Comments on: Top 100 Children’s Novels (#70-66)

By: Maggi

Maggi — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:36:01 +0000

I listened to Jeremy Thatcher on audiobook last week; first time ever. It was really excellent. I really love Bruce Coville and need to do some serious booktalking. (Have you ever listened to his Dragonslayer musical soundtrack? So cool!)

Also, my co-blogger Ivy (3) and I were in the library the other day, and she pulled down Henry Huggins from the shelf. Never picked out a chapter book before. I said, “That one is pretty long. Are you sure you want that? How about this one (Cat Club, Averill, awesome)?” Ivy: “Sure. I also want this one.” Okay!

By: Max Elliot Anderson

Max Elliot Anderson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:42:57 +0000

It’s so important to draw attention to reading, and attract reluctant readers to it,especially boys. In fact, I’ve recently completed a feature magazine article on this subject that came out in October, “Help for Struggling, Reluctant Readers.”

I grew up as a reluctant reader, in spite of the fact that my father published over 70 books. Now I write action-adventures & mysteries, especially for tween boys, that avid boy readers and girls enjoy just as much.

My blog, Books for Boys @ booksandboys.blogspot.com is dedicated to drawing attention to the importance of reading. And my new book, Lost Island Smugglers – first in the Sam Butler Adventure Series – is coming out in June.

Keep up your good work.

Max Elliot Anderson

By: Mary W

Mary W — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:51:09 +0000

My daughter and I are very pleased that you found her Tiamat tattoo! As a trained teacher, I am a big fan of kid lit, so to be included in this site is a real treat.

Mary from Unmitigated.typepad.com

By: RM1(SS) (ret)

RM1(SS) (ret) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:50:27 +0000

Oops – Henry Huggins was on my top-ten list…. Now I’ll have to go back to my post on this segment of the Top 100 and rewrite it a bit!

And I think A Dragon in the Schoolbag (the German title) is much better than Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher.

By: Mary Ann Rodman

Mary Ann Rodman — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:50:26 +0000

How perfect that Betsy-Tacy and Henry Huggins wound up on the same list! These were the “series” that I read as a child. Happiness was knowing that there were still more Betsy-Tacy books on the “L’ shelf, and that Beverly Cleary was still writing more Henry and Beezus and Ramona books. Whoever mentioned the Neil Patrick Harris audio books was spot on! They are wonderful!

By: Nell Colburn

Nell Colburn — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:59:18 +0000

It really is fascinating to see the “mix” as Betsy describes it. I’ve been thinking about how that mix is reflected in the different way each of us approached the list-making. My office mate, Steven Engelfried, and I did it very differently. He listed his childhood favorites and I decided to go with the books that I’ve loved most in my 38 years as a children’s librarian.(Probably because I thought that no one else would include my most favorite childhood title, Pigtail Pioneer. We’ll see!)

By: Sondy

Sondy — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:45:48 +0000

I read some of the Betsy-Tacy books when I was very young, on the recommendation of my mother, who had loved them. I remember not believing it when the girls had snow in March. I lived in the Seattle area, so I must have been less than six years old, and in my vast experience found that detail incredible! Little did I know…

By: Jennifer Hubert Swan

Jennifer Hubert Swan — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:55:06 +0000

Dear god, that video made me want to gouge my eyes out. SELENA GOMEZ AS BEEZUS??? The words even sounded wrong in the-cute-boy-of-the-month’s mouth. Help us, Jebus. Or should I say Beezus? Ugh.

By: RM1(SS) (ret)

RM1(SS) (ret) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:36:06 +0000

I’ve been aware of Betsy-Tacy for a few decades, but was in my 50s when I finally got around to reading it. Haven’t read any of the sequels yet, but I do intend to.

Walk Two Moons is one of my favourite Newbery winners (and also a book I first read when I was over 50). I was around 13 or so when I first read Henry Huggins, and have reread it several times since; it might have been on my top-ten list if I’d thought of it.

By: Chrisin NY

Chrisin NY — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:59:40 +0000

I “found” Betsy-Tacy while in my 40s. I think maybe because it was a series- it fell afoul of my local library’s reluctance to put most authors’ series on its shelves (Cleary, Alcott and Montgomery notwithstanding). I was fortunate enough to be able to share it with my daughter at the perfect age for her. Now she says it is her “go to” book for comforting little girls. She brings them on her lap and starts reciting the first chapter. It works like a miracle.