The children’s literature topic

Ever wanted a place to discuss children’s literature in general? Now it exists!

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Reading those large hardcover kids books was a huge part of my childhood, but to make a top three,

3: Arnie the Doughnut
This one should need no introduction. Splendid little book with tons of side conversations and extra jokes sprinkled throughout it.

2: Big Plans
This is just kinda a funny one about a megalomanical kid in detention daydreaming about is big plans. It’s one of those ones where the final page contains references to all the details that were used throughout the kid’s daydream, which was always fun to spot as a kid.

1: The Eleventh Hour
This one is so good. It’s basically like the game of clue, but in kids book form. This rich elephant invites all his friends over for a big lunch at his birthday party, but at the end when they go to eat, the lunch is already gone, meaning one of the guests already ate it. Then, it’s on the reader to go back through the book, decoding ciphers, keeping track of which characters show up on what pages, figuring out the timeline, and ultimately catching the culprit. It’s just one of those books that really made me feel grown up as a kid, like a real Sherlock Holmes solving a mystery, all in a 32 page kids book all in verse with opulently detailed illustrations.

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Loved this as a kid. Harold has a magic purple crayon, and when he wants or needs something, he just draws it, eventually drawing himself a little world to call home. There’s a simple lesson in there: don’t sit and wait for someone else to make your life for you. Don’t wallow in self pity when it doesn’t come on its own. The book promotes creative thinking and initiative, and it’s frankly a lesson I’m never going to be done learning.

I appreciated that post you made about modern kids books not meaning as much as they used to. A lot of media seems to exist just to keep the kids occupied until they’re out of the house. I like books and shows that help the kids learn how to make the most of their lives, even at a young age.

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not sure if this one counts as its a murder mystery but this book is amazing

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yeah I would say if it has blood on the cover, not a kid’s book

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Explain why then it was in the kids section of my old schools library?

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not every cat is a mouser, and not every book in the children’s section is a real children’s book.

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Aside from Bionicle:

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carmen (and the entire Land of Elyon series is beautifully written)
The School Story by Andrew Clements (also anything by Andrew Clements except Friendle: A Week in the Woods, The Last Holiday Concert, etc.)

Someday Angeline by Louis Sachar
Swindle by Gordon Korman (the series is hit/miss but Swindle is good)
Specials by Scott Westerfield, and also Extras. Most people like Uglies better, but the ending of Specials is dear to my heart - I’ve reread that ending over and over.

Most modern children’s literature that I studied in college is trash. I can’t name a single title that I really enjoyed as much as these old favorites.

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The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are actually really nice reads as well. They give much more insight into the characters than the movies could.

The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander is also really good, with numerous interesting characters.

And The Dark is Rising, plus others in the same series. I forget the author’s name right now, but these are probably some of the best fantasy book’s I’ve ever read.

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