Old Kids Books are Best Kids Books?

I often meet parents who are browsing the 7-12 wall, unable to make a selection because none of books that they read as kids are still around. Sure, a ton of the books I read as a kid have probably been sucked into a black hole by now, and you really do need to read some new releases to have a good range of recommendations, but I thought I'd compile a list of (great) books I read as a kid that I still find in-store.

Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles -- Julie Andrews wrote this, and I am so glad that she did. Basically a professor befriends some kids and teaches them to travel to Whangdoodleland using their minds. Whangdoodleland is like every kids dream, where gum grows on trees and all the creatures you thought were imaginary live. However, there's kind of a Tinkerbell situation as the creatures have become sparse because less people believe in them. As the title suggests, there is only one Whangdoodle left and he's the king of the land. The professor needs the kid's help because he wants to meet the last Whangdoodle, as he's gotten older, it's gotten harder for him to believe and make it far enough to meet him.

No More Dead Dogs -- The perfect book to read when you have to do a book report on a mystery. The quirky characters are what make this book really work. Basically, Wallace Wallace, a big football star who never lies, writes a book report badmouthing the book they had to read in class because the dog died in it. He then receives detention, which is held in the same place the school production (the musical version of the book they read) is rehearsing. Unable to play football until he rewrites his book report, Wallace Wallace gets sucked up into the drama world and starts making changes to the musical. When someone starts sabotaging the production and Wallace Wallace says it's not him (and he never lies, not that his new friends know that) who is it?

Flipped -- You follow around two characters and watch them grow up and change how they feel about each other.


Holes -- Did not know that Newbury books aren't all totally boring? (Shout-out
to One and Only Ivan and When You Reach Me.) Holes flips back and forth between Stanley Yelnats digging holes at Camp Green Lake and all the stuff that happened there in the past. It's all super interesting and fits together perfectly in the end.

Golden Compass, His Dark Materials Trilogy -- Lyra lives in a world similar to ours, but with definite differences such as every person having a dæmon--an animal that is part of the person's soul outside of their body. When Lyra's best friend is kidnapped, she runs away to rescue him--adventures ensue. This is a book that you have to be careful about recommending because God does eventually become involved and not in a good way. Still, when I had to write a letter to my favorite author in 8th grade, Phillip Pullman is the author I wrote to.

My Father's Dragon -- We read this in school in 2nd grade, but it's still relevant today because Dragons are really popular right now. With a bag full of supplies, the narrator's father runs away from home to rescue a baby dragon. I'm super into books where you know the exact materials the main character has, and you get to watch them gather and trade in order to continue on their journey.

Boxcar Children -- The first book introduces you to the main characters, so that you can spend the rest of the series solving mysteries with them. When I was skipping Hollywood Squares to read these, that's when I knew I was hooked. Shout-out to The Computer Mystery for being my favorite.

Ellen Tebbits -- I was not into Ramona, because, as I explain to parents, I am the "Beezus" of the house, so I like to recommend the lesser-known Ellen. With the exception of not knowing what the crap long underwear is, this book is kind of timeless in the way it captures school-life and friendship. Little things like trying to bring the best item for show-and-tell, wondering if your teacher actually likes you, ballet class, school plays and arguments with friends are all expertly captured.

Henry Huggins -- Yes, more Beverly Cleary. Henry is Beezus's age and he has tons of guy adventures, including finding a dog, forming a bond and then eventually facing off against the original owner. They literally have a contest where Ribsy has to choose between them. It is awesome.

Running Out of Time -- The characters in this book live in a museum reenactment of 1836, although most of them don't know it. When people in the community start getting sick and fail to receive help from modern medicine, Jessie's mother sends her out into the world--where it is 1996--to get help.

Among the Hidden -- In this book, it's illegal to have more than two children, so, of course, our main character is the third child in his house and has to stay hidden all the time. Eventually he becomes friends with another third child--a girl who lives across the street. I read this so long ago, I only remember that I thought it was really interesting, and the third children have some kind of light switch code.

The Giver --  This one is cheating a little bit because I didn't read it until I was like 21. However, the Giver was totally around when I was a little kid. I never had to read it for class, and I ignored it outside of class because the cover was so boring. The book itself is great, though. Pick this one up to read about the Community, roles and sameness.

Nancy Drew -- Mysteries...No explanation needed, right? The Clue of the Dancing Puppet and Mysterious Mannequin are some of my favorites. Also check out the computer games done by Her Interactive.

Harry Potter -- Duh.

Honorable Mention, not found in-stores but orderable:

Fifteen -- I read this at Outdoor School, and, sure, some of it was a little dated even then, but some of this first relationship stuff really is timeless.


Am I missing any of your favorites?