Parents who encourage their children to read help them succeed in and outside of the classroom. This series reviews classic children’s literature and provides insights for parents to discuss with their children. Discussing stories emphasizes that reading is important and helps parents exert a subtle influence on their children’s development.

A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Young Sara Crewe was born to privilege and doted on by her widowed father, who has decided to enroll her in a prestigious boarding school in London. For all of the lavish gifts her father provides, Sara is remarkably un-spoiled. She is wise beyond her years and believes in being kind and finding good in even the most trying individual. In all respects, she is the school’s prized pupil and is referred to – by some with admiration and others with envy - as “A Little Princess.”

Sara realizes that it is easy for her to be good, because she has never been tested by misfortune. This all changes when her father dies penniless after becoming ensnarled in a bad business investment. Sara has no family, so the school must keep her – not as a paying boarder, but as an employee. Overnight, she becomes the scullery maid and forced to sleep in a rat-infested attic.

Despite this terrible turn of events, Sara tries to stay positive. While her new circumstances definitely change how others view and treat her, she herself doesn’t change. The message to the reader is that it isn’t material goods that should make a person good; what is important is the character of the person, and character is revealed under duress.

Depending on reading level, this story is for ages 9 and up.

Which Way Freedom? by Joyce Hansen

The story opens with Obi, a recently escaped slave and member of the Union Army in the Civil War. He is described as an experienced soldier and someone who is kind, but tough and knowledgeable.

The second chapter goes back in time to the beginning of the Civil War. Obi is still a slave with other slaves on a small farm. Instead of wondering whether or not Obi will escape, the reader becomes intrigued with how Obi will escape.

Once Obi’s escape progresses, a new twist is presented: Obi is captured by Confederate soldiers and put to work in one of their camps. Obi must draw on all of his intelligence and resourcefulness to get away from the Rebels and to a Union encampment. Even after Obi has escaped and is behind Union lines, he isn’t sure he wants to join the Union Army since it was never part of his original plan.

Obi eventually comes to see the Union fight as his own and joins. The story then continues from the spot it started in the first chapter and Obi and his unit fight against the Confederate Army.

This is a nice work of historical fiction for young readers, set against the backdrop of slavery and the Civil War. Depending on reading level, this book is for ages 12 and up.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare

Suspicions of Katherine Taylor (Kit) began when people saw that she could swim. It is Puritan Connecticut in 1687, and the townspeople believe that only witches can stay afloat. But anyone who grew up in Barbados knows how to swim. While her explanation earns her a bit of a reprieve, she continues to be viewed with suspicion.

This is only the beginning of the many strange things Kit must learn in the colonies. She is still grieving over the death of her grandfather, who raised her after the death of her parents. Now, she must live with her aunt’s family, who are proper and upstanding citizens. The servants who waited on her are gone, and Kit is shocked to find that she is expected to work long and hard days.

The story wonderfully captures many positive and negative aspects of Puritan life. The characters are fully developed and come across as believable. The religious prejudices and witchcraft beliefs are written naturally into the story when Kit becomes friends with an old Quaker woman who lives at the edge of town and is shunned as an outsider and potential witch. Because of their friendship and a chain of events, Kit is also accused of witchcraft and put on trial.

Depending on reading level, this story is for ages 12 and up.

The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden

Chester Cricket lives in the Connecticut countryside. Through a humorous accident, he ends up traveling by train to downtown New York City. There he is discovered and befriended by young Mario Bellini who works at his parent’s newspaper stand. Mario wants to keep Chester as a pet, and his parents reluctantly agree. Chester feels lonely and out of place in the big city, and the story focuses on his slow adjustment to his new surroundings. Mario is a good friend, and Chester also makes two other friends: Tucker, a fast-talking Broadway mouse, and Harry, a kind-hearted cat.

The friends (including Mario) discover a shocking secret about Chester: Not only can he chirp like all crickets, but he can perfectly imitate any song he hears on the radio. This oddity brings many patrons to the newspaper stand and the increased attention and sales help Mario’s parents get some additional funds to pay their bills.

Chester’s new adventure and ongoing adaptation to Times Square is the focus of this classic story. Another is the story’s ability to create empathy and understanding for people in new situations.
Children can easily relate to Chester as he overcomes the shyness and awkwardness adjusting to new surroundings.

Depending on reading level, this book is for ages 8 and up.

The Enormous Egg, by Oliver Butterworth

Nate Twitchell is a typical, New Hampshire boy who is drawn into a very a-typical situation: a hen on their farm has laid an ENORMOUS egg. The outcome is unbelievable: a baby dinosaur hatches! What follows is a series of hilarious situations as Nate begins to care for his new “pet” (named Uncle Beazley).

Nate quickly learns that caring for something is difficult – yet he sticks to it. Nate also learns that others can be very selfish: Some children view Uncle Beazley as nothing more than an interesting plaything and some adults want to use him so they can get rich and famous. Nate turns down their proposals and tries to figure out what is best for Uncle Beazley.

It turns out that a college professor who specializes in paleontology, Dr. Ziemer, is summering nearby and becomes very interested in learning more about Uncle Beazley. Together, they find a way of providing the care Uncle Beazley needs, while at the same time, letting scientists observe and study this once-in-a-lifetime event. The reader is also introduced to one of the basics of natural science: Dr. Ziemer teaches Nate how to observe and take frequent measurements as Uncle Beazley grows.

Depending on reading level, this book is for 8 – 12 year olds.

Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt

When young Julie Trelling’s mother dies, she and her older sister are separated and Julie is sent to live with her Aunt Cordelia. Aunt Cordelia is very “prim and proper” and Julie doesn’t like living with her. It’s even worse that Aunt Cordelia is the small town’s only teacher! However, Julie does like Cordelia’s brother, Haskell, who is a witty writer working on a novel.

This coming of age story follows Julie’s growth from a self-centered childhood through her high school graduation as she matures and grows to appreciate Aunt Cordelia’s discipline. Julie also experiences the marriage of her older sister and the re-marriage of her father, and works through the jealousy that both events evoke.

By the end of the story, she has grown to understand and prefer her aunt’s wisdom and discipline. She also learns that Haskell, for all of his charm, is a chronic alcoholic who will never finish his novel. Still, Haskell and Julie form an uneasy relationship as she realizes that despite his illness, he is a gifted writer who can help her improve her own writing skills.

This story is a deep exploration of the maturing of an individual through everyday events. Depending on reading level, this story is for 12 year olds and up.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Annemarie Johansen and her friend Ellen Rosen live in occupied Denmark during World War II. They have grown used to the German soldiers (some that are nice, but others who are threatening) that occupy the area.

There is talk that the Germans will soon round up all of the Danish Jews and send them away. At first, innocent Annemarie is only puzzled by the talk since it doesn’t apply to her. Then she grows concerned as she observes that her parents, and Ellen and her parents are very upset since the Rosens are Jewish.

When word spreads that the round up is imminent, the Johansens join with other Danes to try and hide their Jewish friends and help them escape across the sea to neighboring Sweden. As the story progresses Annemarie helps her mother and father in their efforts to save their friends, and discovers courage she didn’t know she had.

The character development offers a nice insight into a young child’s perception of events that are sensed but not fully understood. In fact, the story manages to create a sense of foreboding without actually going into the horrors of the Holocaust.

Depending on reading level, this story is for readers 9 years old and up.


Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

This story opens with Billy Coleman, now an adult, remembering back to when he was ten years old and purchased two puppies. The story is told as a memory of that time in his life.

Their family is poor and farms the land in the Ozark Mountains. Billy wants two coonhounds very badly, but the family can’t afford the purchase. Billy’s father, however, gives him three traps and over the next two years, Billy saves the money he makes from trapping and other jobs and is finally able to purchase his hounds. The responsibility of training and caring for his hounds takes center stage in Billy’s ongoing development toward adulthood.

The themes of determination, love and maturity are explored as Billy slowly comes of age. The end of the story is bittersweet. The money that Billy and his family have earned and saved from farming and hunting allows them to move out of the mountains and into a nearby town where the family will have a much better life and the children can go to school. However, Billy’s dogs have died from a separate (and intense) adventure and are left behind – but not forgotten. Depending on reading level, this book is for readers 12 years old and up.

Summer of the Swans
by Betsy Byars
Sara Godfrey is wrapped up in the “misery” of her teenage life. She isn’t as pretty or accomplished as her older sister, Wanda, her mother is dead, and her father has abandoned them. She, Wanda, and her brother, Charlie, are cared for by their Aunt Millie, who struggles with raising them.

Charlie has special needs – probably a form of autism – that causes him to be clingy and painfully obsessive. Sara loves Charlie but sometimes gets annoyed with him.
One day, Sara takes Charlie on a walk to a pond where he sees swans swimming in the water. He loves them and doesn’t want to leave, but Sara tugs him home. Later that night, Charlie leaves the house to see the swans again but gets lost in the woods. When they discover that Charlie is missing, Sara begins a frantic search. The whole town joins in and Sara is accompanied by Joe Melby, who Sara wrongfully believes stole a watch that Charlie liked. As her longest day unfolds, Sara reflects about how wrong she has been about Joe and also Charlie. In a moment of deep self-realization, Sara realizes that her “problems” are very small compared to Charlie’s.
Depending on reading level, this book is for 9 – 14 year olds.

Shiloh
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Eleven-year-old Marty Preston lives with his family in rural West Virginia. One day, while walking through the woods, he comes across a shy, thin beagle. Marty figures the puppy belongs to their neighbor, Judd Travers, and returns him, but becomes upset when Judd kicks the puppy over to its pen.

Later, Marty finds the beagle in the woods again. This time, Marty names the puppy Shiloh and decides to secretly keep him even though he knows his parents would insist on returning Shiloh to Jud. The story is told in the first person (Marty) and the reader becomes part of Marty’s conflicting thoughts of preventing more animal abuse versus lying to his hard-working, but struggling family.

The cover-up comes apart when another dog attacks Shiloh. Marty has to take Shiloh into town for care, and the news spreads. Marty has to confront his parents, other adults, and Jud, who has been looking for Shiloh. He shows enough pluck to work out a deal with Jud that no one really likes but everyone accepts.

“Shiloh” is a nice introduction for young readers of how people can be faced with conflicting morals. Depending on reading level, this story is for 8 – 12 year olds.

Caddie Woodlawn

by Carol Ryrie Brink

Caddie Woodlawn is an 11 year old tom-boy growing up in Wisconsin during the 1860’s. While her mother frets that Caddie isn’t becoming a lady, her father quietly encourages her to follow her instincts. Caddie prefers to roam the wilderness surrounding their cabin with her brothers, and shows a mechanical knack that strengthens her bond with her father.

The story depicts various aspects of pioneer life in the different chapters: storing food for the winter, rumors of Indian trouble that sweep through town, a one-room school house with a couple of bullies, and the danger of a sudden prairie fire.

The harshness of life in this time and place is softened for young readers, but not ignored. The family has a turkey dinner every night toward the end of winter because that’s the only food that is left. (What had been a favorite family meal, humorously, becomes dreadfully dull.)

There are some references to the local Indians being “savages” that make today’s readers wince. This is an accurate description of the views of the 1860’s, but the Woodlawn family is more advanced and sees the Indians as honest and trustworthy. In this way, the book makes the case for inclusiveness and acceptance.

Depending on reading level, this book is for 8 – 12 year olds.

Over Sea, Under Stone

by Susan Cooper

Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew are on holiday in Trewissick, Cornwall (England) with their parents and their Great Uncle Merriman Lyon. “Gumerry”, as the children call him, is a mysterious professor of archeology. The children explore the house that Uncle Merry has rented for them, and discover an ancient treasure map describing the secret hiding place of a grail. Uncle Merry tells the children that others, evil ones referred to only as “the Dark”, are also after the map and the grail. An exciting and dangerous race to find the grail begins.

Over Sea, Under Stone is the first book in “The Dark is Rising” series. Cooper incorporates Welsh and English lore into a variation of Arthurian legend. The grail described in the map dates back a thousand years to the original King Arthur who fought against the Dark forces of evil, but was eventually defeated. However, the fight continues through time. If the children can recover the grail first, its powers can be used by a new Arthur to continue the fight with added strengths.

This classic “Good vs Evil” story is a nice introduction to fantasy because it is set in a familiar place and time.

Depending on reading level, this book is for 12 – 16 year olds.

Snow Treasure

by Marie McSwigan 
 
In 1940s Norway, Germany occupies the country during WWII.  Norway has a large quantity of gold bullion which the Norwegians are determined to prevent falling into the hands of the Germans.  They devise a daring plan to smuggle the bullion past the German soldiers and store it on a fishing trawler for transport to America.  Thus begins the adventure of a lifetime for young Peter Lundstrom and his friends. 
 
Each of the children hides a gold brick under their sleds and innocently sled down the mountain hills to a fjord and deliver them, over many weeks, to Peter’s uncle Victor who hides them on his boat. Will their intricate plan work? Will the German soldiers begin to suspect?
 
This is an adventurous story for both boys and girls as the readers are drawn in by the intrepid friends as they go about their secret plan. It’s a nice example of historical fiction that is based on a tale that may or may not have happened.  Character traits of friendship, cleverness, loyalty, courage, cooperation and committing to a common cause are portrayed throughout. Though the story unfolds against the backdrop of the German occupation of Norway, there is no gunfire or death.

Depending on reading level, this book is for 12 year olds and up.

Discussion points for The Contender

• Being a contender means taking charge of your own actions. Notice that some of the other characters, though they go to the same gym as Alfred, don’t understand what Mr. Donatelli says about being a contender. Willie Streeter is arrogant and angry at the world, while “Jelly Belly” refuses to curb his appetite. On the other hand, Henry, a boy about Alfred’s age who lives with a crippled leg from polio but is learning to be a boxing manager, and “Spoon”, a former boxer who returned to college and got his teaching degree, learned the lesson and carry it with them. The environment (i.e. the gym) is not as important as the person’s choices.

• In Alfred’s last fight (a loss), he “thinks” a monologue to himself while the fight progresses. The reader should understand that on one level, he is directing his thoughts to his opponent, but on a deeper level, the thoughts are also for his life. “Not gonna stop, man, no one can stop me. Gonna keep climbing.” Alfred has learned that his effort is what is important. Contenders can lose without having failed.

Harriet the Spy

by Louise Fitzhugh

The author (Fitzhugh) uses other characters to focus on class differences - talk about these differences together. The rich are seen as idle and silly: Agatha Plumber does nothing by lie in bed all day and talk on the phone. The Robinsons bore everyone with incessant talk about themselves, their house, their garden, etc. They have a hideous sculpture delivered to their house which they describe as “high art”, but even the man who delivers the sculpture scoffs at their tackiness. On the other hand the Dei Santis are portrayed as sympathetic characters as they struggle to keep their family grocery store going while coping with their own children. Harriet’s good friend (Sport) has no mother, and basically has to take care of the cooking and cleaning because his absent-minded father is distracted by trying to write a novel.

Raising Readers is written by Steve Arnold of Club Z! In-Home Tutoring Services.

He can be reached at 610.831.5101 or ChesMontClubZ@verizon.net.

Find out more about ClubZ! Tutoring at www.clubztutoring.com/ChesMont/