The Diamond in the Window (http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Window-Hall-Family-Chronicles/dp/0064400425/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206232505&sr=1-1) by Jane Langton was my favorite book. I think I read it for the first time when I was about 7 years old. I loved it because it was magical, mysterious, full of intrigue, and because it scared the ever-living crap out of me.
I also loved Where the Red Fern Grows (http://www.amazon.com/Where-Fern-Grows-Wilson-Rawls/dp/0440412676/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206232660&sr=1-1) because even as a child I was a complete sucker for dogs of any kind, and this dog story is probably the best dog story ever written. Old Yeller has nothing on Where the Red Fern Grows. I would cry like a big blubbering baby every time I read the book. I'd finish it, and turn right back to page one and start reading all over again.
Then there was Beat the Turtle Drum (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/002-6688837-7353635?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=beat+the+turtle+drum) by Constance C. Green. I read that when I was in fifth grade or so. I thought it was beautiful, poignant, and it made me weep.
And since I obviously love tragic books that make me cry for days on end, I can't possibly leave out Bridge to Terabithia (http://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Terabithia-Reading-Katherine-Paterson/dp/006073941X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206232921&sr=1-1). I read that one multiple times, too, and cried my eyes out every time. A year ago, I watched the movie on an airplane, and cried my eyes out again.
So yeah... if you're trying to think of books to have your little one read in the coming decade or so, you may want to think long and hard about the three I listed that would break your wee one's heart. Stick with the first one and scare the bejeezus out of him/her instead! :)
oh, I loved the Jane Langton books-- that whole series was amazing! I also liked the two about the girl with the incredible imagination. I think Her Majesty of Grace and ummmm The Boyhood of Grace Jones. No one else I've known has ever referenced The Diamond in the Window before! :)
That book creeped me out and gave me nightmares - but it was scary in a good way. There are scenes from that book that have stuck with me into adulthead and still give me the willies whenever I think about them. I've been meaning to get my hands on a copy to read again as an adult and see what I think of the story now.
I was obsessed with the first three books for a long time as a kid. I learned about things like Thoreau and Emerson and Transcendental Meditation as well as talking backwards (Egdelwonk! Trebor Nosnibor!). I actually tracked them down in paperback a few years ago but haven't gotten a chance to re-read them plus the later ones I missed like "The Time Bike".
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I also loved Where the Red Fern Grows (http://www.amazon.com/Where-Fern-Grows-Wilson-Rawls/dp/0440412676/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206232660&sr=1-1) because even as a child I was a complete sucker for dogs of any kind, and this dog story is probably the best dog story ever written. Old Yeller has nothing on Where the Red Fern Grows. I would cry like a big blubbering baby every time I read the book. I'd finish it, and turn right back to page one and start reading all over again.
Then there was Beat the Turtle Drum (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/002-6688837-7353635?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=beat+the+turtle+drum) by Constance C. Green. I read that when I was in fifth grade or so. I thought it was beautiful, poignant, and it made me weep.
And since I obviously love tragic books that make me cry for days on end, I can't possibly leave out Bridge to Terabithia (http://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Terabithia-Reading-Katherine-Paterson/dp/006073941X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206232921&sr=1-1). I read that one multiple times, too, and cried my eyes out every time. A year ago, I watched the movie on an airplane, and cried my eyes out again.
So yeah... if you're trying to think of books to have your little one read in the coming decade or so, you may want to think long and hard about the three I listed that would break your wee one's heart. Stick with the first one and scare the bejeezus out of him/her instead! :)
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