Kid's Books - Favorites

I was just nosing around at 5minutesforbooks & found a Mr. Linky post with a request for everyone to blog about kids books.

This is just a chance for you to tell us what your kids are reading (or let them
tell us). You could simply list the books they've enjoyed this month, or have
them guest-write a review or ask them questions:

Why did you like the book?
Was there anything you didn't like about the book?
Would you like to read another book by the author (or have you enjoyed other books by that author)?

I thought this sounded like a wonderful opportunity to not only share about some books we've read, but to go through the links to find more suggestions from other moms & kids.

Since C is 5 and reading level 1 books on her own pretty well, sometimes they throw words in that have me scratching me head & asking 'level 1'?, she & I usually read books meant for older kids and classics at bedtime. Mostly, we've stuck with classics...it has been a great way to revisit stories I remember from my childhood, and from her reactions I can confirm that classics are still considered 'great' by her generation. ;)

These are just a few of our favorites:

• Charlie & The Chocolate Factory by Ronald Dahl
• The Magic Treehouse series (so for we've read the first 3) by Mary Pope Osborne
• Ramona & Beezus, Ramona the Brave & Ramona the Pest all by Beverly Cleary
• Stuart Little by EB White (she liked the book better than the movie - Hooray!)
• Charlotte's Web by EB White
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
• The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip by Jerry West
• All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

I'd like to highlight one of my absolute favorites, which is also a favorite of my 5 year old daughter, on this list:

All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor was the Charles W Follett Award winner in 1951. It tells the story of a Jewish family with five young daughters. There are no big twists and turns, just daily life, struggles, family issues, etc... but you're hooked from the first page.
One chapter is about Sarah losing her library book and how afraid she is to tell the librarian.
Another shows the two youngest having the time of their lives deciding how to spend their pennies at the store and then sneaking crackers in bed.
One chapter is about how smart Mama got her girls to do a good job of dusting, she hid 12 buttons in the room & only when they found them all would they have finished. Sometimes she even hid a penny to add to the excitement. I still think of that sometimes when I dust!
Yet another showed how they dealt with Scarlet Fever when the girls got sick and the Health Department quarantined their apartment.
There is even a bit of romance towards the end when a family friend finds out that the family's favorite librarian is his long lost sweetheart.

What really grabbed my interest in this book as a child, besides the family interaction and the thought of having so many sisters (I was an only child), were all the chapters showing how the family celerated the Sabbath, Passover, Yom Kippur and Succos. There were details about getting the house ready, the foods and the rituals. It was more than just a detailing of the motions, there were explanations for why certain foods were eaten and what they symbolized, etc... Since I didn't even know anyone who was Jewish, it was a nice way to get a glimpse at how other people celebrate holidays.

If you are looking for something just a little out of the ordinary, I highly recommend giving this one a try. There was nothing in this book that I didn't like as a child, nor do I have any issues with it now as a parent. We were thrilled to find that there are more books about this family, and we will be picking them up to read very soon. While the recommended age is 9-12, my 5 year old enjoyed it tremendously and did not have any trouble following the story.

Amazon.com Review
There's something to be said for a book that makes you
wish you'd been part of a poor immigrant family living in New York's upper east
side on the eve of World War I. Sydney Taylor's time-honored classic does just
that. Life is rich for the five mischievous girls in the family. They find
adventure in visiting the library, going to market with Mama, even dusting the
front room. Young readers who have never shared a bedroom with four siblings,
with no television in sight, will vicariously experience the simple,
old-fashioned pleasures of talk, make-believe, and pilfered penny candy. The
family's Jewish faith strengthens their ties to each other, while providing
still more excitement and opportunity for mischief. Readers unfamiliar with
Judaism will learn with the girls during each beautifully depicted holiday. This
lively family, subject of four more "all-of-a- kind" books, is full of unique
characters, all deftly illustrated by Helen John. Taylor based the stories on
her own childhood family, and the true-life quality of her writing gives this
classic its page-turning appeal. (Ages 9 to 12)