Can we start a big thread to talk about books?
What are your “hidden gem” favorite books at various age groups and why? (Ie, stuff that isn’t in the top 20 that everyone has these days.)
What kids books do you have a grownup beef with?
Any especially useful books for unexpected purposes or illustrating an important, less-talked-about phenomenon?
8 answers
mamajen210
I had a boy (6) who was sick of the regular books. We were both way done with everything we had. I asked him to write his own. He has a collection of books that we love to read together now. He drew the pictures too! Way better than mainstream.
ritu2651
Hidden gems (and some probably not so hidden)
All Around Bustletown - these were quite popular a few years ago but if you haven’t seen these, the little details are so fun to look at for younger kids.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B18JKWCLEscargot - adorable book that should appeal to picky eaters. Ours is always read in an exaggerated French accent courtesy @jon so that makes it even funnier.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XRHB1PXHiccupotamus - this was a personal favorite (for me, that is - the kids liked it ok, I absolutely loved it). I loved the silly rhyming wordplay and completely ridiculous premise.
https://www.amazon.com/Hiccupotamus-Aaron-Zenz/dp/0761456228The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess - a sweet fairy tale about a brother and sister who take turns rescuing each other. No particular moral or message but I love how sweet and whimsical it is, and the art is adorable.
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Wooden-Robot-Log-Princess/dp/0823446980Pretty much anything by Jon Klassen: we’re big fans of his wry sense of humor.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jon-Klassen/author/B00MXOB18QBooks I have a beef with.
Not too many come to mind honestly, but here are two.The Pigeon books by Mo Willems - I find the pigeon excessively annoying. All those extreme reactions and tantrums and zero accountability for bad behavior. Can someone fry that bird already?
Disclaimer: my kids adore the pigeon.A whole bucket of rainbows/princesses/fairies/unicorns: I don’t particularly have a beef with rainbows and fairies and unicorns per se - they’re all lovely - but the fact that there are eleventy billion books about these is a bit much. Who churns these out in such ridiculous numbers? Some of these have got to be AI generated at this point!
- rachel—I hate the pigeon books. My kids think they are hilarious and I’m just annoyed by the pigeon.
- ritu—@rachel right??? they’re so annoying! glad I’m not the only one!
- EMucha—Wooden Robot 🥰🥰🥰
- ktisme50
The Book of Joy featuring Desmond Tutu and the Dali Llama
Books by Richard Rohr, esp The Art of Letting Go.
In it he says something like, we think religious education is enough, and what’s required is transformation.- christyb—Th Book of Joy is so good. I listened to it several years ago but I should listen again or find it to read.
- christyb50
When my son was an older elementary kid, and then into middle school, I read the Gregor the Overlander series to him. They’re written by Suzanne Collins who also wrote Hunger Games. I believe she wrote the Gregor series first. We really enjoyed them. Since they’re middle grade books, they’re of course not as intense as HG but there are characters who die, heads up. Honestly they were maybe the only chapter books that I read to my kid that I would sometimes read ahead on my own. 😄
- jujubee—Love the Gregor series
EMucha4153
We’ve been loving the Owly books for our early reader; love the graphic novel format as a transition from picture books, love that the characters are super adorable, and love that sometimes speech bubbles are filled with words and sometimes pictures, making our early reader feel confident sitting down to read it himself. (Probably starting age 5)
https://a.co/d/7vChiKLOne of my favorite books of all time is Where The Mountain Meets The Moon. I recently added this as our next “to read” in our nightly bedtime book routine once we’re done with our current series. (Probably starting age 7/8 on their own)
https://a.co/d/ehEGg6TAnother oldie, but goodie that I think all kids should read is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship of Her Own Making. The prose is amazing and challenges kids with fun vocabulary words in a similar way to Lemony Snicket, fun and expanding instead of intimidating. But more feel-good and heartwarming than Lemony Snicket (though I am definitely a fan of dark humor and strong kids.) Now that I’m writing about it, I’m adding that to our nighttime reading list, too! (Probably ages 8/9 on their own)
https://a.co/d/5UKtQZaAnd a fun one for mid/later elementary, but that I still had fun with at music camp in jr. high 🤓 is The Eleventh Hour. I’m gifting this to one of our kids’ cousins this Christmas.
https://a.co/d/f10VWSw