Books Every Child Should Know Part IV
2007-04-27

By D. E. Herrod, B.Ed.E, M.Div

The focus for today’s column is on books for students in grades 6-12. The books are listed in alphabetical order.

Today is the final installment of books every child should know. Today’s focus is on resources for parents and books for adults. Children raised by parents who are readers are more likely to read. In the resources section I have include links to several on-line reading lists. Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook is a must read for parents and teachers. Trelease stresses the importantance of reading to children and teens not just preschoolers.

BOOKS FOR ADULTS

1. 30 Minute Meals: Get Real by Rachel Ray. Rachel Ray is the queen of quick fixing meals. In Get Real, Ray promotes healthier and lower carb cooking. I have several cookbooks and this is the one I use the most.

2. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Join Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his sidekick Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc.

3. A Table in the Presence of My Enemies by Lt. Carey H. Cash. As the 1st Battalion's chaplain, Lieutenant Carey Cash had the unique privilege of seeing firsthand, from the beginning of the war to the end, how God miraculously delivered, and even transformed, the lives of the men of the 1st Battalion.

4. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Dickens classic tale of the love and sacrifice during the French Revolution.

5. All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. Featuring the poem by the same title Fulghum’s book is a collection of inspiring essays and thoughts.

6. Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson. Dobson discuses the natural differences between boys and girls, particular issues in disciplining boys, and the different roles of mothers and fathers.

7. Dune by Frank Herbert. Banned to a desert wasteland, fighting for every drop of water, Paul is still successful in pulling together an army. Is he only a usurped Duke, or is he the messiah?

8. Five Languages of Love by Dr. Gary Chapman. Chapman identifies five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.

9. Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton. A teacher at an English boy’s school reflects on his life and students.

10. I Married Adventure by Luci Swindoll. Swindoll's lively memoir of life as a single woman is both honest and charming.

11. Just As I Am by Billy Graham. Autobiography of one of the most respected and influential ministers in America.

12. If Life is a Bowl of Cherries – What Am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck. Reflections on life written in Bombeck humorous style.

13. Life Stories by Mark Hall & Tim Luke. Hall shares the inspiration behind the music of Casting Crowns.

14. Love Comes Softly and series by Jeanette Oake. Marty discovers the meaning of love in an unlikely place.

15. Mrs. Mike by Benedict & Nancy Freedman. Kathryn Mary lives with her husband, Sgt. Mike Flannigan of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the wilderness of the Great North.

16. Night Light by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson. Devotionals for couples written by the founder of Focus on the Family and his wife.

17. The Indispensable Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson. A must read for anyone.

18. Thr3e by Ted Decker. Psychological thriller about Kevin Parson, a 28-year-old seminary student who suddenly becomes the target of an evil nemesis called Slater.

19. Twilight of Courage by Bodie Thoene. Winner of the Gold Medallion Twilight of Courage is a retelling of World War II that intertwines the stories of two American journalists' escape from the collapse of Warsaw, with those of an orphaned baby's journey to Jerusalem, a mathematician's attempt to crack Nazi code, and more.


RESOURCES

Books:

* The Read Aloud Handbook, 6th Edition by Jim Trelease

* Hey, Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud by Jim Trelease

Websites:

* 100 Best
Books

* Atlanta
Parent Magazine’s 50 Must Read Books

* Books
Every Child Should Read Before Graduating from High School

* Books
Every Child Should Read

* Books
Every Teen Should Read

* http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal.htm

* Carnegie
Library of Pittsburgh Staff Suggestions

* Children’s
Notable Lists

* Great
Books for Teens

* Must
Read Science Fiction

* Newberry
Award Winners

* Recommend
Reading for Children

* Salt Lake County
Library Book List

* Teens Top 10 Books

* The Children’s Reading Council: Reading List

* Top 10 Books for Teens

* Read On


MORE IN THE BOOKS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW SERIES

Friday, April 20th: Part 1: Books For Preschool Children
Monday, April 23rd: Part 2: Books For Elementary School Children
Wednesday, April 25th: Part 3: Books for Teens