasy and spells and shows what happens when her assistant, Big Anthony, tries to imitate Strega Nona's chants.
And don't forget the Martha Speaks books.
FOR READERS IN MIDDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
My granddaughter, Isabel, now eleven, has very definite ideas about books for her age group (seventh grade through high school). She has been counseling me about good kid titles for years. This year she says that Deborah Ellis is just about her favorite author. Ellis has snagged well-earned attention from reviewers and book store staff for her Breadwinner series: The Breadwinner; Parvana’s Journey; and Mud City. Set in Afghanistan and Pakistan, these three volumes take readers into a world of war, survival, invention, and personal courage. Each volume introduces questions concerning cultural values and national and international politics. Each book is fascinating and compelling. Ellis’s novels might be paired with the now well-known and much acclaimed memoir by Pakistani Malala Yousafzai (recent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize), I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
Naoki Higashida lives in Japan and at five years of age was diagnosed with autism. His memoir, The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen Year-Old Boy with Autism (translated into English), drew the attention of Jon Stewart along with many high school and adult readers.
John Green, the author of a number of young adult novels, took the world by storm with Looking for Alaska. He has done it again with The Fault in Our Stars a book which opens at a cancer kid support meeting. Green takes on the daunting job of writing a story about life, death, and love through the characters of Hazel and Augustus. Some readers think this is his best novel yet. Test their opinion by giving the John Green Collected works to your special someone.
Last year Isabel's older cousin recommended Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park and this year it made Isabel's list. It explores the world of first love against a background of outsiders and school bullying. It is available in English and Spanish (Eleanor y Park).
Compelling accompanies nearly everyone’s description of Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, a beautiful novel about how we treat one another. It brings together the characters of Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker, a recent suicide. Tough to read but very rewarding, this first young adult work by Asher kept Isabel totally absorbed. Like several other books recommended by Isabel, the presence of male and female characters make this an appealing gift for boys and girls.
Recommended as a 'new' Anne of Green Gables, Jacqueline Wilson's Hetty Feather makes this list as the 'must read' of a young friend in Durban, South Africa. Hetty is a foundling who navigates many worlds as she grows up, narrating her life in this first book in a series.
In this all-consuming, and not just a little crazy, world of tweets and Instagrams, it is fun to think of ourselves as Red Cross workers helping to save the world of youngsters and teens with a volume or three of old fashioned, fully spelled out words and full paragraphs. There is nothing like the pleasure of a good read. Here's hoping that one or more of the titles that delighted my young friends will bring a pleasure to someone you know.
©2014 Jill Norgren for SeniorWomen.com
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