Dangerous books, continued

Sorry about the no sleep/poop questions again today, but it seems like everyone wants to talk about this stuff.

I haven't had a chance to read all the comments from yesterday yet, but it looks to me like we didn't actually create the counterpart book to the dangerous book, but instead created a What Girls Should Know By the Time They Become Women book. A lot of the stuff we listed isn't necessarily stuff kids should experience, but things adult women should know.

So, three things about that:

1. If you want to keep posting things a girl should know by the time she becomes a woman, post them in the comments of that post, and I'll cut and paste them all together into a nice big centralized list. I'll close comments on Thursday afternoon and get the list up over the weekend.

2. Should we do the same for boys? Not things boys should do while they're boys, but things they should know by the time they become men. I'll post that post tomorrow, so please think about it and comment (I'm going to post "How to sort and wash your laundry properly" so you don't have to).

3. I figured there were 20 books a girl should have read by the time she becomes a woman, but didn't have a specific 20 in mind. Post your suggestions here. The ones I can think of right now (in no particular order) are

• The Boxcar Children (the original, not this newfangled series)
• any Nancy Drew* involving lots of Bess and George and very little Ned
• Little House on the Prairie (yes it's racist, but that's part of what you talk about when you read the book with your daughter)
• Julie of the Wolves
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• Gone With The Wind (aka What Not to Do)
• the first Harry Potter
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Westing Game
• Go Ask Alice

If I think of any more I'll put them in the comments. Dispute me and add your own, please.

* And when you originally read them didn't you think of Nancy's father, Rivertown lawyer Carson Drew, as an old geezer? Now I'm thinking he was probably a hot smart widower in his 40s and the equation is completely changed for me.

Comments

[courtney]

These comments are making me miss my own childhood books, which are currently in storage. So many good suggestions. I saw O Pioneers up there, but I just wanted to add Willa Cather's My Antonia.

[robin j.]

Peter Pan!

[A]

Go Ask Alice wasn't the true story it was purported to be. Does that make a difference?

[Jo]

I see lots of favorites here (From the Mixed-up Files ..., My Side of the Mountain, Phantom Toll Booth, Diary of Anne Frank, etc.), but has anyone mentioned "The Story of My Life" by Helen Keller? Well, if no one has, now I have.

[Mom Shahan]

"The Country Bunny & The Little Golden Shoes" was in my grandmother's attic playroom on the farm. (My grandmother was first an educator, later a mother and farm wife, then world traveler and voracious reader in her old age.) This book became my favorite as a young mother with children which I shared with many as a librarian in story times. This sweet tale is not only beautifully illustrated ~ it is much more than that ! It is also a perennial favorite, a classic of early feminist literature in children's fiction!
Why it has be withdrawn from libraries is a question mark. Is it the eggs? My guess, is that librarians are not reading as much as they should !
Once a classic, always a classic.
As many library people do, I have moved on, and now, I am a designer of earrings.
Peace, Mom
www.tannenbaumearrings.com

[Kevlar Gloves]

Its amazing conversation about boys and girls reading books.I think the book reading is very good job,Its must for both generation boyes and girl.

[ertoi]

I think "gone with the wind" must read everybody or you may download audiobook http://rapid4me.com/?q=gone+with+the+wind
It is a very serious literature.

[ertoi]

thanks a lot for article

[ertoi]

where is my comment ?